Your Christian Heritage – Isaiah 54:1-17
54 Sing, O barren woman, you who never bore a child; burst into song, shout for joy, you who never experienced the labor of childbirth, because the children of the desolate woman are more numerous than the children of the married woman, declares Jehovah. (2) Enlarge the place of your tent, let them stretch out the curtains of your tent—do not hold back! Lengthen your cords; strengthen your stakes! (3) You will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess the nations and settle in their desolate cities. (4) Do not be afraid, for you shall not suffer shame; do not fear disgrace, for you shall not be humiliated. You will forget the shame of your youth; and you will no longer remember the reproach of your widowhood—(5) because your Maker is your husband, Jehovah of hosts is his name, and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, he is called the God of the whole earth.
(6) Jehovah has called you back like a wife who was deserted and distressed in spirit—a wife who married at a young age, only to be rejected, declares your God. (7) For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with great compassion I will bring you back. (8) In a surge of anger I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you, declares Jehovah your Redeemer. (9) To me this is like the waters of Noah: just as I have sworn that the waters of Noah shall never again overflow the land, so now I have sworn that I will not be angry with you or rebuke you. (10) The mountains may depart and the hills may shake; but my loving kindness will not depart from you and my covenant of peace will not be shaken, declares Jehovah, who has compassion on you.
(11) O afflicted city, lashed by storms and not comforted, look—I will rebuild you with beautiful stones, I will lay your foundation with sapphires. (12) I will make your battlements of rubies, your gates of sparking jewels, and all your walls of precious stones. (13) All your children will receive instruction from Jehovah, and the well-being of your children will be great. (14) You shall be established by righteousness; tyranny will be far from you; so you will have nothing to fear. Terror, too, will be far from you; it will not come near you. (15) Listen. They may assemble themselves together against you, but they will not do so at my command. Whoever assembles against you will fall because of you. (16) Listen, I am the one who created the blacksmith who fans the coals into flame and by his work forges a weapon. I have also created the destroyer with the mission to destroy. (17) No weapon forged against you will prevail. Furthermore, you will condemn every tongue that speaks against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of Jehovah—and their righteousness is from me, declares Jehovah.
Now proceed to the next section of this study, entitled, Exploring the Passage.
