"Your buildershurry;Your destroyersand devastatorsWill departfrom you.
Then the headsof fathers'[households] of Judahand Benjaminand the priestsand the Levitesarose,even everyonewhose spiritGodhad stirredto goup and rebuildthe houseof the LORDwhichis in Jerusalem.
Then I saidto them, "You seethe badsituationwe are in, that Jerusalemis desolateand its gatesburnedby fire.Come,let us rebuildthe wallof Jerusalemsothat we will nolongerbe a reproach."
For thereour captorsdemandedof us songs,And our tormentorsmirth,[saying], "Singus one of the songsof Zion."
I sendit against a godlessnationAnd commissionit againstthe peopleof My furyTo capturebootyand to seizeplunder,And to tramplethem downlike mudin the streets.
"Truly,O LORD,the kingsof Assyriahave devastatedallthe countriesand their lands,
"For your wasteand desolateplaces and your destroyedland--Surelynowyou will be toocrampedfor the inhabitants,And those who swallowedyou will be faraway.
That you have forgottenthe LORDyour Maker,Who stretchedout the heavensAnd laidthe foundationsof the earth,That you fearcontinuallyalldaylong becauseof the furyof the oppressor,As he makesreadyto destroy?But whereis the furyof the oppressor?
"Liftup your eyesroundaboutand see;They allgathertogether, they cometo you. Your sonswill comefrom afar,And your daughterswill be carriedin the arms.
For [as] a youngmanmarriesa virgin,[So] your sonswill marryyou; And [as] the bridegroomrejoicesoverthe bride,[So] your Godwill rejoiceoveryou.
"And there will be nomorefor the houseof Israela pricklingbrieror a painfulthornfrom anyroundaboutthem who scornedthem; then they will knowthat I am the LordGOD."
I will multiplymenon you, allthe houseof Israel,allof it; and the citieswill be inhabitedand the wasteplaceswill be rebuilt.
