Isaiah 54
54
Spread Out! Think Big!
1-6“Sing, barren woman, who has never had a baby.
Fill the air with song, you who’ve never experienced childbirth!
You’re ending up with far more children
than all those childbearing women.” God says so!
“Clear lots of ground for your tents!
Make your tents large. Spread out! Think big!
Use plenty of rope,
drive the tent pegs deep.
You’re going to need lots of elbow room
for your growing family.
You’re going to take over whole nations;
you’re going to resettle abandoned cities.
Don’t be afraid—you’re not going to be embarrassed.
Don’t hold back—you’re not going to come up short.
You’ll forget all about the humiliations of your youth,
and the indignities of being a widow will fade from memory.
For your Maker is your bridegroom,
his name, God-of-the-Angel-Armies!
Your Redeemer is The Holy of Israel,
known as God of the whole earth.
You were like an abandoned wife, devastated with grief,
and God welcomed you back,
Like a woman married young
and then left,” says your God.
7-8Your Redeemer God says:
“I left you, but only for a moment.
Now, with enormous compassion, I’m bringing you back.
In an outburst of anger I turned my back on you—
but only for a moment.
It’s with lasting love
that I’m tenderly caring for you.
9-10“This exile is just like the days of Noah for me:
I promised then that the waters of Noah
would never again flood the earth.
I’m promising now no more anger,
no more dressing you down.
For even if the mountains walk away
and the hills fall to pieces,
My love won’t walk away from you,
my covenant commitment of peace won’t fall apart.”
The God who has compassion on you says so.
11-17“Afflicted city, storm-battered, unpitied:
I’m about to rebuild you with stones of turquoise,
Lay your foundations with sapphires,
construct your towers with rubies,
Your gates with jewels,
and all your walls with precious stones.
All your children will have God for their teacher—
what a mentor for your children!
You’ll be built solid, grounded in righteousness,
far from any trouble—nothing to fear!
far from terror—it won’t even come close!
If anyone attacks you,
don’t for a moment suppose that I sent them,
And if any should attack,
nothing will come of it.
I create the blacksmith
who fires up his forge
and makes a weapon designed to kill.
I also create the destroyer—
but no weapon that can hurt you has ever been forged.
Any accuser who takes you to court
will be dismissed as a liar.
This is what God’s servants can expect.
I’ll see to it that everything works out for the best.”
God’s Decree.
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Isaiah 54: MSG
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.
Isaiah 54
54
Future Glory for Israel
1“Rejoice, childless one, who did not give birth;
burst into song and shout,
you who have not been in labor!#Gl 4:27
For the children of the desolate one will be more
than the children of the married woman,”#1Sm 2:5; Is 62:4
says the Lord.
2“Enlarge the site of your tent,
and let your tent curtains be stretched out;#Is 49:19–20
do not hold back;
lengthen your ropes,
and drive your pegs deep.
3For you will spread out to the right and to the left,#Gn 28:14; Is 43:5–6; 60:3
and your descendants will dispossess nations
and inhabit the desolate cities.
4“Do not be afraid, for you will not be put to shame;#Is 45:17
don’t be humiliated, for you will not be disgraced.
For you will forget the shame of your youth,
and you will no longer remember
the disgrace of your widowhood.#Is 4:1; 25:8; 51:7
5Indeed, your husband is your Maker#Jr 3:14; Hs 2:19 —
his name is the Lord of Armies —
and the Holy One of Israel#Is 1:4 is your Redeemer;#Is 41:14; 43:14
he is called the God of the whole earth.
6For the Lord has called you,
like a wife deserted and wounded in spirit,#Is 49:14–21; 50:1–2; 62:4
a wife of one’s youth#Mal 2:14 when she is rejected,”
says your God.
7“I deserted you for a brief moment,#Is 26:20
but I will take you back with abundant compassion.
8In a surge of anger
I hid my face#Dt 31:17–18; Is 8:17 from you for a moment,
but I will have compassion on you
with everlasting love,”#Ps 100:5; Jr 31:3; 33:11
says the Lord your Redeemer.
9“For this is like the days#54:9 DSS, Cairo Geniza; MT, LXX read waters of Noah to me:
when I swore that the water of Noah
would never flood the earth again,#Gn 9:11
so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you
or rebuke you.#Ezk 39:29
10Though the mountains move
and the hills shake,
my love will not be removed from you
and my covenant of peace#Nm 25:12; Ezk 34:25; Mal 2:5 will not be shaken,”
says your compassionate Lord.
11“Poor Jerusalem, storm-tossed, and not comforted,
I will set your stones in black mortar,#54:11 Lit in antimony
and lay your foundations in lapis lazuli.#Rv 21:19
12I will make your fortifications#54:12 Lit suns; perhaps shields; Ps 84:11 out of rubies,
your gates out of sparkling stones,
and all your walls out of precious stones.
13Then all your children will be taught by the Lord,#Jn 6:45
their prosperity will be great,
14and you will be established
on a foundation of righteousness.
You will be far from oppression,
you will certainly not be afraid;
you will be far from terror,
it will certainly not come near you.
15If anyone attacks you,
it is not from me;
whoever attacks you
will fall before you.
16Look, I have created the craftsman
who blows on the charcoal fire
and produces a weapon suitable for its task;
and I have created the destroyer to cause havoc.
17No weapon formed against you will succeed,
and you will refute any accusation#54:17 Lit refute every tongue
raised against you in court.
This is the heritage of the Lord’s servants,#Is 41:8–9; Lk 1:54
and their vindication is from me.”#Is 45:24; 46:13
This is the Lord’s declaration.
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