AncientWord

1 This is the book of the commandments of God, the Law that endures forever.
All who hold fast to it will live,
but those who forsake it will die.

2 Turn, O Jacob, and take hold of her;
walk toward the shining of her light.

3 Do not give your glory to another,
or your blessings to a foreign nation.

4 Happy are we, O Israel,
because we know what is pleasing to God.

5 Take courage, my people,
you who are the memorial of Israel!

6 You were sold to the nations, not for destruction,
but because you provoked God.
You were handed over to your enemies
because you angered your Creator.

7 For you offered sacrifices to demons, not to God.

8 You forgot the everlasting God, who brought you up,
and you grieved Jerusalem, who raised you.

9 For she saw the wrath that came from God upon you, and she said:
"Listen, you neighboring cities of Zion:
God has brought upon me great mourning.

10 I have seen the captivity of my sons and daughters,
which the Everlasting brought upon them.

11 With joy I raised them,
but with weeping and sorrow I let them go.

12 Let no one rejoice over me, a widow and desolate;
I was left deserted because of the sins of my children,
because they turned away from the Law of God.

13 They did not know His statutes;
they did not walk in the ways of God's commandments,
nor did they follow the paths of discipline in His righteousness.

14 Let the people of Zion come,
and remember the captivity of my sons and daughters,
which the Everlasting brought upon them.

15 For He brought against them a distant nation,
a shameless people, of a strange language,
who showed no respect for the aged,
and no mercy to the young.

16 They took away the beloved sons of the widow,
and left her alone and without a daughter.

17 But as for me—how can I help you?

18 For He who brought these calamities upon you
will deliver you from the hands of your enemies.

19 Go, my children, go your way;
for I am left desolate.

20 I have taken off the robe of peace
and put on sackcloth for my prayer;
I will cry to the Everlasting all my days.

21 Take courage, my children, cry out to God,
for He will remember you—
He who brought this upon you.

22 For just as you planned to go astray from God,
return with tenfold eagerness to seek Him.

23 For He who brought these calamities upon you
will bring you everlasting joy with your salvation.

24 Take courage, O Jerusalem,
for He who named you will comfort you.

25 Wretched will be those who mistreated you,
and those who rejoiced at your fall.

26 Wretched will be the cities where your children were enslaved,
wretched the city that took your sons.

27 Just as she rejoiced at your fall and was glad at your ruin,
so will she be grieved at her own desolation.

28 I will take away her pride in her great population,
and her boast will be turned into mourning.

29 For I, the Everlasting, will send fire upon her,
and it will consume her foundations.

30 Take heart, O Jerusalem,
for He who named you is the One who will comfort you.