Isaiah 54:1-17
54 Shout, barren one that has given no birth; break out into shouting and whooping, you that have felt no birth-pains; for here are more children of the desolate mother than of the husbanded mother, says Jehovah.
2 Broaden the site for your tent and have them stretch out the cords of your abode; do not set a limit; make your ropes long and your pegs strong;
3 for you shall break out to right and to left, and your offspring shall take possession of nations and bring population to desolate cities.
4 ** Do not be afraid, because you will not be disappointed; nor feel humiliation, because you will not be abashed; for you shall forget the disappointments of your youth, and no longer remember the taunts of your widowhood.
5 For it is your Maker that is husband to you, whose name is Jehovah of Armies, and your friend in need is the Holy One of Israel, who shall be called the God of all the earth.
6 ** For like a forsaken and heart-wrung wife Jehovah has called you, and a first wife when she was being despised, says Jehovah your God.
7 * In a little irritation I left you, but in great tenderness I will take you home;
8 in a rush of wrath I hid my face from you for a moment, but in eternal friendship I will tenderly cherish you, says your restorer Jehovah.
9 * This is like Noah’s times to me: as I swore not to let Noah’s water go over the earth again, so I have sworn not to be incensed at you nor scold you.
10 For the mountains will shift and the hills be unsettled, but my friendship will never shift away from you nor my covenant of peace be unsettled, says your tender protector Jehovah.
11 Wretched town, storm-wrecked, unrelieved, here I am bedding your stones in asphalt and laying your foundations in sapphire,
12 ** and I will make your battlements fire-opal and your gateposts carnelian, and all your boundary posts precious stones.
13 ** And all your sons shall be learners under Jehovah, and the health of your sons shall be perfect.
14 You shall be kept in condition by right; live far from tyranny, for you shall not be afraid, and from dismay, for it shall not come near you.
15 * Suppose they do start quarrels, it will not be my doing; whoever starts a quarrel with you will come to his fall over you.
16 * It was I that created a smith who blows a charcoal fire and brings out a weapon for its work, and it was I that created a ravager to ruin.
17 No weapon forged against you shall be a success, and every tongue that takes the stand against you before a court you shall convict of wrong. This is the heritage of Jehovah’s servants, and the vindication they have from me, quoth Jehovah.
Footnotes
^ 54:4 Or be put to shame; nor
^ 54:4 Or forget the shames
^ 54:6 Lit. and a wife of youth when
^ 54:6 Var. omits Jehovah after says
^ 54:7 Var. For a little moment I
^ 54:9 Var.* For this is to me what Noah’s water was
^ 54:12 Var. all your territory or all your boundary
^ 54:12 Or semiprecious stones
^ 54:13 Or the peace of Or the welfare of
^ 54:13 Lit. shall be much
^ 54:15 Unc.; susp.
^ 54:16 Or brings out a tool
