Discovery BoxIsaiah 54:5-10 
Context54:5 For your husband is the one who made you –
the Lord who commands armies is his name.
He is your protector, 1 the Holy One of Israel. 2
He is called “God of the entire earth.”
54:6 “Indeed, the Lord will call you back
like a wife who has been abandoned and suffers from depression, 3
like a young wife when she has been rejected,” says your God.
54:7 “For a short time I abandoned 4 you,
but with great compassion I will gather you.
54:8 In a burst 5 of anger I rejected you 6 momentarily,
but with lasting devotion I will have compassion on you,”
says your protector, 7 the Lord.
54:9 “As far as I am concerned, this is like in Noah’s time, 8
when I vowed that the waters of Noah’s flood 9 would never again cover the earth.
In the same way I have vowed that I will not be angry at you or shout at you.
54:10 Even if the mountains are removed
and the hills displaced,
my devotion will not be removed from you,
nor will my covenant of friendship 10 be displaced,”
says the Lord, the one who has compassion on you.
1 tn Or “redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.
2 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
3 tn Heb “like a woman abandoned and grieved in spirit.”
4 tn Or “forsook” (NASB).
5 tn According to BDB 1009 s.v. שֶׁטֶף the noun שֶׁצֶף here is an alternate form of שֶׁטֶף (shetef, “flood”). Some relate the word to an alleged Akkadian cognate meaning “strength.”
6 tn Heb “I hid my face from you.”
7 tn Or “redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.
8 tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “For [or “indeed”] the waters of Noah [is] this to me.” כִּי־מֵי (ki-me, “for the waters of”) should be emended to כְּמֵי (kÿmey, “like the days of”), which is supported by the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa and all the ancient versions except LXX.
9 tn Heb “the waters of Noah” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).
10 tn Heb “peace” (so many English versions); NLT “of blessing.”
