Isaiah 54:1-8
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].
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