Isa 49:18-23, 54:1-2, 60:4, 66:7-12, Gal 4:26-31 | ESV | STEP | Lift up your eyes around and see ; they all gather , they come to you. As I live , declares the Lord , you shall put them all on as an ornament ; you shall bind them on as a bride does.

18 ^aLift up your eyes around and see;
they all gather, they come to you.
^bAs I live, declares the Lord,
^cyou shall put them all on as an ornament;
you shall bind them on as a bride does.
19 “Surely your waste and your desolate places
and your devastated land—
^dsurely now you will be too narrow for your inhabitants,
and those who swallowed you up will be far away.
20 ^eThe children of your bereavement
will yet say in your ears:
^f‘The place is too narrow for me;
make room for me to dwell in.’
21 Then you will say in your heart:
‘Who has borne me these?
^gI was bereaved and barren,
exiled and put away,
but who has brought up these?
Behold, I was left alone;
from where have these come?’”
22 Thus says the Lord God:
“Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations,
^hand raise my signal to the peoples;
ⁱand they shall bring your sons in their arms, ^{▼▼Hebrew in their bosom}
and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.
23 ^kKings shall be your foster fathers,
and their queens your nursing mothers.
^lWith their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you,
and ^mlick the dust of your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord;
ⁿthose who wait for me ^oshall not be put to shame.”

Isaiah 54:1-2

The Eternal Covenant of Peace

1 ^p“Sing, O barren one, who did not bear;
break forth into singing and cry aloud,
you who have not been in labor!
For the children of ^qthe desolate one ^rwill be more
than the children of her who is married,” says the Lord.
2 ^s“Enlarge the place of your tent,
and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out;
do not hold back; lengthen your cords
and strengthen your stakes.

Isaiah 60:4

4 ^tLift up your eyes all around, and see;
they all gather together, they come to you;
^uyour sons shall come from afar,
and your daughters shall be carried on the hip.

Isaiah 66:7-12

Rejoice with Jerusalem

7 ^v“Before she was in labor
she gave birth;
before her pain came upon her
she delivered a son.
8 Who has heard such a thing?
Who has seen such things?
Shall a land be born in one day?
Shall a nation be brought forth in one moment?
For ^was soon as Zion was in labor
she brought forth her children.
9 Shall I bring to the point of birth and not cause to bring forth?”
says the Lord;
“shall I, who cause to bring forth, shut the womb?”
says your God.
10 ^x“Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her,
all you who love her;
rejoice with her in joy,
all you who mourn over her;
11 that you may nurse and be satisfied
from her consoling breast;
that you may drink deeply with delight
from her glorious abundance.” ^{▼▼Or breast}
12 For thus says the Lord:
^z“Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river,
and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream;
and ^aayou shall nurse, you shall be carried upon her hip,
and bounced upon her knees.

Galatians 4:26-31

26 But ^abthe Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. 27 For it is written,

^ac“Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear;
break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor!
For the children of the desolate one will be more
than those of the one who has a husband.”
28 Now you, ^{▼▼Some manuscripts we} brothers, ^aelike Isaac, ^afare children of promise. 29 But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh ^agpersecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, ^ahso also it is now. 30 But what does the Scripture say? ^ai“Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.” 31 So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but ^ajof the free woman.