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The Fertility of Zion

¹ "^(C1)Shout for joy, O barren one, she who has not given birth;
Break forth into joyful shouting and rejoice, she who has not gone into labor with child!
For the spiritual sons of the ^(C2)desolate one will be ^(C3)more numerous
Than the sons of the married woman," says the LORD. ^(VR1)

² "^(C1)Enlarge the site of your tent to make room for more children;
Stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, do not spare them;
Lengthen your ^(C2)tent ropes
And make your ^(C2)pegs (stakes) firm in the ground.

³ "For you will ^(C1)spread out to the right and to the left;
And your descendants will ^(C2)take possession of nations
And will ^(C3)inhabit deserted cities.

⁴ "Do not fear, for you will ^(C1)not be put to shame,
And do not feel humiliated or ashamed, for you will not be disgraced.
For you will forget the ^(C2)shame of your youth,
And you will no longer remember the ^(C3)disgrace of your widowhood.

⁵ "For your ^(C1)husband is your Maker,
The LORD of hosts is His name;
And your ^(C2)Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel,
Who is called the ^(C3)God of the whole earth.

⁶ "For the LORD has called you,
Like a wife who has been ^(C1)abandoned, grieved in spirit,
And like a wife married in her youth when she is later rejected and scorned,"
Says your God.

⁷ "For a ^(C1)brief moment I abandoned you,
But with great compassion and mercy I will ^(C2)gather you to Myself again.

⁸ "In an ^(C1)outburst of wrath
I hid My face from you for a moment,
But with ^(C2)everlasting kindness I will ^(C3)have compassion on you,"
Says the LORD your ^(C4)Redeemer.

⁹ "For this is like the waters of Noah to Me,
As I swore an oath that the waters of Noah
Would ^(C1)not flood the earth again;
In the same way I have sworn that I will ^(C2)not be angry with you
Nor will I rebuke you.

¹⁰ "For the ^(C1)mountains may be removed and the hills may shake,
But My lovingkindness will not be removed from you,
Nor will My ^(C2)covenant of peace be shaken,"
Says ^(C3)the LORD who has compassion on you.

¹¹ "O you ^(C1)afflicted city, storm-tossed, and ^(C2)not comforted,
Listen carefully, I will set your precious stones in mortar,
And ^(C3)lay your foundations with ^(C4)sapphires.

¹² "And I will make your battlements of rubies,
And your gates of shining beryl stones,
And all your barrier ^(F1)walls of precious stones. ^(VR1)

¹³ "And ^(C1)all your spiritual sons will be disciples of the LORD,
And ^(C2)great will be the ^(F1)well-being of your sons. ^(VR1)

¹⁴ "You will be firmly established in ^(C1)righteousness:
You will be far from even the thought of ^(C2)oppression, for you will ^(C3)not fear,
And from ^(C4)terror, for it will not come near you.

¹⁵ "If anyone fiercely attacks you it will not be from Me.
^(C1)Whoever attacks you will fall because of you.

¹⁶ "Listen carefully, I have created the smith who blows on the fire of coals
And who produces a weapon for its purpose;
And I have created the destroyer to inflict ruin.

¹⁷ "^(C1)No weapon that is formed against you will succeed;
And ^(C2)every tongue that rises against you in judgment you will condemn.
This peace, righteousness, security, and triumph over opposition is the heritage of the servants of the LORD,
And this is their ^(C3)vindication from Me," says the LORD.