Who handed Jacob over to the robber? Who handed Israel over to the looters? ¹  Was it not the Lord, against whom we sinned? They refused to follow his commands; they disobeyed his law. ² 

Now, this is what the Lord says, the one who created you, O Jacob, and formed you, O Israel: “Don’t be afraid, for I will protect ¹  you. I call you by name, you are mine.

This is what the Lord, the one who made you, says – the one who formed you in the womb and helps you: “Don’t be afraid, my servant Jacob, Jeshurun, ¹  whom I have chosen!

One will say, ‘I belong to the Lord,’ and another will use ¹  the name ‘Jacob.’ One will write on his hand, ‘The Lord’s,’ and use the name ‘Israel.’” ² 

Remember these things, O Jacob, O Israel, for you are my servant. I formed you to be my servant; O Israel, I will not forget you! ¹ 

I have not spoken in secret, in some hidden place. ¹  I did not tell Jacob’s descendants, ‘Seek me in vain!’ ²  I am the Lord, the one who speaks honestly, who makes reliable announcements. ³ 

“Listen to me, O family of Jacob, ¹  all you who are left from the family of Israel, ²  you who have been carried from birth, ³  you who have been supported from the time you left the womb. ⁴ 

Leave Babylon! Flee from the Babylonians! Announce it with a shout of joy! Make this known! Proclaim it throughout the earth! ¹  Say, ‘The Lord protects ²  his servant Jacob.

I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh; they will get drunk on their own blood, as if it were wine. ¹  Then all humankind ²  will recognize that I am the Lord, your deliverer, your protector, ³  the powerful ruler of Jacob.” ⁴ 

“Shout loudly! Don’t be quiet! Yell as loud as a trumpet! Confront my people with their rebellious deeds; ¹  confront Jacob’s family with their sin! ² 

Then you will find joy in your relationship to the Lord, ¹  and I will give you great prosperity, ²  and cause crops to grow on the land I gave to your ancestor Jacob.” ³  Know for certain that the Lord has spoken. ⁴ 

You will drink the milk of nations; you will nurse at the breasts of kings. ¹  Then you will recognize that I, the Lord, am your deliverer, your protector, ²  the powerful ruler of Jacob. ³ 

Everyone must be on his guard around his friends. He must not even trust any of his relatives. ¹  For every one of them will find some way to cheat him. ²  And all of his friends will tell lies about him.

The Lord, who is the inheritance ¹  of Jacob’s descendants, ²  is not like them. He is the one who created everything. And the people of Israel are those he claims as his own. ³  He is known as the Lord who rules over all.” ⁴ 

“Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: Now I will restore ¹  the fortunes of Jacob, and I will have mercy on the entire house of Israel. I will be zealous for my holy name.

Ephraim was a well-trained heifer who loved to thresh grain; I myself put a fine yoke ¹ on her neck. I will harness Ephraim. Let Judah plow! ²  Let Jacob break up ³  the unplowed ground for himself!

The sovereign Lord confirms this oath by his very own life. ¹  The Lord, the God who commands armies, is speaking: “I despise Jacob’s arrogance; I hate their ²  fortresses. I will hand over to their enemies ³  the city of Samaria ⁴  and everything in it.”

When they had completely consumed the earth’s vegetation, I said, “Sovereign Lord, forgive Israel! ¹  How can Jacob survive? ²  He is too weak!” ³ 

Does the family ¹  of Jacob say, ²  ‘The Lord’s patience ³  can’t be exhausted – he would never do such things’? ⁴  To be sure, my commands bring a reward for those who obey them, ⁵ 

I will certainly gather all of you, O Jacob, I will certainly assemble those Israelites who remain. ¹  I will bring them together like sheep in a fold, ²  like a flock in the middle of a pasture; ³  they will be so numerous that they will make a lot of noise. ⁴