Study Desk

Sing, heavens! Shout for joy, earth! Let the mountains burst into song! The Lord will comfort his people; he will have pity on his suffering people.

"Your country was ruined and desolate— but now it will be too small for those who are coming to live there. And those who left you in ruins will be far removed from you.

Then you will say to yourself, ‘Who bore all these children for me? I lost my children and could have no more. I was exiled and driven away— who brought these children up? I was left all alone— where did these children come from?'"

Kings will be like fathers to you; queens will be like mothers. They will bow low before you and honor you; they will humbly show their respect for you. Then you will know that I am the Lord ; no one who waits for my help will be disappointed."

"Why did my people fail to respond when I went to them to save them? Why did they not answer when I called? Am I too weak to save them? I can dry up the sea with a command and turn rivers into a desert, so that the fish in them die for lack of water.

I can make the sky turn dark, as if it were in mourning for the dead."

for God is near, and he will prove me innocent. Does anyone dare bring charges against me? Let us go to court together! Let him bring his accusation!

The Lord says, "Listen to me, you that want to be saved, you that come to me for help. Think of the rock from which you came, the quarry from which you were cut.

I will come quickly and save them; the time of my victory is near. I myself will rule over the nations. Distant lands wait for me to come; they wait with hope for me to save them.

they will vanish like moth-eaten clothing! But the deliverance I bring will last forever; my victory will endure for all time."

Those whom you have rescued will reach Jerusalem with gladness, singing and shouting for joy. They will be happy forever, forever free from sorrow and grief.

The Sovereign Lord says to his people, "When you became slaves, no money was paid for you; in the same way nothing will be paid to set you free.

When you went to live in Egypt as foreigners, you did so of your own free will; Assyria, however, took you away by force and paid nothing for you.

And now in Babylonia the same thing has happened: you are captives, and nothing was paid for you. Those who rule over you boast and brag and constantly show contempt for me.

Those who guard the city are shouting, shouting together for joy. They can see with their own eyes the return of the Lord to Zion.

He was arrested and sentenced and led off to die, and no one cared about his fate. He was put to death for the sins of our people.

After a life of suffering, he will again have joy; he will know that he did not suffer in vain. My devoted servant, with whom I am pleased, will bear the punishment of many and for his sake I will forgive them.

Jerusalem, you have been like a childless woman, but now you can sing and shout for joy. Now you will have more children than a woman whose husband never left her.

"For one brief moment I left you; with deep love I will take you back.

I turned away angry for only a moment, but I will show you my love forever." So says the Lord who saves you.