The Covenant of Peace

¹Sing, O barren,

you who did not bear a child.

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 .

²Enlarge the place of your tent,[#Isa 49:19–20]

and let them stretch out the curtains of your habitations;

spare not,

lengthen your cords,

and strengthen your stakes.

³For you shall spread out to the right hand and to the left,

and your descendants shall inherit the nations

and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.

⁴Do not fear, for you shall not be ashamed, nor be humiliated;[#Jer 31:19]

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.

⁵For your maker is your husband,[#Jer 3:14]

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.

⁶For the Lord has called you

as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit,

and a wife of youth

when you were refused, says your God.

⁷For a small moment I have forsaken you,

but with great mercies I will gather you.

⁸In 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.

⁹For this is as the waters of Noah to Me;

for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no longer cover the earth,

so I have sworn that I would not be wrathful with you

nor rebuke you.

¹⁰For the mountains may be removed,[#Ps 46:2]

and the hills may shake,

but My kindness shall not depart from you,

nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,

says the Lord who has mercy on you.

¹¹O afflicted one, tossed with tempest and not comforted,

behold, I will lay your stones with fair colors

and lay your foundations with sapphires.

¹²I will make your windows of agates,

and your gates of crystal,

and all your borders of precious stones.

¹³All your sons shall be taught of the Lord ,[#Jn 6:45]

and great shall be the peace of your sons.

¹⁴In righteousness you shall be established;[#Isa 1:26]

you shall be far from oppression,

for you shall not fear,

and from terror,

for it shall not come near you.

¹⁵Indeed they shall surely assail you fiercely, but not from Me.

Whoever assails you shall fall for your sake.

¹⁶Behold, I have created the smith

who blows the coals in the fire

and who brings forth an instrument for his work;

and I have created the destroyer in order to cause ruin.

¹⁷No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper,

and every tongue that shall rise against you in judgment, you shall condemn.

This is the inheritance of the servants of the Lord ,

and their vindication is from Me,

says the Lord .