9. to say to the prisoners, ‘Go out,’ to those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’ “Let them feed on the ways, and let their pasture be on all bare hills.
10. “They shall not hunger nor thirst, neither heat or sun strike them, for He who has compassion on them shall lead them, even by fountains of water guide them.
11. “And I shall make all My mountains a way, and My highways raised up.
12. “See, these come from far away, and see, those from the north and the west, and these from the land of Sinim.”
13. Sing, O heavens, rejoice, O earth! And break out in singing, O mountains! For יהוה shall comfort His people and have compassion on His afflicted ones.
14. But Tsiyon says, “יהוה has forsaken me, and יהוה has forgotten me.”
15. “Would a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Though they forget, I never forget you.
16. “See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; your walls are always before Me.
17. “Your sons shall hurry, your destroyers and those who laid you waste depart from you.
18. “Lift up your eyes round about and see, all of them gather together and come to you. As I live,” declares יהוה, “you shall put on all of them as an ornament, and bind them on you as a bride does.
19. “For your wastes, and your deserted places, and the land of your destruction, shall soon be too narrow for the inhabitants, while those who swallowed you up are far away.
20. “The sons of your bereavement shall yet say in your ears, ‘The place is too narrow for me, make room for me to live.’
21. “And you shall say in your heart, ‘Who has brought forth these for me, since I am bereaved and barren, an exile, and wandering to and fro? And who reared them? See, I was left alone – from where did these come?’ ”