Esaias

54

1 ✡ Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that dost not travail: for more are the children of the desolate than of her that has a husband: for the Lord has said,

2 Enlarge the place of thy tent, and of thy curtains: fix the pins, spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy pins;

3 spread forth thy tent yet to the right and the left: for thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and thou shalt make the desolate cities to be inhabited.

4 Fear not, because thou hast been put to shame, neither be confounded, because thou wast reproached: for thou shalt forget thy *former shame, and shalt no more at all remember the reproach of thy widowhood.

5 For it is the Lord that made thee; the Lord of hosts is his name: and he that delivered thee, he is the God of Israel, and shall be called so by the whole earth.

6 The Lord has not called thee as a deserted and faint-hearted woman, nor as a woman hated from her youth, saith thy God.

7 For a little while I left thee: but with great mercy will I have compassion upon thee.

8 In a little wrath I turned away my face from thee; but with everlasting mercy will I have compassion upon thee, saith the Lord that delivers thee.

9 From the time of the water of Noe this is my purpose: as I sware to him at that time, saying of the earth, I will no more be wroth with thee, neither when thou art threatened,

10 shall the mountains depart, nor shall thy hills be removed: so neither shall my mercy fail thee, nor shall the covenant of thy peace be at all removed: for †the Lord who is gracious to thee has spoken it.

11 Afflicted and outcast thou hast not been comforted: behold, I will prepare carbuncle for thy stones, and sapphire for thy foundations;

12 and I will make thy buttresses jasper, and thy gates crystal, and thy border precious stones.

13 ✡ And I will cause all thy sons to be taught of God, and thy children to be in great peace.

14 And thou shalt be built in righteousness: abstain from injustice, and thou shalt not fear; and trembling shall not come nigh thee.

15 Behold, strangers shall come to thee by me, and shall sojourn with thee, and shall run to thee for refuge.

16 Behold, I have created thee, not as the coppersmith blowing coals, and bringing out a vessel fit for work; but I have created thee, not for ruin, that I should destroy thee.

17 I will not suffer any ‡weapon formed against thee to prosper; and every voice that shall rise up against thee for judgment, thou shalt vanquish them all; and thine adversaries shall be condemned thereby. There is an inheritance to them that serve the Lord, and ye shall be righteous before me, saith the Lord.