Israel's second complaint is examined. The complaint is the abandonment of her children. Israel has herself "desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro." In the midst of this personal affliction, the concern is also for her children. "I have lost my children.... who hath brought up these?"
One of the themes of this chapter and the last has been the scattering of Israel, and it is this issue that becomes the focus of the complaint of Israel. Although the Judge/Lord has promised to care for Israel, the attention now shifts from Israel to her lost children - to those on the Isles of the Sea.