1 "Shout for joy, barren woman who never gave birth; burst into song and cry out, you who were never in labor! For the desolate woman has more children than the woman with a husband," says the LORD.
2 "Make the space for your tent wider, and let the curtains of your dwellings be spread out; do not hold back. Lengthen your ropes and drive your tent pegs firm.
3 For you will spread out to the right and the left; your offspring will take over nations and resettle the deserted cities.
4 Have no fear, for you will not be put to shame; do not feel humiliated, for you will not be disgraced. You will forget the shame of your youth and no longer remember the disgrace of your widowhood.
5 For your husband is your Maker, whose name is the LORD of hosts; your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, who is called the God of all the earth.
6 For the LORD has called you back like a wife abandoned and crushed in spirit, like a wife married young and then rejected," says your God.
7 "For a short moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will bring you back.
8 In a surge of anger I hid my face from you for a moment, but with steadfast love that lasts forever I will have compassion on you," says the LORD, your Redeemer.
9 "To me this is like the waters of Noah: as I swore that the waters of Noah would never again pass over the earth, so I have sworn not to be angry with you or rebuke you.
10 Though the mountains move away and the hills are shaken, my steadfast love will not move away from you, and my covenant of peace will not be shaken," says the LORD, who has compassion on you.
11 "Afflicted one, battered by storms and without comfort, see, I am setting your stones in antimony and laying your foundations with sapphires.
12 I will make your battlements of rubies, your gates of glittering gems, and your whole outer wall of precious stones.
13 All your children will be taught by the LORD, and your children will have abundant peace.
14 You will be firmly founded in righteousness. Keep far from oppression, for you will have nothing to fear, and from terror, for it will not come near you.
15 If anyone does attack you, it is not my doing; whoever attacks you will fall because of you.
16 See, I am the one who created the smith who fans the coals into flame and turns out a weapon fit for its work; and I am the one who created the destroyer to wreak havoc.
17 No weapon forged against you will succeed, and you will prove guilty every tongue that rises to accuse you. This is the inheritance of the servants of the LORD, and their vindication comes from me," declares the LORD.