1 She is the book of the commandments of God and the law that endures forever. All those who keep her will live, but those forsaking her will die.
2 Return, O Jacob, and take hold of her. Walk toward the radiance of the presence of her light.
3 Do not give your glory to another or the things that are of advantage to you to a foreign nation.
4 O Israel, we are blessed, for what is pleasing to our God is known to us.
5 Be of good courage, my people, O memorial of Israel.
6 You were sold to the nations, not for destruction, but you were handed over to the enemies because you provoked God.
7 You provoked Him who created you by sacrificing to demons and not to God.
8 You forgot the eternal God, who nursed you, and you grieved Jerusalem, which nourished you.
9 For she saw the wrath coming upon you from God, and she said, “Give heed, neighbors of Zion, God has brought upon me great sorrow,
10 for I see the exile of my sons and my daughters which the Eternal One brought upon them.
11 With joy I raised them, but with weeping and sorrow I sent them away.
12 Let no one rejoice over me, a widow and forsaken of many. I was made desolate on account of the sins of my children, because they turned away from the Law of God.
13 And they did not know His ordinances, nor walk in the ways of the commandments of God, nor did they walk on the paths of discipline in His righteousness.
14 “Let the neighbors of Zion come, and let them remember the exile of my sons and my daughters, which the Eternal One brought upon them.
15 He brought a nation from afar against them, a shameless nation speaking a strange language, which does not respect the elderly nor pity the young child.
16 They led away the widow's beloved sons and left her who was alone destitute without daughters.
17 But how can I be of help to you?
18 For He who brought these calamities upon you will deliver you from the hand of your enemies.
19 Go, my children, go; for I am left desolate.
20 I have taken off the robe of peace and clothed myself in the sackcloth of my prayer. I will cry out to the Eternal One in my days.
21 “O my children, take courage, cry out to God, and He will deliver you from the power and the hand of the enemies.
22 For I hope upon the Eternal One to save you, and the joy from the Holy One comes to me, because mercy will soon come to you from the Eternal One, your Savior.
23 For I sent you out with sorrow and weeping, but with joy and gladness God will restore you to me forever.
24 For just as the neighbors of Zion have now seen your exile, so too they will soon see your salvation from your God, which will come upon you with great glory and the radiance of the Eternal One.
25 “My children, endure in patience the wrath that has come upon you from God. Your enemy has pursued you diligently, but soon you will see his destruction, and you will tread upon their necks.
26 My pampered ones have been made to walk rough roads; they were carried off like a flock seized by enemies.
27 Take courage, my children, and cry out to God, for you will be remembered by Him who brought this upon you.
28 For just as you purposed to go astray from God, now having returned, seek Him with tenfold zeal.
29 For the One who brought these calamities upon you will bring you everlasting joy with your salvation.”
30 Take courage, O Jerusalem, for He who named you will comfort you.
31 Wretched are those who mistreated you and rejoiced at your fall.
32 Wretched are the cities in which your children served as slaves. Wretched is she who took your sons.
33 For just as she took pleasure in your ruin and rejoiced over your fall, so shall she be grieved at her own desolation.
34 I shall take away from her the rejoicing of her great multitude, and her arrogance will become sorrow.
35 For fire will come upon her from the Eternal One for many days, and she will be inhabited by demons for a long time.
36 O Jerusalem, look eastward, and see the joy that is coming to you from God.
37 Behold, your sons whom you sent away are coming, gathered together from the east to the west by the word of the Holy One, rejoicing in the glory of God.