[54:1] Jerusalem, you have been like a childless woman, but now you can sing and shout for joy. Now you will have more children than a woman whose husband never left her.
[54:2] Make the tent you live in larger; lengthen its ropes and strengthen the pegs!
[54:3] You will extend your boundaries on all sides; your people will get back the land that the other nations now occupy. Cities now deserted will be filled with people.
[54:4] Do not be afraid—you will not be disgraced again; you will not be humiliated. You will forget your unfaithfulness as a young wife, and your desperate loneliness as a widow.
[54:5] Your Creator will be like a husband to you— the Lord Almighty is his name. The holy God of Israel will save you— he is the ruler of all the world.
[54:6] Israel, you are like a young wife, deserted by her husband and deeply distressed. But the Lord calls you back to him and says:
[54:7] “For one brief moment I left you; with deep love I will take you back.
[54:8] I turned away angry for only a moment, but I will show you my love forever.” So says the Lord who saves you.
[54:9] “In the time of Noah I promised never again to flood the earth. Now I promise not to be angry with you again; I will not reprimand or punish you.
[54:10] The mountains and hills may crumble, but my love for you will never end; I will keep forever my promise of peace.” So says the Lord who loves you.