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God Brings His People Home

54 “Woman, be happy!
You have not had any children,
    but you should be very happy.

“Yes, the woman who is alone[a]
    will have more children than the woman with a husband.”
This is what the Lord says.

“Make your tent bigger.
    Open your doors wide.
    Don’t think small!
Make your tent large and strong,
    because you will grow in all directions.
Your children will take over many nations
    and live in the cities that were destroyed.
Don’t be afraid!
    You will not be disappointed.
People will not say bad things against you.
    You will not be embarrassed.
When you were young, you felt shame.
    But you will forget that shame now.
You will not remember the shame you felt
    when you lost your husband.[b]
Your real husband is the one who made you.
    His name is the Lord All-Powerful.
The Holy One of Israel is your Protector,[c]
    and he is the God of all the earth!

“Like a woman whose husband has left her,
    you were very sad.
    You were like a young wife left all alone.
But the Lord has called you back to him.”
    This is what your God says.
“For a short time I turned away from you,
    but with all my love I will welcome you again.
I was so angry that for a while I did not want to see you.
    But now I want to comfort you with kindness forever.”
    The Lord your Savior said this.

“Remember, in Noah’s time I punished the world with the flood.
    But I made a promise to Noah that I would never again destroy the world with water.
In the same way, I promise that I will never again be angry with you
    and say bad things to you.

10 “The mountains may disappear,
    and the hills may become dust,
but my faithful love will never leave you.
    I will make peace with you,
    and it will never end.”
The Lord who loves you said this.

11 “You poor city!
    Enemies came against you like storms,
    and no one comforted you.
But I will rebuild you.
    I will use a beautiful mortar to lay the stones of your walls.
    I will use sapphire stones when I lay the foundation.
12 The stones on top of the wall will be made from rubies.
    I will use shiny jewels for the gates.
    I will use precious stones to build the walls around you.
13 I, the Lord, will teach your children,
    and they will have real peace.
14 You will be built on goodness.
    You will be safe from cruelty and fear.
So you will have nothing to fear.
    Nothing will come to hurt you.
15 I will never send anyone to attack you.
    And if any army tries to attack you, you will defeat them.

16 “Look, I made the blacksmith. He blows on the fire to make it hotter. Then he takes the hot iron and makes the kind of tool he wants to make. In the same way, I made the ‘Destroyer’ to destroy things.

17 “People will make weapons to fight against you, but their weapons will not defeat you. Some people will say things against you, but anyone who speaks against you will be proved wrong.”

The Lord says, “That is what my servants get! They get the good things[d] that come from me, their Lord.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 54:1 Yes, the woman … alone This Hebrew word is like the word “destroyed.” This probably means “Jerusalem, the city that is destroyed.”
  2. Isaiah 54:4 husband In Hebrew this word is like the name Baal. This means that the Lord is Jerusalem’s true God, not the false god Baal.
  3. Isaiah 54:5 Protector Or “Redeemer,” someone who cared for and protected the family of a dead relative. Often this person bought back (redeemed) the poor relatives from slavery, making them free again.
  4. Isaiah 54:17 good things Or “victory.”

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.

“Do not be afraid;(L) you will not be put to shame.(M)
    Do not fear disgrace;(N) you will not be humiliated.
You will forget the shame of your youth(O)
    and remember no more the reproach(P) of your widowhood.(Q)
For your Maker(R) is your husband(S)
    the Lord Almighty is his name—
the Holy One(T) of Israel is your Redeemer;(U)
    he is called the God of all the earth.(V)
The Lord will call you back(W)
    as if you were a wife deserted(X) and distressed in spirit—
a wife who married young,(Y)
    only to be rejected,” says your God.
“For a brief moment(Z) I abandoned(AA) you,
    but with deep compassion(AB) I will bring you back.(AC)
In a surge of anger(AD)
    I hid(AE) my face from you for a moment,
but with everlasting kindness(AF)
    I will have compassion(AG) on you,”
    says the Lord your Redeemer.(AH)

“To me this is like the days of Noah,
    when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth.(AI)
So now I have sworn(AJ) not to be angry(AK) with you,
    never to rebuke(AL) you again.
10 Though the mountains be shaken(AM)
    and the hills be removed,
yet my unfailing love(AN) for you will not be shaken(AO)
    nor my covenant(AP) of peace(AQ) be removed,”
    says the Lord, who has compassion(AR) on you.

11 “Afflicted(AS) city, lashed by storms(AT) and not comforted,(AU)
    I will rebuild you with stones of turquoise,[a](AV)
    your foundations(AW) with lapis lazuli.(AX)
12 I will make your battlements of rubies,
    your gates(AY) of sparkling jewels,
    and all your walls of precious stones.
13 All your children will be taught by the Lord,(AZ)
    and great will be their peace.(BA)
14 In righteousness(BB) you will be established:(BC)
Tyranny(BD) will be far from you;
    you will have nothing to fear.(BE)
Terror(BF) will be far removed;
    it will not come near you.
15 If anyone does attack you, it will not be my doing;
    whoever attacks you will surrender(BG) to you.

16 “See, it is I who created the blacksmith(BH)
    who fans the coals into flame
    and forges a weapon(BI) fit for its work.
And it is I who have created the destroyer(BJ) to wreak havoc;
17     no weapon forged against you will prevail,(BK)
    and you will refute(BL) every tongue that accuses you.
This is the heritage of the servants(BM) of the Lord,
    and this is their vindication(BN) from me,”
declares the Lord.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 54:11 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.