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Chapter 54

The New Zion

Raise a glad cry, you barren one[a] who never bore a child,
    break forth in jubilant song, you who have never been in labor,
For more numerous are the children of the deserted wife
    than the children of her who has a husband,
    says the Lord.(A)
Enlarge the space for your tent,
    spread out your tent cloths unsparingly;
    lengthen your ropes and make firm your pegs.(B)
For you shall spread abroad to the right and left;
    your descendants shall dispossess the nations
    and shall people the deserted cities.[b]

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Footnotes

  1. 54:1 Jerusalem, pictured as a wife who had been barren and deserted, now suddenly finds herself with innumerable children (the returning exiles); cf. Gal 4:27 for an application to a new context.
  2. 54:3 Those who had taken advantage of the exile to encroach on Jerusalem’s territory will be driven out, and the returning exiles will repopulate the cities of Judah.

The Future Glory of Zion

54 “Sing, barren woman,(A)
    you who never bore a child;
burst into song, shout for joy,(B)
    you who were never in labor;(C)
because more are the children(D) of the desolate(E) woman
    than of her who has a husband,(F)
says the Lord.
“Enlarge the place of your tent,(G)
    stretch your tent curtains wide,
    do not hold back;
lengthen your cords,
    strengthen your stakes.(H)
For you will spread out to the right and to the left;
    your descendants(I) will dispossess nations(J)
    and settle in their desolate(K) cities.

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