Ésaïe 54

The childless wife will have many children

¹Sing out, childless woman who never bore a child; \q burst into song and shout, you who never went into labor! \q For the woman left alone will have more children than the woman who has a husband, says the LORD. ²Make room in your tent; let the curtains of your dwellings be spread wide, and hold nothing back. \q Let out your tent ropes \q and drive your pegs in firmly. ³For you will burst out to the right and to the left; \q your descendants will take over the lands of nations \q and fill ruined cities with people again. ⁴Have no fear; you will not be put to shame. \q Do not hang your head; no disgrace will come to you. \q You will forget the shame you bore when young \q and no longer call to mind the scorn you suffered as a widow. ⁵Your husband is the one who made you; \q the LORD of Armies is his name. \q Your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, \q and he is called God of the whole earth. ⁶For the LORD calls to you as to a wife left alone and grieving in spirit, \q as to the wife a man married young and then cast off, says your God.^{a 7}I forsook you for a passing moment, \q but with vast compassion I will gather you in. ⁸When my anger overflowed, I turned my face away from you for a moment; \q but with loyal love that lasts forever I will show you compassion, \q says the LORD, your Redeemer.^b

A promise as firm as the oath to Noah

⁹This is for me as it was with the waters of Noah. \q Just as I took an oath that Noah’s flood would never again sweep over the earth, \q so I take an oath now: I will not be angry with you or rebuke you.^{c 10}The mountains may move away \q and the hills may totter, \q yet my loyal love will never move away from you, and my covenant of peace will not totter, \q says the LORD, who shows you compassion.

A city built of precious stones

¹¹Poor wretched city, battered by storms and left without comfort, \q look: I will set your stones in dark mortar \q and lay your foundations with sapphires.^{de 12}I will crown your towers with rubies, \q build your gates of fiery gems, \q and make your whole outer wall of costly stones.^{f 13}The LORD will teach every one of your children, \q and great peace will be theirs.^{g 14}You will be set firm in righteousness. \q Stay far from oppression, for you will have nothing to fear, \q and from terror, for it will not draw near you. ¹⁵Should anyone pick a fight with you, it does not come from me; \q whoever attacks you will fall before you.^{h 16}Look: I made the metalworker who blows on the burning charcoal \q and turns out a weapon for its use. \q I also made the one who destroys, to bring ruin. ¹⁷Not one weapon shaped to harm you will succeed, \q and every tongue that accuses you in court you will prove wrong. \q This is the share that belongs to the servants of the LORD; their righteousness comes from me, declares the LORD.