Zion Will Be Secure

1“Shout for joy, O barren one who has not given birth!

Give a joyful shout and cry out, you who have not been in labor!

For the children of the desolate one are more numerous

than the children of the married woman,” says the Lord.

2Make your tent larger,

stretch your tent curtains farther out!

Spare no effort,

lengthen your ropes,

and pound your stakes deep.

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

your children will conquer nations

and will resettle desolate cities.

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

Don’t be intimidated, 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.

5For your husband is the one who made you –

the Lord who commands armies is his name.

He is your protector, the Holy One of Israel.

He is called “God of the entire earth.”

6“Indeed, the Lord will call you back

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

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

7“For a short time I abandoned you,

but with great compassion I will gather you.

8In a burst of anger I rejected you momentarily,

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

says your protector, the Lord.

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

when I vowed that the waters of Noah’s flood 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.

10Even if the mountains are removed

and the hills displaced,

my devotion will not be removed from you,

nor will my covenant of friendship be displaced,”

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

11“O afflicted one, driven away, and unconsoled!

Look, I am about to set your stones in antimony

and I lay your foundation with lapis-lazuli.

12I will make your pinnacles out of gems,

your gates out of beryl,

and your outer wall out of beautiful stones.

13All your children will be followers of the Lord,

and your children will enjoy great prosperity.

14You will be reestablished when I vindicate you.

You will not experience oppression;

indeed, you will not be afraid.

You will not be terrified,

for nothing frightening will come near you.

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

Whoever tries to challenge you will be defeated.

16Look, I create the craftsman,

who fans the coals into a fire

and forges a weapon.

I create the destroyer so he might devastate.

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

you will refute everyone who tries to accuse you.

This is what the Lord will do for his servants –

I will vindicate them,”

says the Lord.