3
'For behold, days are coming,' declares the LORD, 'when I will restore the fortunes of My peopleIsrael and Judah.' The LORDsays, 'I will also bring them back to the land that I gave to their forefathers and they shall possess it.' "
6
'Asknow, and seeIf a male can givebirth. Why do I seeeveryman With his hands on his loins, as a woman in childbirth? And why have allfacesturnedpale?
8
'It shall come about on that day,' declares the LORD of hosts, 'that I will break his yoke from off their neck and will tearoff their bonds; and strangers will nolongermake them their slaves.
10
'Fear not, O Jacob My servant,' declares the LORD, 'And do not be dismayed, O Israel; For behold, I will save you from afar And your offspring from the land of their captivity. And Jacob will return and will be quiet and at ease, And noone will make him afraid.
11
'For I am with you,' declares the LORD, 'to save you; For I will destroy*completelyall the nationswhere* I have scattered you, Only I will not destroy* you completely. But I will chasten you justly And will by nomeansleave you unpunished.'
14
'All your lovers have forgotten you, They do not seek you; For I have wounded you with the wound of an enemy, With the punishment of a cruelone, Because your iniquity is great And your sins are numerous.
15
'Why do you cry out over your injury? Your pain is incurable. Because your iniquity is great And your sins are numerous, I have donethesethings to you.
16
'Thereforeall who devour you will be devoured; And all your adversaries, everyone of them, will go into captivity; And those who plunder you will be for plunder, And all who prey upon you I will give for prey.
17
'For I will restore you to health And I will heal you of your wounds,' declares the LORD, 'Because they have called you an outcast, saying: "It is Zion; noonecares for her."'