Isaiah 54 (WEB)

Isaiah 54

¹ “Sing, barren, you who didn’t give birth! Break out into singing, and cry aloud, you who didn’t 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 stretch out the curtains of your habitations; don’t spare; lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes.

³ For you will spread out on the right hand and on the left; and your offspring will possess the nations and settle in desolate cities.

⁴ “Don’t be afraid, for you will not be ashamed. Don’t be confounded, for you will not be disappointed. For you will forget the shame of your youth. You will remember the reproach of your widowhood no more.

⁵ For your Maker is your husband; the LORD of Armies is his name. The Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer. He will be called the God of the whole earth.

⁶ For the LORD has called you as a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, even a wife of youth, when she is cast off,” says your God.

⁷ “For a small moment I have forsaken you, but I will gather you with great mercies.

⁸ In overflowing wrath I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting loving kindness I will have mercy on you,” says the LORD your Redeemer.

⁹ “For this is like the waters of Noah to me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah will no more go over the earth, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you, nor rebuke you.

¹⁰ For the mountains may depart, and the hills be removed, but my loving kindness will not depart from you, and my covenant of peace will not be removed,” says the LORD who has mercy on you.

¹¹ “You afflicted, tossed with storms, and not comforted, behold, I will set your stones in beautiful colors, and lay your foundations with sapphires.

¹² I will make your pinnacles of rubies, your gates of sparkling jewels, and all your walls of precious stones.

¹³ All your children will be taught by the LORD, and your children’s peace will be great.

¹⁴ You will be established in righteousness. You will be far from oppression, for you will not be afraid, and far from terror, for it shall not come near you.

¹⁵ Behold, they may gather together, but not by me. Whoever gathers together against you will fall because of you.

¹⁶ “Behold, I have created the blacksmith who fans the coals into flame, and forges a weapon for his work; and I have created the destroyer to destroy.

¹⁷ No weapon that is formed against you will prevail; and you will condemn every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the LORD’s servants, and their righteousness is of me,” says the LORD.

Around Isaiah 54

Context

Context for this book is being written. A note appears here only once it names its sources.

AI explanation

About Isaiah as a whole · Written by an AI model · Not reviewed by a theological reader

This explanation was written by an AI model to help you get started. It names no sources and can contain mistakes. Scripture comes first, and context with sources is shown separately on this page.

What this book is about

It begins with a vision. In the year that King Uzziah died, the prophet sees the Lord on a throne, high and lifted up, and voices call, “Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of Armies!” Then comes a call for someone to go, and the answer, “Here I am. Send me!”

What he is sent to say is hard and then tender. To Judah and Jerusalem, the first part of the book (chapters 1 to 39) warns of the consequences of injustice and false trust, and it promises a child who will rule on David’s throne. The second part (40 to 55) opens with “Comfort, comfort my people” and speaks to a people in exile, and it tells of a servant who suffers for others. The last part (56 to 66) looks ahead to a renewed people and to a new heavens and a new earth.

Background

Isaiah son of Amoz prophesied in Jerusalem in the second half of the eighth century before Christ, while the Assyrian threat hung over the land. Many scholars think chapters 40 to 66 come from later prophets in his tradition, speaking during and after the exile. Others hold that Isaiah wrote the whole book. Either way, the book reads as one long conversation between God and a people who swing between fear and false confidence.

How Christians read it

No prophet is quoted more in the New Testament. Readers have long weighed who the suffering servant is. Christians read the servant of chapter 53 as fulfilled in the death of Jesus, and Jewish interpretation has most often understood the servant as Israel. Passages such as 7:14 and 9:6 are read by Christians as pointing to Christ, while also having a meaning in Isaiah’s own day. These are old readings held by people who love the same pages.

About this explanation

Written by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model, on 20 October 2026. It draws on the WEB text and general knowledge and was not checked against sources by a person. Every quotation from Scripture is checked automatically against the WEB text.

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