Isaiah 54 King James Version (KJV)
54 Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord.
2 Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes;
3 For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.
4 Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more.
5 For thy Maker is thine husband; the Lord of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.
6 For the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God.
7 For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee.
8 In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer.
9 For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee.
10 For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee.
11 O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires.
12 And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones.
13 And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children.
14 In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee.
15 Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake.
16 Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.
17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.
Commentary
Yahweh and Israel reunited (54:1-17)
Israel is likened to the wife of Yahweh. Her exile in Babylon was like a period of divorce when God separated her from him because of her sins. During this time she did not increase or prosper as a nation. She is now to return to God and to her homeland, where she will produce greater increase than in the days before the captivity. As an Arab has to enlarge his tent to accommodate more children, so Israel will have to enlarge its borders to accommodate this increase (54:1-3).
When Israel returns to her husband, she will no longer bear the shame of her separation. In love God will forgive her and take her back to himself (4-6). His discipline of Israel was only temporary, and now he looks forward to a glad reunion and a lasting relationship (7-8). He promises that he will not send the nation into such a shameful exile again (9-10).
The new Israel, built by God himself, will have the beauty of a city built of precious stones (11-12). God will teach his ways to those who dwell in the city, so that justice and righteousness become the most noticeable features of their way of life (13-14). God is the creator of the world and the controller of all human activity in the world. He will make sure that no one who fights against his people will be victorious (15-17).