54:4 Don’t be afraid, for you will not be put to shame!

Don’t be intimidated, ¹  for you will not be humiliated!

You will forget about the shame you experienced in your youth;

you will no longer remember the disgrace of your abandonment. ² 

54:5 For your husband is the one who made you –

the Lord who commands armies is his name.

He is your protector, ³  the Holy One of Israel. ⁴ 

He is called “God of the entire earth.”

54:6 “Indeed, the Lord will call you back

like a wife who has been abandoned and suffers from depression, ⁵ 

like a young wife when she has been rejected,” says your God.

54:7 “For a short time I abandoned ⁶  you,

but with great compassion I will gather you.

54:8 In a burst ⁷  of anger I rejected you ⁸  momentarily,

but with lasting devotion I will have compassion on you,”

says your protector, ⁹  the Lord.

54:9 “As far as I am concerned, this is like in Noah’s time, ¹⁰ 

when I vowed that the waters of Noah’s flood ¹¹  would never again cover the earth.

In the same way I have vowed that I will not be angry at you or shout at you.

54:10 Even if the mountains are removed

and the hills displaced,

my devotion will not be removed from you,

nor will my covenant of friendship ¹²  be displaced,”

says the Lord, the one who has compassion on you.

54:11 “O afflicted one, driven away, ¹³  and unconsoled!

Look, I am about to set your stones in antimony

and I lay your foundation with lapis-lazuli.

54:12 I will make your pinnacles out of gems, ¹⁴ 

your gates out of beryl, ¹⁵ 

and your outer wall ¹⁶  out of beautiful ¹⁷  stones.

54:13 All your children will be followers of the Lord,

and your children will enjoy great prosperity. ¹⁸ 

54:14 You will be reestablished when I vindicate you. ¹⁹ 

You will not experience oppression; ²⁰ 

indeed, you will not be afraid.

You will not be terrified, ²¹ 

for nothing frightening ²²  will come near you.

54:15 If anyone dares to ²³  challenge you, it will not be my doing!

Whoever tries to challenge you will be defeated. ²⁴ 

54:16 Look, I create the craftsman,

who fans the coals into a fire

and forges a weapon. ²⁵ 

I create the destroyer so he might devastate.

54:17 No weapon forged to be used against you will succeed;

you will refute everyone who tries to accuse you. ²⁶ 

This is what the Lord will do for his servants –

I will vindicate them,” ²⁷ 

says the Lord.