The Eternal Covenant of Peace

54 Shout for joy, O barren one who has borne no children;

burst into song and shout,

you who have not been in labor!

For the children of the desolate woman will be more

than the children of the one who is married, says the Lord.*

2 Enlarge the site of your tent,

and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out;

do not hold back; lengthen your cords

and strengthen your stakes.*

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

and your descendants will possess nations

and will settle desolate towns.*

4 Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed;

do not be discouraged, for you will not suffer disgrace,

for you will forget the shame of your youth,

and the disgrace of your widowhood you will remember no more.*

5 For your Maker is your husband;

the Lord of hosts is his name;

the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer;

the God of the whole earth he is called.*

6 For the Lord has called you

like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit,

like the wife of a man’s youth when she is cast off,

says your God.*

7 For a brief moment I abandoned you,

but with great compassion I will gather you.*

8 In overflowing wrath for a moment

I hid my face from you,

but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,

says the Lord, your Redeemer.*

9 This is like the days of Noah to me:

Just as I swore that the waters of Noah

would never again go over the earth,

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

and will not rebuke you.*

10 For the mountains may depart

and the hills be removed,

but my steadfast love shall not depart from you,

and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,

says the Lord, who has compassion on you.*

11 O afflicted one, storm-tossed and not comforted,

I am about to set your stones in antimony

and lay your foundations with sapphires.q,*

12 I will make your pinnacles of rubies,

your gates of jewels,

and all your wall of precious stones.

13 All your children shall be taught by the Lord,

and great shall be the prosperity of your children.*

14 In righteousness you shall be established;

you shall be far from oppression; indeed, you shall not fear;

and from terror; indeed, it shall not come near you.*

15 If anyone stirs up strife,

it is not from me;

whoever stirs up strife with you

shall fall because of you.*

16 See, it is I who have created the smith

who blows the fire of coals

and produces a weapon fit for its purpose;

I have also created the ravager to destroy.

17 No weapon that is fashioned against you shall prosper,

and you shall confute every tongue that rises against you in judgment.

This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord

and their vindication from me, says the Lord.*

An Invitation to Abundant Life

55 Hear, everyone who thirsts;

come to the waters;

and you who have no money,

come, buy and eat!

Come, buy wine and milk

without money and without price.*

2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread

and your earnings for that which does not satisfy?

Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good,

and delight yourselves in rich food.*

3 Incline your ear, and come to me;

listen, so that you may live.

I will make with you an everlasting covenant,

my steadfast, sure love for David.*

4 See, I made him a witness to the peoples,

a leader and commander for the peoples.*

5 Now you shall call nations that you do not know,

and nations that do not know you shall run to you,

because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel,

for he has glorified you.*

6 Seek the Lord while he may be found;

call upon him while he is near;*

7 let the wicked forsake their way

and the unrighteous their thoughts;

let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them,

and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.*

8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.

9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts.*

10 For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven

and do not return there until they have watered the earth,

making it bring forth and sprout,

giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,*

11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;

it shall not return to me empty,

but it shall accomplish that which I purpose

and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.*

12 For you shall go out in joy

and be led back in peace;

the mountains and the hills before you

shall burst into song,

and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.*

13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;

instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle,

and it shall be to the Lord for a memorial,

for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.*

The Covenant Extended to All Who Obey

56 Thus says the Lord:

Maintain justice, and do what is right,

for soon my salvation will come

and my deliverance be revealed.*

2 Happy is the mortal who does this,

the one who holds it fast,

who keeps the Sabbath, not profaning it,

and refrains from doing any evil.*

3 Do not let the foreigner joined to the Lord say,

“The Lord will surely separate me from his people,”

and do not let the eunuch say,

“I am just a dry tree.”*

4 For thus says the Lord:

To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths,

who choose the things that please me

and hold fast my covenant,*

5 I will give, in my house and within my walls,

a monument and a name

better than sons and daughters;

I will give them an everlasting name

that shall not be cut off.*

6 And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,

to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord,

and to be his servants,

all who keep the Sabbath and do not profane it

and hold fast my covenant—*

7 these I will bring to my holy mountain

and make them joyful in my house of prayer;

their burnt offerings and their sacrifices

will be accepted on my altar,

for my house shall be called a house of prayer

for all peoples.*

8 Thus says the Lord God,

who gathers the outcasts of Israel:

I will gather others to them

besides those already gathered.r,*

The Corruption of Israel’s Rulers

9 All you wild animals,

all you wild animals in the forest, come to devour!*

10 Israel’ss sentinels are blind;

they are all without knowledge;

they are all silent dogs

that cannot bark,

dreaming, lying down,

loving to slumber.*

11 The dogs have a mighty appetite;

they never have enough.

The shepherds also have no understanding;

they have all turned to their own way,

to their own gain, one and all.

12 “Come,” they say, “let ust get wine;

let us fill ourselves with strong drink.

And tomorrow will be like today,

great beyond measure.”