8. Thus says the Lord:In a time of favor I answer you,on the day of salvation I help you;I form you and set youas a covenant for the people,To restore the landand allot the devastated heritages,
9. To say to the prisoners: Come out!To those in darkness: Show yourselves!Along the roadways they shall find pasture,on every barren height shall their pastures be.
10. They shall not hunger or thirst;nor shall scorching wind or sun strike them;For he who pities them leads themand guides them beside springs of water.
11. I will turn all my mountains into roadway,and make my highways level.
12. See, these shall come from afar:some from the north and the west,others from the land of Syene.
13. Sing out, heavens, and rejoice, earth,break forth into song, you mountains,For the Lord comforts his peopleand shows mercy to his afflicted.
14. But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me;my Lord has forgotten me.”
15. Can a mother forget her infant,be without tenderness for the child of her womb?Even should she forget,I will never forget you.
16. See, upon the palms of my hands I have engraved you;your walls are ever before me.
17. Your children hasten—your levelers, your destroyersgo forth from you;