11. Those whom the Lord has ransomed will returnand enter Zion singing,crowned with everlasting joy;They will meet with joy and gladness,sorrow and mourning will flee.
12. I, it is I who comfort you.Can you then fear mortals who die,human beings who are just grass,
13. And forget the Lord, your maker,who stretched out the heavensand laid the foundations of earth?All the day you are in constant dreadof the fury of the oppressorWhen he prepares himself to destroy;but where is the oppressor’s fury?
14. The captives shall soon be released;they shall not die and go down into the pit,nor shall they want for bread.
15. For I am the Lord, your God,who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar;the Lord of hosts by name.
16. I have put my words into your mouth,I covered you, shielded by my hand,Stretching out the heavens,laying the foundations of the earth,saying to Zion: You are my people.
17. Wake up, wake up!Arise, Jerusalem,You who drank at the Lord’s handthe cup of his wrath;Who drained to the dregsthe bowl of staggering!
18. She has no one to guide herof all the children she bore;She has no one to take her by the hand,of all the children she reared!—
19. Your misfortunes are double;who is there to grieve with you?Desolation and destruction, famine and sword!Who is there to comfort you?
20. Your children lie helplessat every street cornerlike antelopes in a net.They are filled with the wrath of the Lord,the rebuke of your God.
21. But now, hear this, afflicted one,drunk, but not with wine,
22. Thus says the Lord, your Master,your God, who defends his people:See, I am taking from your handthe cup of staggering;The bowl of my wrathyou shall no longer drink.
23. I will put it into the hands of your tormentors,those who said to you,“Bow down, that we may walk over you.”So you offered your back like the ground,like the street for them to walk on.