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?’”

“Where is the ^(A)certificate of divorce
By which I have ^(B)sent your mother away?
Or to whom of My creditors did I ^(C)sell you?
Behold, you were sold for your ^(D)wrongdoings,
And for your ^(E)wrongful acts your mother ^(F)was sent away.
² Why was there ^(G)no one when I came?
When I called, why was there no one to answer?
Is My ^(H)hand so short that it cannot redeem?
Or do I have no power to rescue?
Behold, I ^(I)dry up the sea with My rebuke,
I ^(J)turn rivers into a wilderness;
Their fish stink for lack of water,
And die of thirst.

⁴ It will no longer be said to you, “^[a](A)Forsaken,”
Nor to your land will it any longer be said, “^[b]Desolate”;
But you will be called, “^[c]My delight is in her,”
And your land, “^[d](B)Married”;
For the ^(C)Lord delights in you,
And to Him your land will be married.