Isaiæ 54
1 Lauda sterilis quæ non paris: decanta laudem, et hinni quæ non pariebas: quoniam multi filii desertæ magis quam eius, quæ habet virum, dicit Dominus.
Let your voice be loud in song, O woman without children; make melody and sounds of joy, you who did not give birth: for the children of her who had no husband are more than those of the married wife, says the Lord.
2 Dilata locum tentorii tui, et pelles tabernaculorum tuorum extende, ne parcas: longos fac funiculos tuos, et clavos tuos consolida.
Make wide the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your house be stretched out without limit: make your cords long, and your tent-pins strong.
3 Ad dexteram enim, et ad lævam penetrabis: et semen tuum gentes hereditabit, et civitates desertas inhabitabit.
For I will make wide your limits on the right hand and on the left; and your seed will take the nations for a heritage, and make the waste towns full of people.
4 Noli timere quia non confunderis, neque erubesces: non enim te pudebit, quia confusionis adolescentiæ tuæ oblivisceris, et opprobrii viduitatis tuæ non recordaberis amplius.
Have no fear; for you will not be shamed or without hope: you will not be put to shame, for the shame of your earlier days will go out of your memory, and you will no longer keep in mind the sorrows of your widowed years.
5 Quia dominabitur tui qui fecit te, Dominus exercituum nomen eius: et Redemptor tuus, Sanctus Israel, Deus omnis terræ vocabitur.
For your Maker is your husband; the Lord of armies is his name: and the Holy One of Israel is he who takes up your cause; he will be named the God of all the earth.
6 Quia et mulierem derelictam et mœrentem spiritu vocavit te Dominus, et uxorem ab adolescentia abiectam, dixit Deus tuus.
For the Lord has made you come back to him, like a wife who has been sent away in grief of spirit; for one may not give up the wife of one's early days.
7 Ad punctum in modico dereliqui te, et in miserationibus magnis congregabo te.
For a short time I gave you up; but with great mercies I will take you back again.
8 In momento indignationis abscondi faciem meam parumper a te, et in misericordia sempiterna misertus sum tui: dixit Redemptor tuus Dominus.
In overflowing wrath my face was veiled from you for a minute, but I will have pity on you for ever, says the Lord who takes up your cause.
9 Sicut in diebus Noe istud mihi est, cui iuravi ne inducerem aquas Noe ultra super terram: sic iuravi ut non irascar tibi, et non increpem te.
For this is like the days of Noah to me: for as I took an oath that the waters of Noah would never again go over the earth, so have I taken an oath that I will not again be angry with you, or say bitter words to you.
10 Montes enim commovebuntur, et colles contremiscent: misericordia autem mea non recedet a te, et fœdus pacis meæ non movebitur: dixit miserator tuus Dominus.
For the mountains may be taken away, and the hills be moved out of their places, but my love will not be taken from you, or my agreement of peace broken, says the Lord, who has had mercy on you.
11 Paupercula tempestate convulsa, absque ulla consolatione. Ecce ego sternam per ordinem lapides tuos, et fundabo te in sapphiris,
O troubled one, storm-crushed, uncomforted! see, your stones will be framed in fair colours, and your bases will be sapphires.
12 et ponam iaspidem propugnacula tua: et portas tuas in lapides sculptos, et omnes terminos tuos in lapides desiderabiles.
I will make your towers of rubies, and your doors of carbuncles, and the wall round you will be of all sorts of beautiful stones.
13 Universos filios tuos doctos a Domino: et multitudinem pacis filiis tuis.
And all your builders will be made wise by the Lord; and great will be the peace of your children.
14 Et in iustitia fundaberis: recede procul a calumnia, quia non timebis: et a pavore, quia non appropinquabit tibi.
All your rights will be made certain to you: have no fear of evil, and destruction will not come near you.
15 Ecce accola veniet, qui non erat mecum, advena quondam tuus adiungetur tibi.
See, they may be moved to war, but not by my authority: all those who come together to make an attack on you, will be broken against you.
16 Ecce ego creavi fabrum sufflantem in igne prunas, et proferentem vas in opus suum, et ego creavi interfectorem ad disperdendum.
See, I have made the iron-worker, blowing on the burning coals, and making the instrument of war by his work; and I have made the waster for destruction.
17 Omne vas, quod fictum est contra te, non dirigetur: et omnem linguam resistentem tibi in iudicio, iudicabis. Hæc est hereditas servorum Domini, et iustitia eorum apud me, dicit Dominus.
No instrument of war which is formed against you will be of any use; and every tongue which says evil against you will be judged false. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness comes from me, says the Lord.
A Dove is Sent Forth from the Ark
