“Take courage!
My children!
Cry to God!
He will deliver you
From the power
Of the enemy!
He will deliver you
From the hand
Of the enemy!
I have put my hope
In the Everlasting One
To save you!
Joy has come
To me
From the Holy One!
Because mercy
Will soon come
To you
From your everlasting Savior.”
Continuing with the personification of Jerusalem, this city wanted her children to have courage. They should cry to God who would deliver them from the power and hand of their enemy. Jerusalem had put her hope in the Everlasting One, not Yahweh, to save them from their enemy. Joy has come to Jerusalem because the mercy of the Holy One would soon come to them to be their everlasting savior.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 