<p class="poetry">I will destroy<n id="1" /> Daughter Zion,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">who is as delicate and defenseless as a young maiden.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;Come back to me, my wayward sons,&#8221; says the <sc>Lordsc>, &#8220;for I am your true master.<n id="1" /> If you do,<n id="2" /> I will take one of you from each town and two of you from each family group, and I will bring you back to Zion.

<p class="poetry">Yes,<n id="1" /> I will restore you to health.p> <p class="poetry">I will heal your wounds.p> <p class="poetry">I, the <sc>Lordsc>, affirm it!<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">For you have been called an outcast,p> <p class="poetry">Zion, whom no one cares for.&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">Yes, a time is comingp> <p class="poetry">when watchmen<n id="1" /> will call out on the mountains of Ephraim,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Come! Let us go to Zionp> <p class="poetry">to worship the <sc>Lordsc> our God!&#8221;&#8217;&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">They will ask the way to Zion;p> <p class="poetry">they will turn their faces toward it.p> <p class="poetry">They will come<n id="1" /> and bind themselves to the <sc>Lordsc>p> <p class="poetry">in a lasting covenant that will never be forgotten.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">The person who lives in Zion says,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;May Babylon pay for the violence done to me and to my relatives.&#8221;p> <p class="poetry">Jerusalem says,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;May those living in Babylonia pay for the bloodshed of my people.&#8221;<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">In fact,<n id="1" /> I hear a cry like that of a woman in labor,p> <p class="poetry">a cry of anguish like that of a woman giving birth to her first baby.p> <p class="poetry">It is the cry of Daughter Zion<n id="2" /> gasping for breath,p> <p class="poetry">reaching out for help,<n id="3" /> saying, &#8220;I am done in!<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">My life is ebbing away before these murderers!&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">Its soldiers are armed with bows and spears.p> <p class="poetry">They are cruel and show no mercy.p> <p class="poetry">They sound like the roaring seap> <p class="poetry">as they ride forth on their horses.p> <p class="poetry">Lined up in formation like men going into battlep> <p class="poetry">to attack you, Daughter Zion.&#8217;&#8221;<n id="1" />p>

&#8220;Micah from Moresheth<n id="1" /> prophesied during the time Hezekiah was king of Judah.<n id="2" /> He told all the people of Judah,p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;The <sc>Lordsc> who rules over all<n id="3" /> says,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Zion<n id="4" /> will become a plowed field.p> <p class="poetry">Jerusalem<n id="5" /> will become a pile of rubble.p> <p class="poetry">The temple mount will become a mere wooded ridge.&#8221;&#8217;<n id="6" />p>

<p class="poetry">They will come and shout for joy on Mount Zion.p> <p class="poetry">They will be radiant with joy<n id="1" /> over the good things the <sc>Lordsc> provides,p> <p class="poetry">the grain, the fresh wine, the olive oil,p> <p class="poetry">the young sheep and calves he has given to them.p> <p class="poetry">They will be like a well-watered gardenp> <p class="poetry">and will not grow faint or weary any more.p>