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14 But Zion said, “Yahweh has forsaken me,
    and the Lord has forgotten me.”
15 “Can a woman forget her nursing child,
    that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb?
Yes, these may forget,
    yet I will not forget you!
16 Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.
    Your walls are continually before me.
17 Your children hurry.
    Your destroyers and those who devastated you will leave you.
18 Lift up your eyes all around, and see:
    all these gather themselves together, and come to you.
As I live,” says Yahweh, “you shall surely clothe yourself with them all as with an ornament,
    and dress yourself with them, like a bride.
19 “For, as for your waste and your desolate places,
    and your land that has been destroyed,
surely now that land will be too small for the inhabitants,
    and those who swallowed you up will be far away.
20 The children of your bereavement will say in your ears,
    ‘This place is too small for me.
    Give me a place to live in.’
21 Then you will say in your heart, ‘Who has conceived these for me, since I have been bereaved of my children
    and am alone, an exile, and wandering back and forth?
Who has brought these up?
    Behold, I was left alone. Where were these?’”

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Promise to Zion

14 But Zion said, “The Lord has abandoned me,
And the Lord has forgotten me.”
15 “Can a woman forget her nursing child
And have no compassion on the son of her womb?
Even these may forget, but (A)I will not forget you.
16 Behold, I have (B)inscribed you on the palms of My hands;
Your (C)walls are continually before Me.
17 Your [a]builders hurry;
Your (D)destroyers and devastators
Will leave you.
18 (E)Raise your eyes and look around;
(F)All of them gather together, (G)they come to you.
(H)As I live,” declares the Lord,
“You will certainly (I)put them all on as [b]jewelry and bind them on as a bride.
19 For (J)your ruins and deserted places and your destroyed land—
Now you will certainly be (K)too cramped for the inhabitants,
And those who (L)swallowed you will be far away.
20 The (M)children [c]you lost will yet say in your ears,
‘The place is too cramped for me;
Make room for me that I may live here.’
21 Then you will (N)say in your heart,
‘Who has fathered these for me,
Since I have been bereaved of my children
And (O)cannot conceive, and I am an (P)exile, and a wanderer?
And who has raised these?
Behold, I was (Q)left alone;
[d](R)Where are these from?’”

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 49:17 Ancient versions and DSS; MT sons
  2. Isaiah 49:18 Lit an ornament
  3. Isaiah 49:20 Lit of your bereavement
  4. Isaiah 49:21 Lit These, where are they?