17 Your children hasten back,
    and those who laid you waste(A) depart from you.
18 Lift up your eyes and look around;
    all your children gather(B) and come to you.
As surely as I live,(C)” declares the Lord,
    “you will wear(D) them all as ornaments;
    you will put them on, like a bride.

19 “Though you were ruined and made desolate(E)
    and your land laid waste,(F)
now you will be too small for your people,(G)
    and those who devoured(H) you will be far away.
20 The children born during your bereavement
    will yet say in your hearing,
‘This place is too small for us;
    give us more space to live in.’(I)
21 Then you will say in your heart,
    ‘Who bore me these?(J)
I was bereaved(K) and barren;
    I was exiled and rejected.(L)
    Who brought these(M) up?
I was left(N) all alone,(O)
    but these—where have they come from?’”

22 This is what the Sovereign Lord(P) says:

“See, I will beckon to the nations,
    I will lift up my banner(Q) to the peoples;
they will bring(R) your sons in their arms
    and carry your daughters on their hips.(S)
23 Kings(T) will be your foster fathers,
    and their queens your nursing mothers.(U)
They will bow down(V) before you with their faces to the ground;
    they will lick the dust(W) at your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord;(X)
    those who hope(Y) in me will not be disappointed.(Z)

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17 Thy children shall make haste; thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee.

18 Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the Lord, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride doeth.

19 For thy waste and thy desolate places, and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away.

20 The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, The place is too strait for me: give place to me that I may dwell.

21 Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? and who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been?

22 Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.

23 And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.

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17 Your [a]sons shall make haste;
Your destroyers and those who laid you waste
Shall go away from you.
18 (A)Lift up your eyes, look around and see;
All these gather together and come to you.
As I live,” says the Lord,
“You shall surely clothe yourselves with them all (B)as an ornament,
And bind them on you as a bride does.

19 “For your waste and desolate places,
And the land of your destruction,
(C)Will even now be too small for the inhabitants;
And those who swallowed you up will be far away.
20 (D)The children you will have,
(E)After you have lost the others,
Will say again in your ears,
‘The place is too small for me;
Give me a place where I may dwell.’
21 Then you will say in your heart,
‘Who has begotten these for me,
Since I have lost my children and am desolate,
A captive, and wandering to and fro?
And who has brought these up?
There I was, left alone;
But these, where were they?’ ”

22 (F)Thus says the Lord God:

“Behold, I will lift My hand in an oath to the nations,
And set up My [b]standard for the peoples;
They shall bring your sons in their [c]arms,
And your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders;
23 (G)Kings shall be your foster fathers,
And their queens your nursing mothers;
They shall bow down to you with their faces to the earth,
And (H)lick up the dust of your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord,
(I)For they shall not be ashamed who wait for Me.”

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 49:17 DSS, LXX, Tg., Vg. builders
  2. Isaiah 49:22 banner
  3. Isaiah 49:22 Lit. bosom

18 “This is what the Lord says:

“‘I will restore the fortunes(A) of Jacob’s tents(B)
    and have compassion(C) on his dwellings;
the city will be rebuilt(D) on her ruins,
    and the palace will stand in its proper place.

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18 Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob's tents, and have mercy on his dwellingplaces; and the city shall be builded upon her own heap, and the palace shall remain after the manner thereof.

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18 “Thus says the Lord:

‘Behold, I will bring back the captivity of Jacob’s tents,
And (A)have mercy on his dwelling places;
The city shall be built upon its own [a]mound,
And the palace shall remain according to its own plan.

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 30:18 ruins