The prophet, for the comfort of the Gentiles, prophesies the amplitude of their church, 1-3; their safety, 4, 5; their certain deliverance out of affliction, 6-10; their fair edification, 11-14; and their sure preservation, 15-17.
1 "Sing, O barren, you who did not bear./
Break forth into singing and cry aloud,/
you who did not travail with child./
For more are the children of the desolate/
than the children of the married wife,"/
says the LORD.
2 "Enlarge the place of your tent,/
and let them extend the curtains of your habitations./
Do not spare,/
lengthen your cords,/
and strengthen your stakes,
3 For you shall break forth on the right hand and on the left,/
and your offspring shall inherit the Gentiles/
and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.
4 Do not fear,/
for you shall not be ashamed./
Do not be confounded,/
for you shall not be put to shame./
For you shall forget the shame of your youth,/
and shall not remember the reproach/
of your widowhood anymore.
5 For your maker is your husband./
The LORD of hosts is his name./
And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel./
He shall be called The God of the Whole Earth.
6 For the LORD has called you/
as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit,/
even as a wife of youth when she is refused,"/
says your God.
7 "For a small moment I have forsaken you,/
but with great mercies I will gather you.
8 In a little wrath/
I hid my face from you for a moment,/
but with everlasting kindness/
I will have mercy on you,"/
says the LORD your Redeemer.
9 "For this is as the waters of Noah to me./
For as I have sworn that the waters of Noah/
shall no longer overflow the earth,/
so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you,/
nor rebuke you.
10 For the mountains shall depart/
and the hills be removed,/
but my kindness shall not depart from you,/
neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed,"/
says the LORD who has mercy on you.
11 "Oh you afflicted, tossed with tempest,/
and not comforted,/
behold, I will lay your stones with fair colors/
and lay your foundations with sapphires.
12 And I will make your windows of agates,/
your gates of carbuncles,/
and all your borders of pleasant stones.
13 And all your children shall be taught from the LORD,/
and the peace of your children shall be great.
14 In righteousness you shall be established./
You shall be far from oppression,/
for you shall not fear./
You shall be far from terror,/
for it shall not come near you.
15 Behold, they shall surely assemble but not by me./
Whoever assembles against you shall fall for your sake.
16 Behold, I have created the smith/
who blows the coals in the fire/
and brings forth an instrument for his work./
And I have created the waster to destroy.
17 No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper./
And every tongue that rises against you in judgment/
you shall condemn./
This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD,/
and their righteousness is from me,"/
says the LORD.
Matthew Henry Commentary - Isaiah, Chapter 54[➚]
[v.1] - Quoted in Galatians 4:27.
[v.13] - Quoted in John 6:45.