Isaiah 54
The Lord's Love for Israel
1 t Jerusalem, you have been like a childless woman, but now you can sing and shout for joy. Now you will have more children than a woman whose husband never left her.
2 Make the tent you live in larger; lengthen its ropes and strengthen the pegs!
3 You will extend your boundaries on all sides; your people will get back the land that the other nations now occupy. Cities now deserted will be filled with people.
4 Do not be afraid—you will not be disgraced again; you will not be humiliated. You will forget your unfaithfulness as a young wife, and your desperate loneliness as a widow.
5 Your Creator will be like a husband to you— the Lord Almighty is his name. The holy God of Israel will save you— he is the ruler of all the world.
6 Israel, you are like a young wife, deserted by her husband and deeply distressed. But the Lord calls you back to him and says:
7 “For one brief moment I left you; with deep love I will take you back.
8 I turned away angry for only a moment, but I will show you my love forever.” So says the Lord who saves you.
9 t “In the time of Noah I promised never again to flood the earth. Now I promise not to be angry with you again; I will not reprimand or punish you.
10
t The mountains and hills may crumble,
but my love for you will never end;
I will keep forever my promise of peace.”
So says the Lord who loves you.
The Future Jerusalem
11 t t The Lord says, “O Jerusalem, you suffering, helpless city, with no one to comfort you, I will rebuild your foundations with precious stones.
12 I will build your towers with rubies, your gates with stones that glow like fire, and the wall around you with jewels.
13 t “I myself will teach your people and give them prosperity and peace.
14 Justice and right will make you strong. You will be safe from oppression and terror.
15 Whoever attacks you, does it without my consent; whoever fights against you will fall.
16 “I create the blacksmith, who builds a fire and forges weapons. I also create the soldier, who uses the weapons to kill.
17 But no weapon will be able to hurt you; you will have an answer for all who accuse you. I will defend my servants and give them victory.” The Lord has spoken.
Isaiah 54
1 Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith Jehovah.2 Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thy habitations; spare not: lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes.3 For thou shalt spread aboard on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall possess the nations, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.4 Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth; and the reproach of thy widowhood shalt thou remember no more.5 For thy Maker is thy husband; Jehovah of hosts is his name: and the Holy One of Israel is thy Redeemer; the God of the whole earth shall he be called.6 For Jehovah hath called thee as a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, even a wife of youth, when she is cast off, saith thy God.7 For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee.8 In overflowing wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting lovingkindness will I have mercy on thee, saith Jehovah thy Redeemer.9 For this is as the waters of Noah unto me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah shall no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I will not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee.10 For the mountains may depart, and the hills be removed; but my lovingkindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall my covenant of peace be removed, saith Jehovah that hath mercy on thee.11 O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will set thy stones in fair colors, and lay thy foundations with sapphires.12 And I will make thy pinnacles of rubies, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy border of precious stones.13 And all thy children shall be taught of Jehovah; and great shall be the peace of thy children.14 In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression, for thou shalt not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near thee.15 Behold, they may gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall because of thee.16 Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the fire of coals, and bringeth forth a weapon for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of Jehovah, and their righteousness which is of me, saith Jehovah.