14. He says,“Build it! Build it! Clear a way!Remove all the obstacles out of the way of my people!”
15. For this is what the high and exalted one says,the one who rules forever, whose name is holy:“I dwell in an exalted and holy place,but also with the discouraged and humiliated,in order to cheer up the humiliatedand to encourage the discouraged.
16. For I will not be hostile foreveror perpetually angry,for then man’s spirit would grow faint before me,the life-giving breath I created.
17. I was angry because of their sinful greed;I attacked them and angrily rejected them,yet they remained disobedient and stubborn.
18. I have seen their behavior,but I will heal them and give them rest,and I will once again console those who mourn.
19. I am the one who gives them reason to celebrate.Complete prosperity is available both to those who are far away and those who are nearby,”says the Lord, “and I will heal them.
20. But the wicked are like a surging sea that is unable to be quiet;its waves toss up mud and sand.
21. There will be no prosperity,” says my God, “for the wicked.”