Isaiah 54

1 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.

Thou bareyn, that childist not, herie; thou that childist not, synge heriyng, and make ioie; for whi many sones ben of the forsakun `womman more than of hir that hadde hosebonde, seith the Lord.

2 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.

Alarge thou the place of thi tente, and stretche forth the skynnes of thi tabernaclis; spare thou not, make longe thi roopis, and make sad thi nailis.

3 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.

For thou schalt perse to the riytside and to the leftside; and thi seed schal enherite hethene men, and schal dwelle in forsakun citees.

4 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.

Nile thou drede, for thou schal not be schent, nether thou schalt be aschamed. For it schal not schame thee; for thou schalt foryete the schenschipe of thi yongthe, and thou schalt no more thenke on the schenschipe of thi widewehod.

5 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.

For he that made thee, schal be lord of thee; the Lord of oostis is his name; and thin ayenbiere, the hooli of Israel, schal be clepid God of al erthe.

6 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.

For the Lord hath clepid thee as a womman forsakun and morenynge in spirit, and a wijf, `that is cast awei fro yongthe.

7 For a short time I gave you up; but with great mercies I will take you back again.

Thi Lord God seide, At a poynt in litil tyme Y forsook thee, and Y schal gadere thee togidere in greete merciful doyngis.

8 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.

In a moment of indignacioun Y hidde my face a litil fro thee, and in merci euerlastynge Y hadde merci on thee, seide thin ayenbiere, the Lord.

9 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.

As in the daies of Noe, this thing is to me, to whom Y swoor, that Y schulde no more bringe watris of the greet flood on the erthe; so Y swoor, that Y be no more wrooth to thee, and that Y blame not thee.

10 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.

Forsothe hillis schulen be mouyd togidere, and litle hillis schulen tremble togidere; but my merci schal not go a wei fro thee, and the boond of my pees schal not be mouyd, seide the merciful doere, the Lord.

11 O troubled one, storm-crushed, uncomforted! see, your stones will be framed in fair colours, and your bases will be sapphires.

Thou litle and pore, drawun out bi tempest, with outen ony coumfort, lo! Y schal strewe thi stoonys bi ordre, and Y schal founde thee in safiris;

12 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.

and Y schal sette iaspis thi touris, and thi yatis in to grauun stoonys, and alle thin eendis in to desirable stoonys.

13 And all your builders will be made wise by the Lord; and great will be the peace of your children.

`Y schal make alle thi sones tauyt of the Lord; and the multitude of pees to thi sones,

14 All your rights will be made certain to you: have no fear of evil, and destruction will not come near you.

and thou schalt be foundid in riytfulnesse. Go thou awei fer fro fals caleng, for thou schalt not drede; and fro drede, for it schal not neiye to thee.

15 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.

Lo! a straunger schal come, that was not with me; he, that was sum tyme thi comelyng, schal be ioyned to thee.

16 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.

Lo! Y made a smyth blowynge coolis in fier, and bringynge forth a vessel in to his werk; and Y haue maad a sleere, for to leese.

17 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.

Ech vessel which is maad ayens thee, schal not be dressid; and in the doom thou schalt deme ech tunge ayenstondynge thee. This is the eritage of the seruauntis of the Lord, and the riytfulnesse of hem at me, seith the Lord.

A Dove is Sent Forth from the Ark