54:1  SING, O barren one, you who did not bear; break forth into singing and cry aloud, you who did not travail with child! For the [spiritual] children of the desolate one will be more than the children of the married wife, says the Lord.

54:2  Enlarge the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; spare not; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes,

54:3  For you will spread abroad to the right hand and to the left; and your offspring will possess the nations and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.

54:4  Fear not, for you shall not be ashamed; neither be confounded {and} depressed, for you shall not be put to shame. For you shall forget the shame of your youth, and you shall not [seriously] remember the reproach of your widowhood any more.

54:5  For your Maker is your Husband--the Lord of hosts is His name--and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; the God of the whole earth He is called.

54:6  For the Lord has called you like a woman forsaken, grieved in spirit, {and} heartsore--even a wife [wooed and won] in youth, when she is [later] refused {and} scorned, says your God.

54:7  For a brief moment I forsook you, but with great compassion {and} mercy I will gather you [to Me] again.

54:8  In a little burst of wrath I hid My face from you for a moment, but with age-enduring love {and} kindness I will have compassion {and} mercy on you, says the Lord, your Redeemer.

54:9  For this is like the days of Noah to Me; as I swore that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I will not be angry with you or rebuke you.

54:10  For though the mountains should depart and the hills be shaken {or} removed, yet My love {and} kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall My covenant of peace {and} completeness be removed, says the Lord, Who has compassion on you.

54:11  O you afflicted [city], storm-tossed and not comforted, behold, I will set your stones in fair colors [in antimony to enhance their brilliance] and lay your foundations with sapphires.

54:12  And I will make your windows {and} pinnacles of [sparkling] agates {or} rubies, and your gates of [shining] carbuncles, and all your walls [of your enclosures] of precious stones.

54:13  And all your [spiritual] children shall be disciples [taught by the Lord and obedient to His will], and great shall be the peace {and} undisturbed composure of your children.

54:14  You shall establish yourself in righteousness (rightness, in conformity with God's will and order): you shall be far from even the thought of oppression {or} destruction, for you shall not fear, and from terror, for it shall not come near you.

54:15  Behold, they may gather together {and} stir up strife, but it is not from Me. Whoever stirs up strife against you shall fall {and} surrender to you.

54:16  Behold, I have created the smith who blows on the fire of coals and who produces a weapon for its purpose; and I have created the devastator to destroy.

54:17  But no weapon that is formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against you in judgment you shall show to be in the wrong. This [peace, righteousness, security, triumph over opposition] is the heritage of the servants of the Lord [those in whom the ideal Servant of the Lord is reproduced]; this is the righteousness {or} the vindication which they obtain from Me [this is that which I impart to them as their justification], says the Lord.