Isaiah 49:14-21

¶But Zion (Jerusalem in captivity) said, “The LORD has abandoned me, And my Lord has forgotten me.” [The LORD answered] “Can a woman forget her nursing child And have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you. “Indeed, I have inscribed [a picture of] you on the palms of My hands; Your city walls [Zion] are continually before Me. “Your builders hurry; Your destroyers and devastators Will go away from you. “Lift up your eyes and look around [at the returning exiles]; All these gather together and they come to you [to rebuild you]. As I live,” declares the LORD, “You [Zion] will indeed clothe yourself with all of them as jewels and tie them on as a bride. “For your ruins and desolate places and your land [once the scene] of destruction— Certainly now [in the coming years] will be too cramped for the inhabitants, And those who once engulfed you will be far away. “The children of your bereavement [those born in captivity] will yet say in your ears, ‘The place is too cramped for me’; Make room for me that I may live here. “Then [Zion], you will say in your heart, ‘Who has borne me these children, Since I have been bereaved of my children And am barren, an exile and a wanderer? And who has reared these? Indeed, I was left alone; From where then did these children come?’ ”

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