1Sing aloud, O barren woman who never bore a child,
break into cries of joy, you who have never been in labour;
for the deserted wife has more sons than she who lives in wedlock,
says the LORD.
2Enlarge the limits of your home,
spread wide the curtains of your tent;
let out its ropes to the full
and drive the pegs home;
3for you shall break out of your confines right and left,
your descendants shall dispossess wide regions ,
and re-people cities now desolate.
4Fear not; you shall not be put to shame,
you shall suffer no insult, have no cause to blush.
It is time to forget the shame of your younger days
and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood;
5for your husband is your maker, whose name is the LORD of Hosts;
your ransomer is the Holy One of Israel
who is called God of all the earth.
6The LORD has acknowledged you a wife again,
once deserted and heart-broken,
your God has called you a bride still young
though once rejected.
7On the impulse of a moment I forsook you,
but with tender affection I will bring you home again.
8In sudden anger
I hid my face from you for a moment;
but now have I pitied you with a love which never fails,
says the LORD who ransoms you.
9These days recall for me the days of Noah:
as I swore that the waters of Noah's flood
should never again pour over the earth,
so now I swear to you
never again to be angry with you or reproach you.
10Though the mountains move and the hills shake,
my love shall be immovable and never fail,
and my covenant of peace shall not be shaken.
So says the LORD who takes pity on you. The future Jerusalem. Is.54.11-17
11O storm-battered city, distressed and disconsolate,
now I will set your stones in the finest mortar
and your foundations in lapis lazuli;
12I will make your battlements of red jasper
and your gates of garnet ,
all your boundary-stones shall be jewels.
13Your masons shall all be instructed by the LORD,
and your sons shall enjoy great prosperity;
14and in triumph shall you be restored.
You shall be free from oppression and have no fears,
free from terror, and it shall not come near you;
15should any attack you, it will not be my doing,
the aggressor, whoever he be, shall perish for his attempt.
16It was I who created the smith
to fan the coals in the furnace
and forge weapons each for its purpose,
and I who created the destroyer to lay waste;
17but now no weapon made to harm you shall prevail,
and you shall rebut every charge brought against you.
Such is the fortune of the servants of the LORD;
their vindication comes from me.
This is the very word of the LORD.