Isaiah 54:1-10

Good News Translation

The Lord's Love for Israel

54 ^(A)Jerusalem, you have been like a childless woman,
    but now you can sing and shout for joy.
Now you will have more children
    than a woman whose husband never left her.
²Make the tent you live in larger;
    lengthen its ropes and strengthen the pegs!
³You will extend your boundaries on all sides;
    your people will get back the land
    that the other nations now occupy.
    Cities now deserted will be filled with people.

⁴Do not be afraid—you will not be disgraced again;
    you will not be humiliated.
You will forget your unfaithfulness as a young wife,
    and your desperate loneliness as a widow.
⁵Your Creator will be like a husband to you—
    the Lord Almighty is his name.
The holy God of Israel will save you—
    he is the ruler of all the world.

⁶Israel, you are like a young wife,
    deserted by her husband and deeply distressed.
But the Lord calls you back to him and says:
⁷“For one brief moment I left you;
    with deep love I will take you back.
⁸I turned away angry for only a moment,
    but I will show you my love forever.”
So says the Lord who saves you.

⁹^(B)“In the time of Noah I promised
    never again to flood the earth.
Now I promise not to be angry with you again;
    I will not reprimand or punish you.
¹⁰^(C)The mountains and hills may crumble,
    but my love for you will never end;
    I will keep forever my promise of peace.”
So says the Lord who loves you.