Today’s Scripture:

“Shout for joy, O barren one who has not given birth!Give a joyful shout and cry out, you who have not been in labor!For the children of the desolate one are more numerousthan the children of the married woman,” says the Lord.2 Make your tent larger,stretch your tent curtains farther out![a]Spare no effort,lengthen your ropes,and pound your stakes deep.[b]3 For you will spread out to the right and to the left;your children will conquer[c] nationsand will resettle desolate cities.4 Don’t be afraid, for you will not be put to shame.Don’t be intimidated,[d] for you will not be humiliated.You will forget about the shame you experienced in your youth;you will no longer remember the disgrace of your abandonment.[e]5 For your husband is the one who made you—the Lord of Heaven’s Armies is his name.He is your Protector,[f] the Holy One of Israel.[g]He is called “God of the entire earth.”6 “Indeed, the Lord will call you backlike a wife who has been abandoned and suffers from depression,[h]like a young wife when she has been rejected,” says your God.7 “For a short time I abandoned[i] you,but with great compassion I will gather you.8 In a burst[j] of anger I rejected you[k] momentarily,but with lasting devotion I will have compassion on you,”says your Protector,[l] the Lord.9 “As far as I am concerned, this is like in Noah’s time,[m]when I vowed that the waters of Noah’s flood[n] 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.10 Even if the mountains are removedand the hills displaced,my devotion will not be removed from you,nor will my covenant of friendship[o] be displaced,”says the Lord, the one who has compassion on you.11 “O afflicted one, driven away,[p] and unconsoled!Look, I am about to set your stones in antimony,and lay your foundation with lapis lazuli.12 I will make your pinnacles out of gems,[q]your gates out of beryl,[r]and your outer wall[s] out of beautiful[