My tent is ruined. All its ropes are broken. My children left me. They are gone. No one is left to put up my tent. No one is left to fix a shelter for me.
This is what the Lord says: “A sound is heard in Ramah— bitter crying and great sadness. Rachel cries for her children, and she refuses to be comforted, because her children are gone.”
Jerusalem’s enemies have won. Her enemies have been successful. This happened because the Lord punished her. He punished Jerusalem for her many sins. Her children have gone away. Their enemies captured them and took them away.
“My servant, I gave you the words I want you to say, and I covered you with my hands to protect you. I did this to make a new heaven and earth and so that you would say to Israel, ‘You are my people.’”
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.’”