Passage Resources Hebrew/Greek Your Content
Previous Next
Add parallel Print Page Options
Close NET

Isaiah 54
New English Translation

Zion Will Be Secure

54 “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.
2 Make your tent larger,
stretch your tent curtains farther out![a]
Spare no effort,
lengthen your ropes,
and pound your stakes deep.[b]
3 For you will spread out to the right and to the left;
your children will conquer[c] nations
and will resettle desolate cities.
4 Don’t be afraid, for you will not be put to shame.
Don’t be intimidated,[d] 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 abandonment.[e]
5 For your husband is the one who made you—
the Lord of Heaven’s Armies is his name.
He is your Protector,[f] the Holy One of Israel.[g]
He is called “God of the entire earth.”
6 “Indeed, the Lord will call you back
like a wife who has been abandoned and suffers from depression,[h]
like a young wife when she has been rejected,” says your God.
7 “For a short time I abandoned[i] you,
but with great compassion I will gather you.
8 In a burst[j] of anger I rejected you[k] momentarily,
but with lasting devotion I will have compassion on you,”
says your Protector,[l] the Lord.
9 “As far as I am concerned, this is like in Noah’s time,[m]
when I vowed that the waters of Noah’s flood[n] 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.
10 Even if the mountains are removed
and the hills displaced,
my devotion will not be removed from you,
nor will my covenant of friendship[o] be displaced,”
says the Lord, the one who has compassion on you.
11 “O afflicted one, driven away,[p] and unconsoled!
Look, I am about to set your stones in antimony,
and lay your foundation with lapis lazuli.
12 I will make your pinnacles out of gems,[q]
your gates out of beryl,[r]
and your outer wall[s] out of beautiful[t] stones.
13 All your children will be followers of the Lord,
and your children will enjoy great prosperity.[u]
14 You will be reestablished when I vindicate you.[v]
You will not experience oppression;[w]
indeed, you will not be afraid.
You will not be terrified,[x]
for nothing frightening[y] will come near you.
15 If anyone dares to[z] challenge you, it will not be my doing!
Whoever tries to challenge you will be defeated.[aa]
16 Look, I create the craftsman,
who fans the coals into a fire
and forges a weapon.[ab]
I create the destroyer so he might devastate.
17 No weapon forged to be used against you will succeed;
you will refute everyone who tries to accuse you.[ac]
This is what the Lord will do for his servants—
I will vindicate them,”[ad]
says the Lord.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 54:2 tn Heb “the curtains of your dwelling places let them stretch out.”
  2. Isaiah 54:2 tn Heb “your stakes strengthen.”
  3. Isaiah 54:3 tn Or “take possession of”; NAB “shall dispossess.”
  4. Isaiah 54:4 tn Or “embarrassed”; NASB “humiliated…disgraced.”
  5. Isaiah 54:4 tn Another option is to translate, “the disgrace of our widowhood” (so NRSV). However, the following context (vv. 6-7) refers to Zion’s husband, the Lord, abandoning her, not dying. This suggests that an אַלְמָנָה (ʾalmanah) was a woman who had lost her husband, whether by death or abandonment.
  6. Isaiah 54:5 tn Or “redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.
  7. Isaiah 54:5 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
  8. Isaiah 54:6 tn Heb “like a woman abandoned and grieved in spirit.”
  9. Isaiah 54:7 tn Or “forsook” (NASB).
  10. Isaiah 54:8 tn According to BDB 1009 s.v. שֶׁטֶף the noun שֶׁצֶף here is an alternate form of שֶׁטֶף (shetef, “flood”). Some relate the word to an alleged Akkadian cognate meaning “strength.”
  11. Isaiah 54:8 tn Heb “I hid my face from you.”
  12. Isaiah 54:8 tn Or “redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.
  13. Isaiah 54:9 tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “For [or “indeed”] the waters of Noah [is] this to me.” כִּי־מֵי (ki-me, “for the waters of”) should be emended to כִּימֵי (kime, “like the days of”), which is supported by the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa and all the ancient versions except LXX.
  14. Isaiah 54:9 tn Heb “the waters of Noah” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).
  15. Isaiah 54:10 tn Heb “peace” (so many English versions); NLT “of blessing.”
  16. Isaiah 54:11 tn Or, more literally, “windblown, storm-tossed.”
  17. Isaiah 54:12 tn Perhaps, “rubies” (so ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
  18. Isaiah 54:12 tn On the meaning of אֶקְדָּח (ʾeqdakh), which occurs only here, see HALOT 82 s.v.
  19. Isaiah 54:12 tn Heb “border” (so ASV); NASB “your entire wall.”
  20. Isaiah 54:12 tn Heb “delightful”; KJV “pleasant.”
  21. Isaiah 54:13 tn Heb “and great [will be] the peace of your sons.”
  22. Isaiah 54:14 tn Heb “in righteousness [or “vindication”] you will be established.” The precise meaning of צְדָקָה (tsedaqah) here is uncertain. It could mean “righteousness, justice,” indicating that the city will be a center for justice. But the context focuses on deliverance, suggesting that the term means “deliverance, vindication” here.
  23. Isaiah 54:14 tn Heb “Be far from oppression!” The imperative is used here in a rhetorical manner to express certainty and assurance. See GKC 324 §110.c.
  24. Isaiah 54:14 tn Heb “from terror.” The rhetorical command, “be far” is understood by ellipsis here. Note the preceding context.
  25. Isaiah 54:14 tn Heb “it,” i.e., the “terror” just mentioned.
  26. Isaiah 54:15 tn The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb here for emphasis.
  27. Isaiah 54:15 tn Heb “will fall over you.” The expression נָפַל עַל (nafal ʿal) can mean “attack,” but here it means “fall over to,” i.e., “surrender to.”
  28. Isaiah 54:16 tn Heb “who brings out an implement for his work.”
  29. Isaiah 54:17 tn Heb “and every tongue that rises up for judgment with you will prove to be guilty.”
  30. Isaiah 54:17 tn Heb “this is the inheritance of the servants of the Lord, and their vindication from me.”
Close ASV

Isaiah 54
American Standard 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 Jehovah. 2 Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thy habitations; spare not: lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes. 3 For thou shalt spread abroad on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall possess the nations, 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 the reproach of thy widowhood shalt thou remember no more. 5 For thy Maker is thy husband; Jehovah of hosts is his name: and the Holy One of Israel is thy Redeemer; the God of the whole earth shall he be called. 6 For Jehovah hath called thee as a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, even a wife of youth, when she is cast off, saith thy God. 7 For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. 8 [a]In overflowing wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting lovingkindness will I have mercy on thee, saith Jehovah thy Redeemer.

9 For this is as the waters of Noah unto me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah shall no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I will not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. 10 For the mountains may depart, and the hills be removed; but my lovingkindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall my covenant of peace be removed, saith Jehovah that hath mercy on thee.

11 O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will set thy stones in [b]fair colors, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. 12 And I will make thy [c]pinnacles of rubies, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy border of precious stones. 13 And all thy children shall be [d]taught of Jehovah; and great shall be the peace of thy children. 14 In righteousness shalt thou be established: [e]thou shalt be far from oppression, for thou shalt not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near thee. 15 Behold, they may [f]gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall [g]gather together against thee [h]shall fall because of thee. 16 Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the fire of coals, and bringeth forth a weapon for [i]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 Jehovah, and [j]their righteousness which is of me, saith Jehovah.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 54:8 Or, In a little wrath
  2. Isaiah 54:11 Or, antimony. See 1 Chr. 29:2.
  3. Isaiah 54:12 Or, windows
  4. Isaiah 54:13 Or, disciples
  5. Isaiah 54:14 Or, be thou far
  6. Isaiah 54:15 Or, stir up strife
  7. Isaiah 54:15 Or, stir up strife
  8. Isaiah 54:15 Or, shall fall away to thee
  9. Isaiah 54:16 Or, its
  10. Isaiah 54:17 Or, their righteousness is of me
Next
Isaiah 53
Isaiah 55
Next
dropdown
New English Translation (NET)

NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.

American Standard Version (ASV)

Public Domain (Why are modern Bible translations copyrighted?)