⁴ Some of the redeemed had wandered into the desert, into the wasteland.
    They couldn’t find their way to a city or town.
⁵ They were hungry and thirsty;
    their lives were slipping away.
⁶ So they cried out to the Lord in their distress,
    and God delivered them from their desperate circumstances.
⁷     God led them straight to human habitation.
⁸ Let them thank the Lord for his faithful love
    and his wondrous works for all people,
⁹     because God satisfied the one who was parched with thirst,
    and he filled up the hungry with good things!

¹⁰ Some of the redeemed had been sitting in darkness and deep gloom;
    they were prisoners suffering in chains
¹¹     because they had disobeyed God’s instructions
    and rejected the Most High’s plans.
¹² So God humbled them with hard work.
    They stumbled, and there was no one to help them.
¹³ So they cried out to the Lord in their distress,
    and God saved them from their desperate circumstances.
¹⁴ God brought them out from the darkness and deep gloom;
    he shattered their chains.
¹⁵ Let them thank the Lord for his faithful love
    and his wondrous works for all people,
¹⁶     because God has shattered bronze doors
    and split iron bars in two!

¹⁵ Instead of being abandoned,
    hated, and forbidden,
    I will make you majestic forever,
    a joy for all generations.
¹⁶ You will suck the milk of nations,
    and nurse at royal breasts.
    You will know that I am the Lord, your savior
    and your redeemer, the mighty one of Jacob.
¹⁷ Instead of bronze I will bring gold;
    instead of iron I will bring silver;
    instead of wood, bronze;
    and instead of stones, iron.
I will make peace your governor
    and righteousness your taskmaster.
¹⁸ Violence will no longer resound throughout your land,
    nor devastation or destruction within your borders.
You will call your walls Salvation,
    and your gates Praise.
¹⁹ The sun will no longer be your light by day,
    nor will the moon shine for illumination by night.^[a]
The Lord will be your everlasting light;
    your God will be your glory.
²⁰ Your sun will no longer set;
    your moon will no longer wane.
The Lord will be an everlasting light for you,
    and your days of mourning will be ended.
²¹ Your people will all be righteous;
    they will possess the land forever.
They are the shoot that I planted,
    the work of my hands, to glorify myself.
²² The least will become a thousand,
    and the smallest a powerful people.
I am the Lord; at the right moment, I will hurry it along.