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The Fertility of Zion

¹ "^(C1)Shout for joy, infertile one, you who have not given birth to any child;
Break forth into joyful shouting and cry aloud, you who have not been in labor;
For the sons of the ^(C2)desolate one will be ^(C3)more numerous
Than the sons of the married woman," says the LORD.

² "^(C1)Enlarge the place of your tent;
^(F1)Stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, do not spare them;
Lengthen your ^(C2)ropes
And strengthen your ^(C2)pegs.

³ "For you will ^(C1)spread out to the right and to the left.
And your ^(F1)descendants will ^(C2)possess nations
And will ^(C3)resettle the desolate cities.

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

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

⁶ "For the LORD has called you,
Like a wife ^(C1)forsaken and grieved in spirit,
Even like a wife of one's youth when she is rejected,"
Says your God.

⁷ "^(F1)For a ^(C1)brief moment I abandoned you,
But with great compassion I will ^(C2)gather you.

⁸ "In an ^(F1)(C1)outburst of anger
I hid My face from you for a moment,
But with everlasting ^(C2)favor I will ^(C3)have compassion on you,"
Says the LORD your ^(C4)Redeemer.

⁹ "For ^(F1)this is like the days of Noah to Me,
When I swore that the waters of Noah
Would ^(C1)not ^(F2)flood the earth again;
So I have sworn that I will ^(C2)not be angry with you
Nor rebuke you.

¹⁰ "For the ^(C1)mountains may be removed and the hills may shake,
But My ^(F1)favor 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 "^(C1)Afflicted one, storm-tossed, and ^(C2)not comforted,
Behold, I will set your stones in antimony,
And I will ^(C3)lay your foundations with ^(F1)(C4)sapphires.

¹² "Moreover, I will make your battlements of ^(F1)rubies,
And your gates of ^(F2)crystal,
And your entire ^(F3)wall of precious stones.

¹³ "^(C1)All your sons will be ^(F1)taught by the LORD;
And the well-being of your sons will be ^(C2)great.

¹⁴ "In ^(C1)righteousness you will be established;
You will be far from ^(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 "Behold, I Myself have created the smith who blows on the fire of coals
And produces a weapon for its work;
And I have created the destroyer to inflict ruin.

¹⁷ "^(C1)No weapon that is formed against you will succeed;
And you will condemn ^(C2)every tongue that ^(F1)accuses you in judgment.
This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD,
And their ^(C3)vindication is from Me," declares the LORD.