Isaiah 49:8-13

Expanded Bible

“At the ·right time [time of favor] I will ·hear your prayers [answer you].
    On the day of salvation I will help you [2 Cor. 6:2].
I will protect you,
    and ·you will be the sign of my agreement with [^LI will give/establish you as a covenant for] the people [42:6].
·You will bring back the people to the land [^L…to restore/rebuild the land]
    and ·give the land that is now ruined back to its owners [^Lbequeath its desolate inheritances].
⁹ You will tell the prisoners, ‘·Come out [42:7].’
    You will tell those in darkness, ‘·Come into the light [Show yourselves; Appear].’
·The people [^LThey] will ·eat [feed; graze] beside the roads [^Cthe people are symbolically pictured as sheep],
    and they will find ·food [pasture] even on bare hills.
¹⁰ They will not be hungry or thirsty.
    Neither the ·desert wind [^Lheat] nor the hot sun will ·hurt [strike] them.
The God who comforts them will lead them
    and guide them by springs of water.
¹¹ I will make my mountains into roads,
    and the ·roads [highways] will be raised up [^Cto make a level road; 40:4].
¹² Look, people are coming to me from far away,
    from the north and from the west,
from ·Aswan in southern Egypt [^Lthe land of Sinim].”

¹³ Heavens, shout with joy;
    earth, be happy;
    mountains, burst into song,
because the Lord comforts his people
    and will have ·pity [compassion] on ·those who suffer [the oppressed].