Isaiah 54
New King James Version
A Perpetual Covenant of Peace
54 “Sing, O (A)barren,
You who have not borne!
Break forth into singing, and cry aloud,
You who have not labored with child!
For more are the children of the desolate
Than the children of the married woman,” says the Lord.
2 “Enlarge(B) the place of your tent,
And let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings;
Do not spare;
Lengthen your cords,
And strengthen your stakes.
3 For you shall expand to the right and to the left,
And your descendants will (C)inherit the nations,
And make the desolate cities inhabited.
4 “Do(D) not fear, for you will not be ashamed;
Neither be disgraced, for you will not be put to shame;
For you will forget the shame of your youth,
And will not remember the reproach of your widowhood anymore.
5 (E)For your Maker is your husband,
The Lord of hosts is His name;
And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel;
He is called (F)the God of the whole earth.
6 For the Lord (G)has called you
Like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit,
Like a youthful wife when you were refused,”
Says your God.
7 “For(H) a mere moment I have forsaken you,
But with great mercies (I)I will gather you.
8 With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment;
(J)But with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,”
Says the Lord, your Redeemer.
9 “For this is like the waters of (K)Noah to Me;
For as I have sworn
That the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth,
So have I sworn
That I would not be angry with (L)you, nor rebuke you.
10 For (M)the mountains shall depart
And the hills be removed,
(N)But My kindness shall not depart from you,
Nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,”
Says the Lord, who has mercy on you.
11 “O you afflicted one,
Tossed with tempest, and not comforted,
Behold, I will lay your stones with (O)colorful gems,
And lay your foundations with sapphires.
12 I will make your pinnacles of rubies,
Your gates of crystal,
And all your walls of precious stones.
13 All your children shall be (P)taught by the Lord,
And (Q)great shall be the peace of your children.
14 In righteousness you shall be established;
You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear;
And from terror, for it shall not come near you.
15 Indeed they shall surely assemble, but not because of Me.
Whoever assembles against you shall (R)fall for your sake.
16 “Behold, I have created the blacksmith
Who blows the coals in the fire,
Who brings forth an [a]instrument for his work;
And I have created the [b]spoiler to destroy.
17 No weapon formed against you shall (S)prosper,
And every tongue which rises against you in judgment
You shall condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
(T)And their righteousness is from Me,”
Says the Lord.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 54:16 Or weapon
- Isaiah 54:16 destroyer
Isaiah 54
New Century Version
People Will Return to Jerusalem
54 The Lord says, “Sing, Jerusalem.
You are like a woman who never gave birth to children.
Start singing and shout for joy.
You never felt the pain of giving birth,
but you will have more children
than the woman who has a husband.
2 Make your tent bigger;
stretch it out and make it wider.
Do not hold back.
Make the ropes longer
and its stakes stronger,
3 because you will spread out to the right and to the left.
Your children will take over other nations,
and they will again live in cities that once were destroyed.
4 “Don’t be afraid, because you will not be ashamed.
Don’t be embarrassed, because you will not be disgraced.
You will forget the shame you felt earlier;
you will not remember the shame you felt when you lost your husband.
5 The God who made you is like your husband.
His name is the Lord All-Powerful.
The Holy One of Israel is the one who saves you.
He is called the God of all the earth.
6 You were like a woman whose husband left her,
and you were very sad.
You were like a wife who married young
and then her husband left her.
But the Lord called you to be his,”
says your God.
7 God says, “I left you for a short time,
but with great kindness I will bring you back again.
8 I became very angry
and hid from you for a time,
but I will show you mercy with kindness forever,”
says the Lord who saves you.
9 The Lord says, “This day is like the time of Noah to me.
I promised then that I would never flood the world again.
In the same way, I promise I will not be angry with you
or punish you again.
10 The mountains may disappear,
and the hills may come to an end,
but my love will never disappear;
my promise of peace will not come to an end,”
says the Lord who shows mercy to you.
11 “You poor city. Storms have hurt you,
and you have not been comforted.
But I will rebuild you with turquoise stones,
and I will build your foundations with sapphires.
12 I will use rubies to build your walls
and shining jewels 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.
14 I will build you using fairness.
You will be safe from those who would hurt you,
so you will have nothing to fear.
Nothing will come to make you afraid.
15 I will not send anyone to attack you,
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.
In the same way I have made the destroyer to destroy.
17 So no weapon that is used against you will defeat you.
You will show that those who speak against you are wrong.
These are the good things my servants receive.
Their victory comes from me,” says the Lord.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.