Isa 54 | EE | STEP | ‘Sing, woman who cannot have a child. Sing, you who have never had a baby. Sing a song and shout! Then, you will be very happy! Sing, you, who never had the pain of the birth of a baby. Do that, because the lonely woman will have more sons than the woman with a husband.’ This is what the LORD is saying.

Isaiah 54

Enjoy the results of the Servant’s work

1 ‘Sing, woman who cannot have a child. Sing, you who have never had a baby. Sing a song and shout! Then, you will be very happy! Sing, you, who never had the pain of the birth of a baby. Do that, because the lonely woman will have more sons than the woman with a husband.’ This is what the LORD is saying.

2 ‘Make bigger the space that your tent covers. Make the curtains of your tent wider. Do not make it smaller! Make the sides longer and make the pegs of your tents stronger.

3 Do that, because your land will become larger, both to the right side and to the left side. Your children and their children will cause people to go from their own countries. Your children will live in the empty cities of the people who go away.

4 Do not be afraid. You will not be ashamed. Nobody will take away your good name. You will not seem to be unimportant. Then, you will forget your shame when you were young. You will not remember how bad you felt as a widow.

5 That is because your Maker is now your husband. His name is the LORD of Many Armies. The Holy God of Israel is your Redeemer. People call him, “The God of all the earth”.

6 That is because the LORD has asked you to come back. You were like a wife whose husband had left her alone. He has asked you to come to him, like a wife who was not happy. That wife married when she was young. Then, her husband sent her away.’ That is what God is saying.

7 ‘For a short time I left you alone. But now, because I love you very much, I will bring you back.

8 When I was angry, I hid my face from you, for a moment. But now, with kind love that will always stay with you, I will help you.’ The LORD, who is your Redeemer, is saying this:

9 ‘This is like the waters of Noah for me. Then, I promised that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth. So, now I have promised not to be angry with you. I will not punish you again.’ ^{▼▼54:9 Verse 9 ‘waters of Noah’. We can read about that in Genesis chapters 6-9.}

10 ‘Even if the mountains move, my kind love for you will not fail. Even if someone removes the hills, nobody will remove my covenant of peace with you.’ The LORD, who loves you, is saying this:

11 ‘My city, that the enemy hurt, storms hit you. Nobody made you strong. Look! I will build you again with turquoise-stones. I will build you on the top of very valuable blue stones called sapphires.’ ^{▼▼54:11 The city is Jerusalem (for Jews) or the New Jerusalem (for Christians). Isaiah does not use the name Jerusalem here. But he does write about ‘what is right’ (‘zedek’ in the Hebrew language, verse 14) and ‘peace’ (‘salem’ in Hebrew, verse 13). Melchizedek was the king of Jerusalem, (Genesis 14:18). Isaiah wrote his book in the Hebrew language.}

12 ‘I will build your castles with (valuable red stones called) rubies. I will build your gates with valuable stones that shine in the light. I will build your walls with very valuable stones.

13 The LORD will teach all your sons. And there will be great peace for your sons.

14 The LORD will build you on a base of what is right. You will be a long way from cruel people. Really, you will have nothing to be afraid of. Nobody will ever frighten you again. People who frighten you will not come near to you.

15 If anybody attacks you, I will not have sent them. You will beat anyone who attacks you.

16 Look! I, I created the man who works with iron. He causes the coal to burn strongly. He makes arms that are good for their work in war. But it is I who have created the destroyer. That destroyer can destroy everything.

17 No arms that anybody will make will beat you. And you will show that it is true. Everything that anyone says against you is not true. That is what the servants of the LORD will enjoy. And their righteousness will be from me.’ Those are the words of the LORD.