1 ARST Yahweh says,“You people of Jerusalem, start to sing! You who are like women who have never given birth to children, sing loudly and shout joyfully, because you, who are like childless women who have been abandoned by their husbands, will soon have more children than women who have never had any children. BSB BSB: “Shout for joy, O barren woman, who bears no children; break forth in song and cry aloud, you who have never travailed; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband,” says the LORD.
2 ARST Make your tents larger; make them wider, and fasten them firmly with tent pegs. BSB BSB: “Enlarge the site of your tent, stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, do not hold back. Lengthen your ropes and drive your stakes in deep.
3 ARST You will need to make your city much larger because soon you and your descendants will spread all over the land. They will force the people of other nations to leave where they are, and you will live again in the cities that people had previously abandoned. BSB BSB: For you will spread out to the right and left; your descendants will dispossess the nations and inhabit the desolate cities.
4 ARST Do not be afraid; you will no longer be ashamed. Previously you were ashamed because your enemies conquered you and caused your nation to be like a widow, but soon you will not even remember that. BSB BSB: Do not be afraid, for you will not be put to shame; do not be intimidated, for you will not be humiliated. For you will forget the shame of your youth and will remember no more the reproach of your widowhood.
5 ARST I, Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, the Holy One of Israel, who rules over the whole earth, the one who created you, will be like a husband to you. BSB BSB: For your husband is your Maker—the LORD of Hosts is His name—the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; He is called the God of all the earth.
6 ARST Your nation was like a woman whose husband left her, and caused you to be very sad; you were like a young woman who got married when she was very young, and then her husband abandoned her. BSB BSB: For the LORD has called you back, like a wife deserted and wounded in spirit, like the rejected wife of one’s youth,” says your God.
7 ARST I abandoned you people of Jerusalem for a while, but now I am saying,‘I will take you back.’ BSB BSB: “For a brief moment I forsook you, but with great compassion I will bring you back.
8 ARST I was very angry with you for a while, and I turned away from you. But I will act mercifully toward you and I will faithfully love you forever. That is what I, Yahweh, your rescuer, say to you. BSB BSB: In a surge of anger I hid My face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you,” says the LORD your Redeemer.
9 ARST During the time that Noah lived, I solemnly promised that I would never again allow a flood to cover the earth. So now I solemnly promise that I will not be angry with you again and rebuke you. BSB BSB: “For to Me this is like the days of Noah, when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth. So I have sworn that I will not be angry with you or rebuke you.
10 ARST Even if the mountains and hills shake and collapse, I will not stop faithfully loving you, and I will not cancel my covenant to cause things to go well for you. That is what I, Yahweh, who acts mercifully, say. BSB BSB: Though the mountains may be removed and the hills may be shaken, My loving devotion will not depart from you, and My covenant of peace will not be broken,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you.
11 ARST You people of Jerusalem, your enemies acted very violently toward you; it was as though your city had been battered by a severe storm, and no one helped you. But now I will cause your city to be rebuilt with stones made of turquoise, and will cause the foundations of the city to be made of sapphires. BSB BSB: “O afflicted city, lashed by storms, without solace, surely I will set your stones in antimony and lay your foundations with sapphires.
12 ARST I will cause the towers on the city wall to be made of rubies, and all the gates and outer walls of the city will be made of other very valuable stones. BSB BSB: I will make your pinnacles of rubies, your gates of sparkling jewels, and all your walls of precious stones.
13 ARST I will be the one who will teach your children and cause things to go well with you. BSB BSB: Then all your sons will be taught by the LORD, and great will be their prosperity.
14 ARST Your government will be strong because it will act justly; no one will oppress you; you will not be afraid, because nothing will come near you that will make you fear. BSB BSB: In righteousness you will be established, far from oppression, for you will have no fear. Terror will be far removed, for it will not come near you.
15 ARST If any army attacks you, it will not be because I have incited them to do that, and you will defeat anyone who attacks you. BSB BSB: If anyone attacks you, it is not from Me; whoever assails you will fall before you.
16 ARST Think about this: Blacksmiths fan the coals to make a very hot flame in order to produce weapons that can be used in battles, but I am the one who has produced blacksmiths! And I am also the one who created people who destroy other people and cities. BSB BSB: Behold, I have created the craftsman who fans the coals into flame and forges a weapon fit for its task; and I have created the destroyer to wreak havoc.
17 ARST You will not be defeated by soldiers using weapons that they have made to attack you, and when others try to accuse you, you will prove that they are wrong, and you will condemn them to punishment. That is the reward for the people who serve Yahweh. I will defend them and show everyone else that they are right to trust me; that is what I, Yahweh, promise.” BSB BSB: No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their vindication is from Me,” declares the LORD.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.