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The focus shifts from the exiles to Zion. The poem is a mixture of questions that Zion asks (vv.14, 21, 24) and the answers given, which are oracles of salvation. These are followed by a question from God to Zion. Zion’s response to the preceding oracle of salvation is disbelief (cf. the response in 40:27 to the initial announcement of salvation): Zion believes it has been both forsaken and forgotten by God. As inconceivable as it may be that a mother might abandon her child, God would never abandon his child, Zion! V.16 may be a reference to the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem in preparation for the return of her sons, the exiles. The return will be so extensive that there will not be enough room in Jerusalem. Far from forgetting Zion, God will restore her beyond measure.
Zion responds in continuing disbelief: “But I am barren; where are all these children coming from?” The answer is that the Gentiles will escort her children home (vv.22-23).
But doubt remains with Zion, and she questions whether anyone is strong enough to subdue those whom she remembers as the fierce destroyer of her people and her city. She is unable to see that the stage of world history is changing. Babylon, which once was invincible, is so no longer.
Now it is God’s turn to ask a question. “Where is your mother’s certificate of divorce?” It does not exist. Zion’s plight was only temporary. In v.2, the prophet chides them for their disbelief. When God came to deliver them, they were not around. The prophet concludes his portion with a barrage of images relating God’s power and strength, which are drawn primarily from the Exodus tradition.