54
1 Sing, O akarah (barren woman),* thou that didst not bear;
break forth into singing, and shout for joy,
thou that didst not travail with child;
for rabbim bnei shome'mah (more are the children of the desolate woman)†
than the bnei be'ulah (children of the married woman),‡ saith Hashem.§
2 Enlarge the makom (place, living area) of thy ohel,
and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine mishkenot (tents);
spare not, lengthen thy cords,
and thy stakes make chizzuk (stronger);
3 For thou shalt spread out on the yamin (right hand) and on the smol (left);
and thy zera shall inherit the Goyim,
and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.
4 Fear not;
for thou shalt not be ashamed;
neither be thou discouraged;
for thou shalt not suffer disgrace;
for thou shalt forget the boshet alumayich (the shame of thy youth),
and shalt not remember any more thy cherpat almenut (reproach of widowhood).
5 For thy Oseh (Maker) is thine ba'al (husband);
Hashem Tzva'os Shmo;
and thy Go'el is Kadosh Yisroel;
The Elohei Kol HaAretz He is called.
6 For Hashem hath called thee back,
thou who art like an isha forsaken and atzuvat ruach (grieved in spirit)
as a cast off eshet ne'urim (wife of oneʼs youth),
saith thy G-d.
7 For a rega katon (small moment) have I abandoned thee;
but with rachamim gedolim will I gather thee back.
8 With a little wrath
I hid My face from thee for a rega (moment);
but with chesed olam
will I have rachamim on thee,
saith thy Go'el, Hashem.
9 For this is as the waters of Noach unto Me;
for as I have sworn that the waters of Noach
should no more cover ha'aretz;
so have I sworn that with thee
I would not be in wrath nor rebuke thee.
10 For the harim (mountains) shall depart,
and the geva'ot (hills) be removed;
but My chesed shall not depart from thee,
neither shall the Brit of My Shalom be removed,
saith Merachamech Hashem(Hashem the One having rachamim on thee).
11 O thou afflicted one, tempest-tossed and unconsoled,
hinei, I will lay thy stones of glistening colors,
and lay thy yesod (foundation, i.e., figuratively of post-Exilic Jerusalemʼs foundation) with sapphires.
12 And I will make thy battlements of rubies,
and thy she'arim (gates) of carbuncles,
and all thy walls of avnei chefetz (precious stones).
13 And all thy banim shall be taught of Hashem;
and the shalom of thy banim shall be rav (great).
14 In tzedakah (righteousness) shalt thou be established;
thou shalt be far from oshek (oppression, tyranny); f
or thou shalt not fear;
and thou shalt be far from mechitah (terror);
for it shall not come near thee.
15 Indeed, if attacking they stir up strife, it is not from Me;
whosoever shall gather together against thee, yipol (he shall fall) for thy sake.
16 See, I have created the charash (ironsmith, blacksmith)
that fanneth the red-hot coals in the eish (fire),
the one forging a keli (an instrument) for his ma'aseh (work);
and I have created the mashchit (destroyer, waster, spoiler) to destroy.
17 No keli (weapon, instrument) that is formed
against thee shall prosper;
and every leshon (tongue) that shall rise against thee in mishpat (judgment, accusation)
tarshi'i (thou shalt condemn, prove false, refute, prove wrong).
This is the nachalat avdei Hashem(the heritage of the servants of Hashem),
and their tzedakah (righteousness, vindication) is from Me, saith Hashem.
* 54:1 i.e., Yerushalayim emptied out by the Golus that Isaiah sees coming † 54:1 i.e. referring to those of Jerusalem making aliyah from the Golus so that Moshiachʼs Kehillah can come forth at Jerusalem — Ac 2:41 ‡ 54:1 i.e., Jerusalem as the Sarah at first barren then greatly fruitful; see Gn 17:16 § 54:1 See Ga 4:27