Isaiah — Chapter 54

Shout, O infertile one,You who bore no child!Shout aloud for joy,You who did not travail!For the children of the wife forlornShall outnumber those of the espoused—said GOD.

Enlarge the site of your tent,Extend the size of your dwelling,aExtend the size of your dwelling Lit. “Let the cloths of your dwelling extend.” Do not stint!Lengthen the ropes, and drive the pegs firm.

For you shall spread out to the right and the left;Your offspring shall dispossess nationsbnations I.e., the foreigners who had occupied regions from which Israelites had been exiled; cf. 2 Kings 17.24. And shall people the desolate towns.

Fear not, you shall not be shamed;Do not cringe, you shall not be disgraced.For you shall forgetThe reproach of your youth,And remember no moreThe shame of your widowhood.

For the One who made you—whose name is “GOD of Hosts”—Will espouse you.The Holy One of Israel—who is called “God of all the Earth”—Will redeem you.

GOD has called you backAs a wife forlorn and forsaken.Can one cast off the wife of his youth?—said your God.

For a little while I forsook you,But with vast love I will bring you back.

In slight anger, for a moment,I hid My face from you;But with kindness everlastingI will take you back in love—said GOD your Redeemer.

For this to Me is like the waterscwaters Other Heb. mss. and the ancient versions read “days.” of Noah:As I swore that the waters of NoahNevermore would flood the earth,So I swear that I will notBe angry with you or rebuke you.

For the mountains may moveAnd the hills be shaken,But my loyalty shall never move from you,Nor My covenant of friendship be shaken—said GOD, who takes you back in love.

Unhappy, storm-tossed one, uncomforted!I will lay carbunclesdcarbuncles Taking pukh as a byform of nophekh; so already Rashi. as your building stonesAnd make your foundations of sapphires.

I will make your battlements of rubies,Your gates of precious stones,The whole encircling wall of gems.

And all your children shall be disciples of GOD,And great shall be the happiness of your children;

You shall be established through righteousness.You shall be safe from oppression,And shall have no fear;From ruin, and it shall not come near you.

eMeaning of verse uncertain. Surely no harm can be doneWithout My consent:Whoever would harm youShall fall because of you.

It is I who created the smithTo fan the charcoal fireAnd produce tools for each purpose;So it is I who createThe instruments of havoc.

No weapon formed against youShall succeed,And every tongue that contends with you at lawYou shall defeat.Such is the lot of GOD’s servants,Such their triumph through Me—declares GOD.