Isaiah 54–55: Shout for Joy, O Barren Woman": The Covenant of Peace, and Water Without Money
Scripture: Berean Standard Bible
“Shout for joy, O barren woman,who bears no children;break forth in song and cry aloud,you who have never travailed;because more are the children of the desolate womanthan of her who has a husband,”says the LORD.“Enlarge the site of your tent,stretch out the curtains of your dwellings,do not hold back.Lengthen your ropesand drive your stakes in deep.For you will spread out to the right and left;your descendants will dispossess the nationsand inhabit the desolate cities.
Do not be afraid, for you will not be put to shame;do not be intimidated, for you will not be humiliated.For you will forget the shame of your youthand will remember no more the reproach of your widowhood.For your husband is your Maker—the LORD of Hosts is his name—the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer;he is called the God of all the earth.For the LORD has called you back,like a wife deserted and wounded in spirit,like the rejected wife of one’s youth,”says your God.
“For a brief moment I forsook you,but with great compassion I will bring you back.In a surge of angerI hid my face from you for a moment,but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you,”says the LORD your Redeemer.
“For to me this is like the days of Noah,when I swore that the waters of Noahwould never again cover the earth.So I have sworn that I will not be angry with youor rebuke you.Though the mountains may be removedand the hills may be shaken,my loving devotion will not depart from you,and my covenant of peace will not be broken,”says the LORD, who has compassion on you.
“O afflicted city, lashed by storms,without solace,surely I will set your stones in antimonyand lay your foundations with sapphires.I will make your pinnacles of rubies,your gates of sparkling jewels,and all your walls of precious stones.Then all your sons will be taught by the LORD,and great will be their prosperity.In righteousness you will be established,far from oppression,for you will have no fear.Terror will be far removed,for it will not come near you.
If anyone attacks you, it is not from me;whoever assails you will fall before you.Behold, I have created the craftsmanwho fans the coals into flameand forges a weapon fit for its task;and I have created the destroyerto wreak havoc.No weapon formed against you shall prosper,and you will refute every tongue that accuses you.This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD,and their vindication is from me,”declares the LORD.“Come, all you who are thirsty,come to the waters;and you without money,come, buy, and eat!Come, buy wine and milkwithout money and without cost!Why spend money on that which is not bread,and your labor on that which does not satisfy?Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good,and your soul will delight in the richest of foods.
Incline your ear and come to me;listen, so that your soul may live.I will make with you an everlasting covenant—my loving devotion promised to David.Behold, I have made him a witness to the nations,a leader and commander of the peoples.Surely you will summon a nation you do not know,and nations who do not know you will run to you.For the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel,has bestowed glory on you.”
Seek the LORD while he may be found;call on him while he is near.Let the wicked man forsake his own wayand the unrighteous man his own thoughts;let him return to the LORD,that he may have compassion,and to our God,for he will freely pardon.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,neither are your ways my ways,”declares the LORD.“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,so my ways are higher than your waysand my thoughts than your thoughts.For just as rain and snow fall from heavenand do not return without watering the earth,making it bud and sprout,and providing seed to sow and food to eat,so my word that proceeds from my mouthwill not return to me empty,but it will accomplish what I please,and it will prosper where I send it.
You will indeed go out with joyand be led forth in peace;the mountains and hills will burst into song before you,and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.Instead of the thornbush, a cypress will grow,and instead of the brier, a myrtle will spring up;they will make a name for the LORD,an everlasting sign, never to be destroyed.”