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The Eternal Covenant of Peace

54 Sing, O barren one who did not bear;
    burst into song and shout,
    you who have not been in labor!
For the children of the desolate woman will be more
    than the children of her that is married, says the Lord.
Enlarge the site of your tent,
    and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out;
do not hold back; lengthen your cords
    and strengthen your stakes.
For you will spread out to the right and to the left,
    and your descendants will possess the nations
    and will settle the desolate towns.

Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed;
    do not be discouraged, for you will not suffer disgrace;
for you will forget the shame of your youth,
    and the disgrace of your widowhood you will remember no more.
For your Maker is your husband,
    the Lord of hosts is his name;
the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer,
    the God of the whole earth he is called.
For the Lord has called you
    like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit,
like the wife of a man’s youth when she is cast off,
    says your God.
For a brief moment I abandoned you,
    but with great compassion I will gather you.
In overflowing wrath for a moment
    I hid my face from you,
but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,
    says the Lord, your Redeemer.

This is like the days of Noah to me:
    Just as I swore that the waters of Noah
    would never again go over the earth,
so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you
    and will not rebuke you.
10 For the mountains may depart
    and the hills be removed,
but my steadfast love shall not depart from you,
    and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,
    says the Lord, who has compassion on you.

11 O afflicted one, storm-tossed, and not comforted,
    I am about to set your stones in antimony,
    and lay your foundations with sapphires.[a]
12 I will make your pinnacles of rubies,
    your gates of jewels,
    and all your wall of precious stones.
13 All your children shall be taught by the Lord,
    and great shall be the prosperity 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 If anyone stirs up strife,
    it is not from me;
whoever stirs up strife with you
    shall fall because of you.
16 See it is I who have created the smith
    who blows the fire of coals,
    and produces a weapon fit for its purpose;
I have also created the ravager to destroy.
17     No weapon that is fashioned against you shall prosper,
    and you shall confute every tongue that rises against you in judgment.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord
    and their vindication from me, says the Lord.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 54:11 Or lapis lazuli

The Lord’s Compassion for the Women without Children

54 Sing with joy, you childless women who never gave birth to children.
Break into shouts of joy, you women who never had birth pains.
“There will be more children of women who have been deserted
than there are children of married women,” says the Lord.
Expand the space of your tent.
Stretch out the curtains of your tent, and don’t hold back.
Lengthen your tent ropes, and drive in the tent pegs.
You will spread out to the right and left.
Your descendants will take over other nations,
and they will resettle deserted cities.
Don’t be afraid, because you won’t be put to shame.
Don’t be discouraged, because you won’t be disgraced.
You’ll forget the shame you’ve had since you were young.
You won’t remember the disgrace of your husband’s death anymore.
Your husband is your maker.
His name is the Lord of Armies.
Your defender is the Holy One of Israel.
He is called the God of the whole earth.

“The Lord has called you as if you were
a wife who was abandoned and in grief,
a wife who married young and was rejected,” says your God.

“I abandoned you for one brief moment,
but I will bring you back with unlimited compassion.
I hid my face from you for a moment in a burst of anger,
but I will have compassion on you with everlasting kindness,”
says the Lord your defender.
“To me this is like Noah’s floodwaters, when I swore an oath
that Noah’s floodwaters would never cover the earth again.
So now I swear an oath not to be angry with you or punish you.
10 The mountains may move, and the hills may shake,
but my kindness will never depart from you.
My promise [a] of peace will never change,”
says the Lord, who has compassion on you.

11 “You suffering, comfortless, storm-ravaged city!
I will rebuild your city with precious stones.
I will reset your foundations with sapphires.
12 I will rebuild your towers with rubies,
your gates with sparkling stones,
and all your walls with precious stones.”

13 All your children will be taught by the Lord,
and your children will have unlimited peace.
14 You will be established in righteousness.
You will be far from oppression,
so you will not be afraid.
You will be far from destruction,
so it won’t come near you.

15 “If anyone attacks you, it will not be my doing.
Whoever attacks you will be defeated by you.
16 I’ve created blacksmiths to fan the coals into flames
and to produce useful weapons.
I’ve also created destroyers to bring destruction.
17 No weapon that has been made to be used against you will succeed.
You will have an answer for anyone who accuses you.
This is the inheritance of the Lord’s servants.
Their victory comes from me,” declares the Lord.

Footnotes

  1. 54:10 Or “covenant.”

Israël zal herbouwd worden

54 Zing, kinderloze vrouw! Barst uit in luid en vrolijk gezang, u die nooit moeder bent geworden. Want de verlaten vrouw heeft meer kinderen dan de vrouw die een man heeft. Maak uw huis groter, bouw er stukken bij aan, breid uw huis uit! Want u zult uit uw voegen barsten! Uw nakomelingen zullen de steden in bezit nemen die tijdens de ballingschap werden verlaten en zij zullen regeren over de volken die hun land in bezit namen. Wees niet bang, u zult niet langer in schande leven. Aan de schande van uw jeugd en de zorgen van uw weduwschap zal niet meer worden gedacht.

Want uw schepper zal uw ‘echtgenoot’ zijn. Here van de hemelse legers is zijn naam, Hij is uw verlosser, de Heilige van Israël, de God van de hele aarde. Want de Here heeft u uit uw verdriet omhoog getrokken, een jonge vrouw, verstoten door haar echtgenoot. Voor een korte tijd heb Ik u verstoten. Maar met een groot medelijden zal Ik u weer bij Mij laten terugkomen. In een moment van toorn keerde Ik mijn gezicht voor een korte tijd van u af, maar met eeuwige ontfermende liefde zal Ik Mij over u ontfermen, zegt de Here, uw verlosser. Net als in de tijd van Noach, toen Ik zwoer dat Ik de aarde nooit meer door een grote watervloed zou laten overstromen, zweer Ik nu dat Ik mijn toorn nooit meer zo over u zal uitgieten als nu het geval is. 10 Want de bergen kunnen wegzakken en de heuvels verdwijnen, maar mijn eeuwige ontfermende liefde zal u niet verlaten. Mijn belofte van vrede aan u zal nooit worden gebroken, zegt de Here, die Zich over u ontfermt.

11 Ach mijn mishandeld volk, uit het lood geslagen en diep in de problemen, Ik zal u herbouwen op een fundament van saffieren. De muren van uw huizen zal Ik van kostbare juwelen maken. 12 Ik zal uw torens van glinsterend agaat en uw poorten en muren van glanzend edelgesteente maken. 13 En al uw kinderen zal Ik, de Here, onderwijzen en zij zullen grote voorspoed hebben. 14 U zult leven onder een rechtvaardig en eerlijk bewind. Uw vijanden zullen op een eerbiedige afstand blijven, in vrede zult u leven. De verschrikkingen van een oorlog zullen u niet meer teisteren. 15 Als een volk tegen u ten strijde trekt, ben Ik het niet die hen stuurt om u te straffen. Daarom zal dat volk worden verslagen, want Ik sta aan uw kant. 16 Ik schiep de smid die de kolen in de oven aanblaast en vernietigingswapens maakt. En Ik maakte de legers die vernietiging zaaien. 17 Maar in die tijd zal geen enkel wapen dat tegen u wordt opgeheven, succes hebben en elke leugen die in de rechtszaal tegen u wordt ingebracht, zult u kunnen weerleggen. Dat is de erfenis van de dienaars van de Here. Dit is de zegen die Ik u heb gegeven, zegt de Here.

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.
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,
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].

“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].
·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.
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.
God says, “I left you for a ·short time [moment],
    but with great ·kindness [mercy; compassion] I will bring you back again.
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].

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.