¹⁵ Blow the ram’s horn in Zion!^(I)
Announce a sacred fast;^(J)
proclaim a solemn assembly.
¹⁶ Gather the people;
sanctify the congregation;^(K)
assemble the aged;^[a](L)
gather the infants,
even babies nursing at the breast.
Let the groom leave his bedroom,^(M)
and the bride her honeymoon chamber.
¹⁷ Let the priests,^(N) the Lord’s ministers,
weep between the portico and the altar.^(O)
Let them say,
“Have pity on your people, Lord,^(P)
and do not make your inheritance a disgrace,^(Q)
an object of scorn among the nations.
Why should it be said among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’” ^(R)

⁶ Seek the Lord while he may be found;
call to him while he is near.^(J)
7 Let the wicked one abandon his way
and the sinful one his thoughts;^(K)
let him return to the Lord,
so he may have compassion on him,
and to our God, for he will freely forgive.^(L)

⁸ “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
and your ways are not my ways.”
This is the Lord’s declaration.
⁹ “For as heaven is higher than earth,^(M)
so my ways are higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
¹⁰ For just as rain and snow fall from heaven
and do not return there
without saturating the earth
and making it germinate and sprout,
and providing seed to sow
and food to eat,^(N)
11 so my word that comes from my mouth
will not return to me empty,
but it will accomplish what I please
and will prosper in what I send it to do.”^(O)

¹² You will indeed go out with joy
and be peacefully guided;
the mountains and the hills will break into singing before you,
and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.^(P)
13 Instead of the thornbush, a cypress will come up,
and instead of the brier, a myrtle will come up;^(Q)
this will stand as a monument for the Lord,^(R)
an everlasting sign that will not be destroyed.