And I will bring your health back and heal your wounds,” says the Lord, “because other people said you were outcasts. They said, ‘No one cares about Zion.’”
You saw what happened in the desert. You saw how the Lord your God carried you like a man carries his child. He brought you safely all the way to this place.’
He said to him, “I am the Lord your God. If you listen to me and do what I say is right, and if you obey all my commands and laws, then I will not give you any of the sicknesses that I gave the Egyptians. I am the Lord who heals you.”
“I will heal Israel! Then people will know that Ephraim sinned. They will know about Samaria’s lies. They will know about the thieves who come and go in that town.
“Israel didn’t know that I, the Lord, was the one who gave her grain, wine, and oil. I kept giving her more and more silver and gold, but she used this silver and gold to make statues of Baal.
The people had many troubles, but he was not against them. He loved them and felt sorry for them, so he saved them. He sent his special angel to save them. He picked them up and carried them, just as he did long ago.
“Family of Jacob, listen to me! You who are left from the family of Israel, listen! I have carried you since you left your mother’s womb. I carried you when you were born,
At that time the light from the moon will be as bright as the sun, and the light from the sun will be seven times brighter than it is now. One day of sunlight will be like a whole week’s worth. This will happen when the Lord bandages his broken people and heals the hurts from their beatings.
And you must remember the entire trip that the Lord your God has led you through these 40 years in the desert. He was testing you. He wanted to make you humble. He wanted to know what is in your heart. He wanted to know if you would obey his commands.
God lives forever. He is your place of safety. His power continues forever! He is protecting you. He will force your enemies to leave your land. He will say, ‘Destroy the enemy!’