Sing, barren woman
54 Sing, barren woman who has borne no child;
break forth into singing and cry out,
you who were never in labor,
for the children of the wife who has been deserted will be more numerous than the children of the married, says the Lord.
2 Enlarge the site of your tent,
and stretch out the drapes of your dwellings;
don’t hold back.
Lengthen your tent ropes and strengthen your stakes.
3 To the right and to the left you will burst out,
and your children will possess the nations’ land
and settle their desolate cities.
4 Don’t fear,
because you won’t be ashamed;
don’t be dismayed,
because you won’t be disgraced.
You will forget the shame of your youth;
you’ll no longer remember the disgrace of your widowhood.
5 The one marrying you is the one who made you—
the Lord of heavenly forces is his name.
The one redeeming you is the holy one of Israel,
the one called the God of all the earth.
6 As an abandoned and dejected woman the Lord has summoned you;
as a young wife when she is rejected,
says your God.
7 For a brief moment I abandoned you,
but with great mercy I will bring you back.
8 In an outburst of rage,
I hid my face from you for a moment,
but with everlasting love I have consoled you,
says your redeemer, the Lord.
9 These are like the days[a] of Noah for me,
when I promised that Noah’s waters would never again cover the earth.
Likewise I promise not to rage against you or rebuke you.
10 The mountains may shift,
and the hills may be shaken,
but my faithful love won’t shift from you,
and my covenant of peace won’t be shaken,
says the Lord, the one who pities you.
11 Suffering one, storm-tossed, uncomforted,
look, I am setting your gemstones in silvery metal
and your foundations with sapphires.
12 I will make your towers of rubies,
and your gates of beryl,
and all your walls of precious jewels.
13 All your children will be disciples of the Lord—
I will make peace abound for your children.
14 You will be firmly founded in righteousness.
You will stay far from oppression because you won’t fear,
far from terror because it won’t come near you.
15 If anyone attacks you, it’s none of my doing.
Whoever attacks you will fall because of you.
16 Look, I myself created the metalworker who blows the fire of coal and who produces a tool for his work.
And I myself created the looter to destroy.
17 No weapon fashioned against you will succeed,
and you may condemn every tongue that disputes with you.
This is the heritage of the Lord’s servants,
whose righteousness comes from me, says the Lord.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 54:9 Or for the waters