Isaiah 49:8-15 (Vespers, 13th reading)
- 8
- Thus says the Lord: “In an acceptable time I have heard You, and in the day of salvation I have helped You; I will preserve You and give You as a covenant to the people, to restore the earth, to cause them to inherit the desolate heritages;
- 9
- that You may say to the prisoners, ‘Go forth,’ to those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’ “They shall feed along the roads, and their pastures shall be on all desolate heights.
- 10
- They shall neither hunger nor thirst, neither heat nor sun shall strike them; for He who has mercy on them will lead them, even by the springs of water He will guide them.
- 11
- I will make each of My mountains a road, and My highways shall be elevated.
- 12
- Surely these shall come from afar; Look! Those from the north and the west, and these from the land of Sinim.”
- 13
- Sing, O heavens! Be joyful, O earth! And break out in singing, O mountains! For the Lord has comforted His people, and will have mercy on His afflicted. God will remember Zion
- 14
- But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me.”
- 15
- “Can a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, yet I will not forget you.