They will be called, “The Holy People, the Ones Protected ¹  by the Lord.” You will be called, “Sought After, City Not Abandoned.”

But as for you who abandon the Lord and forget about worshiping at ¹  my holy mountain, who prepare a feast for the god called ‘Fortune,’ ²  and fill up wine jugs for the god called ‘Destiny’ ³  –

Before she goes into labor, she gives birth! Before her contractions begin, she delivers a boy!

They offer only superficial help for the hurt my dear people ¹  have suffered. ²  They say, “Everything will be all right!” But everything is not all right! ³ 

There is still medicinal ointment ¹  available in Gilead! There is still a physician there! ²  Why then have my dear people ³  not been restored to health? ⁴ 

He will pitch his royal tents between the seas ¹  toward the beautiful holy mountain. But he will come to his end, with no one to help him.

“As for those who grieve because they cannot attend the festivals – I took them away from you; they became tribute and were a source of shame to you. ¹ 

Return to the stronghold, you prisoners, with hope; today I declare that I will return double what was taken from you.

The Lord who commands armies will hold a banquet for all the nations on this mountain. ¹  At this banquet there will be plenty of meat and aged wine – tender meat and choicest wine. ² 

Then you will think to yourself, ¹  ‘Who bore these children for me? I was bereaved and barren, dismissed and divorced. ²  Who raised these children? Look, I was left all alone; where did these children come from?’”

Wake up! Wake up! Clothe yourself with strength, O arm of the Lord! ¹  Wake up as in former times, as in antiquity! Did you not smash ²  the Proud One? ³  Did you not ⁴  wound the sea monster? ⁵ 

A wolf and a lamb will graze together; ¹  a lion, like an ox, will eat straw, ²  and a snake’s food will be dirt. ³  They will no longer injure or destroy on my entire royal mountain,” ⁴  says the Lord.

So I said, ¹  “Oh, my dear people, ²  put on sackcloth and roll in ashes. Mourn with painful sobs as though you had lost your only child. For any moment now ³  that destructive army ⁴  will come against us.”

Look all around you! ¹  All of them gather to you. As surely as I live,” says the Lord, “you will certainly wear all of them like jewelry; you will put them on as if you were a bride.

And you, Zion, city doomed to destruction, ¹  you accomplish nothing ²  by wearing a beautiful dress, ³  decking yourself out in jewels of gold, and putting on eye shadow! ⁴  You are making yourself beautiful for nothing. Your lovers spurn you. They want to kill you. ⁵ 

“King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon devoured me and drove my people out. Like a monster from the deep he swallowed me. He filled his belly with my riches. He made me an empty dish. He completely cleaned me out.” ¹