Isaiah 54
Authorized (King James) Version
54 Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear;
break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child:
for more are the children of the desolate
than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord.
2 Enlarge the place of thy tent,
and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations:
spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes;
3 for thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left;
and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles,
and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.
4 Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed:
neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame:
for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth,
and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more.
5 For thy Maker is thine husband;
the Lord of hosts is his name;
and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel;
The God of the whole earth shall he be called.
6 For the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit,
and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God.
7 For a small moment have I forsaken thee;
but with great mercies will I gather thee.
8 In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment;
but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee,
saith the Lord thy Redeemer.
9 For this is as the waters of Noah unto me:
for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth;
so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee.
10 For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed;
but my kindness shall not depart from thee,
neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed,
saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee.
11 O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted,
behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours,
and lay thy foundations with sapphires.
12 And I will make thy windows of agates,
and thy gates of carbuncles,
and all thy borders of pleasant stones.
13 And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord;
and great shall be the peace of thy children.
14 In righteousness shalt thou be established:
thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear:
and from terror; for it shall not come near thee.
15 Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me:
whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake.
16 Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire,
and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work;
and I have created the waster to destroy.
17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper;
and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.
Isaiah 54
Expanded Bible
People Will Return to Jerusalem
54 The Lord says, “Sing, ·Jerusalem [L barren one; Gal. 4:27].
·You are like a woman who [L …who] never gave birth to children.
Start singing and shout for joy.
You never ·felt the pain of giving birth [were in labor],
·but you will have more children [L for more are the children of the desolate one]
than the woman who has a husband.
2 Make your tent bigger;
stretch ·it [L your tent curtains] out and make it wider.
Do not hold back.
Make the ·ropes [cords] longer
and its stakes stronger,
3 because you will spread out to the right and to the left.
Your ·children [descendants; offspring; seed] will take ·over [possession of] other nations,
and they will ·again live in [resettle] cities that once were ·destroyed [ruined; desolate].
4 “Don’t be afraid, because you will not be ashamed.
Don’t be ·embarrassed [discouraged], because you will not be disgraced.
You will forget the shame ·you felt earlier [L of your youth];
you will not remember the ·shame [disgrace; reproach] ·you felt when you lost your husband [of your widowhood; or of your abandonment].
5 ·The God who made you is like [L For your Maker is] your husband.
His name is the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts].
The Holy One of Israel [1:4] is ·the one who saves you [your redeemer].
He is called the God of all the earth.
6 You were like a woman ·whose husband left her [deserted; abandoned],
·and you were very sad [L grieved/distressed in spirit].
You were like a wife who married young
and then ·her husband left her [was rejected].
But the Lord ·called you to be his [or will call you back],”
says your God.
7 God says, “I left you for a ·short time [moment],
but with great ·kindness [mercy; compassion] I will bring you back again.
8 I ·became very angry [had a surge/burst of anger]
and hid from you for a ·time [moment],
but I will show you ·mercy [compassion] with ·kindness [lovingkindness; loyalty; covenant love] forever,”
says the Lord ·who saves you [your redeemer].
9 The Lord says, “This day is like the ·time [days] of Noah to me [Gen. 6–9].
I ·promised [swore] then that ·I [L the waters of Noah] would never ·flood [cover] the world again [Gen. 9:11].
In the same way, I ·promise [swore] I will not be angry with you
or ·punish [rebuke] you again.
10 The mountains may ·disappear [move; be shaken],
and the hills may ·come to an end [be removed; disappear],
but my ·love [lovingkindness; loyalty; covenant love] will never ·disappear [be moved/shaken];
my ·promise [covenant; treaty] of peace will not ·come to an end [be removed; disappear],”
says the Lord who ·shows mercy to [has compassion for] you.
11 “·You poor city [L Afflicted one]. Storms have ·hurt [battered; tossed] you,
and you have not been comforted.
But I will rebuild you with ·turquoise stones [gems],
and I will build your foundations with ·sapphires [or lapis lazuli].
12 I will use ·rubies [or agate; or jasper] to build your ·walls [towers; battlements; pinnacles]
and ·shining jewels [or beryl; or garnet; or crystal] for the gates
and precious jewels for all your outer walls.
13 All your children will be taught by the Lord,
and they will have much ·peace [prosperity; wholeness; C Hebrew: shalom].
14 I will ·build [establish] you ·using fairness [in righteousness].
·You will be safe from those who would hurt you [L Tyranny/oppression will be far from you],
·so you will have nothing to fear [terror will be far away].
Nothing will come to make you afraid.
15 ·I will not send anyone to attack you [L If anyone attacks, it is not from me],
and you will defeat those who do attack you.
16 “See, I made the blacksmith.
He fans the fire to make it hotter,
and he ·makes the kind of tool he wants [forges a weapon for his purpose].
In the same way I have made the destroyer to destroy.
17 So no weapon ·that is used [forged] against you will ·defeat you [succeed].
You will ·show that those who speak against you are wrong [refute every accusation against you; L refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment].
These are the ·good things [heritage] my servants receive.
Their ·victory [vindication; righteousness] comes from me,” says the Lord.
Isaiah 54
Living Bible
54 Sing, O childless woman! Break out into loud and joyful song, Jerusalem,[a] for she who was abandoned has more blessings now than she whose husband stayed! 2 Enlarge your house; build on additions; spread out your home! 3 For you will soon be bursting at the seams! And your descendants will possess the cities left behind during the exile and rule the nations that took their lands.
4 Fear not; you will no longer live in shame. The shame of your youth and the sorrows of widowhood will be remembered no more, 5 for your Creator will be your “husband.” The Lord Almighty is his name; he is your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, the God of all the earth. 6 For the Lord has called you back from your grief—a young wife abandoned by her husband. 7 For a brief moment I abandoned you. But with great compassion I will take you back. 8 In a moment of anger I turned my face a little while; but with everlasting love I will have pity on you, says the Lord, your Redeemer.
9 Just as in the time of Noah I swore that I would never again permit the waters of a flood to cover the earth and destroy its life, so now I swear that I will never again pour out my anger on you. 10 For the mountains may depart and the hills disappear, but my kindness shall not leave you. My promise of peace for you will never be broken, says the Lord who has mercy upon you.
11 O my afflicted people, tempest-tossed and troubled, I will rebuild you on a foundation of sapphires and make the walls of your houses from precious jewels. 12 I will make your towers of sparkling agate and your gates and walls of shining gems. 13 And all your citizens shall be taught by me, and their prosperity shall be great. 14 You will live under a government that is just and fair. Your enemies will stay far away; you will live in peace. Terror shall not come near. 15 If any nation comes to fight you, it will not be sent by me to punish you. Therefore, it will be routed, for I am on your side.[b] 16 I have created the smith who blows the coals beneath the forge and makes the weapons of destruction. And I have created the armies that destroy. 17 But in that coming day, no weapon turned against you shall succeed, and you will have justice against every courtroom lie. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord. This is the blessing I have given you, says the Lord.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 54:1 Jerusalem, implied. blessings, literally, “children.”
- Isaiah 54:15 for I am on your side, literally, “because of you.”
KJV reproduced by permission of Cambridge University Press, the Crown’s patentee in the UK.
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.