says our protector – the Lord who commands armies is his name, the Holy One of Israel. ¹ 

“A protector ¹  comes to Zion, to those in Jacob who repent of their rebellious deeds,” ²  says the Lord.

For I looked forward to the day of vengeance, and then payback time arrived. ¹ 

I remove the guilt of your rebellious deeds as if they were a cloud, the guilt of your sins as if they were a cloud. ¹  Come back to me, for I protect ²  you.”

For this is what the Lord says: “You were sold for nothing, and you will not be redeemed for money.”

In unison give a joyful shout, O ruins of Jerusalem! For the Lord consoles his people; he protects ¹  Jerusalem.

In a burst ¹  of anger I rejected you ²  momentarily, but with lasting devotion I will have compassion on you,” says your protector, ³  the Lord.

They will be called, “The Holy People, the Ones Protected ¹  by the Lord.” You will be called, “Sought After, City Not Abandoned.”

No lions will be there, no ferocious wild animals will be on it ¹  – they will not be found there. Those delivered from bondage will travel on it,

Don’t be afraid, despised insignificant Jacob, ¹  men of ²  Israel. I am helping you,” says the Lord, your protector, ³  the Holy One of Israel. ⁴ 

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 says, your protector, ¹  the Holy One of Israel: ²  “For your sake I send to Babylon and make them all fugitives, ³  turning the Babylonians’ joyful shouts into mourning songs. ⁴ 

This is what the Lord, Israel’s king, says, their protector, ¹  the Lord who commands armies: “I am the first and I am the last, there is no God but me.

This is what the Lord, your protector, ¹  says, the one who formed you in the womb: “I am the Lord, who made everything, who alone stretched out the sky, who fashioned the earth all by myself, ² 

This is what the Lord, your protector, ¹  says, the Holy One of Israel: ²  “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you how to succeed, who leads you in the way you should go.

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 

Did you not dry up the sea, the waters of the great deep? Did you not make ¹  a path through the depths of the sea, so those delivered from bondage ²  could cross over?

For your husband is the one who made you – the Lord who commands armies is his name. He is your protector, ¹  the Holy One of Israel. ²  He is called “God of the entire earth.”

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