Zion Will Be Secure
54:1 “Shout for joy, O barren one who has not given
birth!
Give a joyful shout and cry out, you who have not been in labor!
For the children of the desolate one are more numerous
than the children of the married woman,” says the LORD.
54:2 Make your tent larger,
stretch your tent curtains way out!1
Spare no effort,
lengthen your ropes,
and pound your stakes deep.2
54:3 For you will spread out to the right and the left,
your children will conquer3
nations,
and will resettle desolate cities.
54:4 Don’t be afraid, for you will not be put to shame!
Don’t be intimidated4
for you will not be humiliated!
You will forget about the shame you experienced in your youth,
you will no longer remember the disgrace of your divorce.5
54:5 For your husband is the one who made you,
the LORD who leads armies is his name.
He is your protector,6
the sovereign king7
of Israel.
He is called “God of the entire earth.”
54:6 “Indeed the LORD will call you back,
like a wife who has been divorced and suffers from depression,8
like a young wife when she has been rejected,” says your God.
54:7 “For a short time I divorced9
you,
but with great compassion I will gather you.
54:8 In a burst10
of anger I rejected you11
momentarily,
but with lasting devotion I will have compassion on you,”
says your protector,12
the LORD.
54:9 “As far as I am concerned, this is like
back in Noah’s time,13
when I vowed that the waters of Noah’s flood14
would never again cover the earth. In the same way I have vowed that I will
not be angry at you or shout at you.
54:10 Even if the mountains are removed,
and the hills displaced,
my devotion will not be removed from you,
nor will my covenant of friendship15
be displaced,”
says the one who has compassion on you, the LORD.
54:11 “O afflicted one, driven away,16
and unconsoled!
Look, I am about to set your stones in antimony,
and I lay your foundation with lapis-lazuli.
54:12 I will make your pinnacles out of gems,17
your gates out of beryl,18
and your outer wall19
out of beautiful20
stones.
54:13 All your children will be followers of the LORD,
and your children will enjoy great prosperity.21
54:14 You will be reestablished when I vindicate
you.22
You will not experience oppression,23
indeed, you will not be afraid.
You will not be terrified,24
for nothing frightening25
will come near you.
54:15 If anyone dares to26
challenge you, it will not be my doing!
Whoever tries to challenge you will be defeated.27
54:16 Look, I create the craftsman,
who fans the coals into a fire,
and forges a weapon.28
I create the destroyer so he might devastate.
54:17 No weapon forged to be used against you will succeed,
you will refute everyone who tries to accuse you.29
This is what the LORD will do for his servants,
I will vindicate them,”30
says the LORD.