Isaiah 54:4-8
New English Translation
4 Don’t be afraid, for you will not be put to shame.
Don’t be intimidated,[a] 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.[b]
5 For your husband is the one who made you—
the Lord of Heaven’s Armies is his name.
He is your Protector,[c] the Holy One of Israel.[d]
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,[e]
like a young wife when she has been rejected,” says your God.
7 “For a short time I abandoned[f] you,
but with great compassion I will gather you.
8 In a burst[g] of anger I rejected you[h] momentarily,
but with lasting devotion I will have compassion on you,”
says your Protector,[i] the Lord.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 54:4 tn Or “embarrassed”; NASB “humiliated…disgraced.”
- 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.
- Isaiah 54:5 tn Or “redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.
- Isaiah 54:5 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
- Isaiah 54:6 tn Heb “like a woman abandoned and grieved in spirit.”
- Isaiah 54:7 tn Or “forsook” (NASB).
- 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.”
- Isaiah 54:8 tn Heb “I hid my face from you.”
- Isaiah 54:8 tn Or “redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.
Isaiah 54:4-8
American Standard Version
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.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Isaiah 54:8 Or, In a little wrath
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