¹⁴ Zion says, “The Lord has abandoned me;
the Lord has forgotten me!”
¹⁵ “Can a woman forget her nursing child,
or lack compassion for the child of her womb?
Even if these forget,
yet I will not forget you.
¹⁶ Look, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands;^(A)
your walls are continually before me.
¹⁷ Your builders^[a] hurry;
those who destroy and devastate you will leave you.
¹⁸ Look up, and look around.
They all gather together; they come to you.^(B)
As I live”—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
“you will wear all your children^[b] as jewelry,
and put them on as a bride does.
¹⁹ For your waste and desolate places
and your land marked by ruins
will now be indeed too small for the inhabitants,^(C)
and those who swallowed you up will be far away.
²⁰ Yet as you listen, the children
that you have been deprived of will say,
‘This place is too small for me;
make room for me so that I may settle.’^(D)
21 Then you will say within yourself,
‘Who fathered these for me?
I was deprived of my children and unable to conceive,
exiled and wandering—
but who brought them up?
See, I was left by myself—
but these, where did they come from?’” ^[c]

Where is your mother’s divorce certificate
that I used to send her away?^(A)
Or to which of my creditors did I sell you?^(B)
Look, you were sold for your iniquities,^(C)
and your mother was sent away
because of your transgressions.
² Why was no one there when I came?
Why was there no one to answer when I called?
Is my arm too weak to redeem?^(D)
Or do I have no power to rescue?
Look, I dry up the sea by my rebuke;^(E)
I turn the rivers into a wilderness;
their fish rot because of lack of water
and die of thirst.

⁴ You will no longer be called Deserted,^(A)
and your land will not be called Desolate;
instead, you will be called My Delight Is in Her,^[a]
and your land Married;^[b](B)
for the Lord delights in you,
and your land will be married.