Isaiah 54

Berean Standard Bible · Compare translations · 700 BC – 538 BC · Exile in Babylon · Tap a verse to copy, share or highlight ·

17 verses · 469 words · ~2 min read · ~3 min listen

Future Blessings for Zion

¹“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 woman

than of her who has a husband,”

says the Lord.

²“Enlarge the site of your tent,

stretch out the curtains of your dwellings,

do not hold back.

Lengthen your ropes

and drive your stakes in deep.

³For you will spread out to the right and left;

your descendants will dispossess the nations

and inhabit the desolate cities.

⁴Do 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 youth

and will remember no more the reproach of your widowhood.

⁵For 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.

⁶For the Lord has called you back,

like a wife deserted and wounded in spirit,

like the rejected wife of oneʼs youth,”

says your God.

⁷“For a brief moment I forsook you,

but with great compassion I will bring you back.

⁸In a surge of anger

I hid My face from you for a moment,

but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you,”

says the Lord your Redeemer.

⁹“For to Me this is like the days of Noah,

when I swore that the waters of Noah

would never again cover the earth.

So I have sworn that I will not be angry with you

or rebuke you.

¹⁰Though the mountains may be removed

and 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.

¹¹“O afflicted city, lashed by storms,

without solace,

surely I will set your stones in antimony

and lay your foundations with sapphires.

¹²I will make your pinnacles of rubies,

your gates of sparkling jewels,

and all your walls of precious stones.

¹³Then all your sons will be taught by the Lord,

and great will be their prosperity.

¹⁴In 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.

¹⁵If anyone attacks you, it is not from Me;

whoever assails you will fall before you.

¹⁶Behold, I have created the craftsman

who fans the coals into flame

and forges a weapon fit for its task;

and I have created the destroyer

to wreak havoc.

¹⁷No 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.

Footnotes (5)

a v1 Cited in Galatians 4:27
b v2 Or and strengthen your stakes
c v9 Some manuscripts For this is like the waters of Noah
d v11 Or lapis lazuli
e v13 Cited in John 6:45

Study notes on this chapter · 2

Type / patternLinked by the New Testament

Hagar and Sarah as two covenants

Paul calls the story of Abraham's two sons 'allegorically speaking': Hagar and her slave-born son stand for the covenant from Sinai and the present Jerusalem, Sarah and the promised child for the Jerusalem above. He then quotes Isaiah's promise to the barren woman to show the free woman's children outnumber the others.

When: Genesis (traditionally c. 2000 BC); Galatians, c. AD 48–55.

Original passageGenesis 16:1–16Genesis 21:1–13Isaiah 54:1

Where the New Testament applies itGalatians 4:21–31

Ways people read this (2)

Paul uses the story as an argument from analogy; he does not claim it was the original meaning of Genesis.
Some see a typological reading in which the two women foreshadow the old and new covenants.

Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.

QuotationLinked by the New Testament

All will be taught by God

In the bread of life discourse Jesus quotes Isaiah's promise that all your children will be taught by the LORD, to explain why people come to him only when drawn by the Father.

When: Isaiah, c. 700–540 BC; Jesus' teaching in Capernaum, c. AD 29.

Original passageIsaiah 54:13

Where the New Testament applies itJohn 6:44–45