The Book of Mormon
~AD 34

3 Nephi 22

Jesus quotes Isaiah 54, beginning with the barren woman called to sing and enlarge her tent. The prophecy speaks of breaking forth with descendants inheriting nations. Promises of comfort follow past shame, as the Maker becomes husband and redeemer. After brief forsaking comes everlasting kindness. Jerusalem will be rebuilt with precious stones and established in righteousness.

A Promise to the Childless

Then what is written will come true. Sing, you who had no children! Shout for joy, you who never gave birth! You will have more children than a married woman, says the Lord. Make your tent bigger. Stretch out your curtains. Don’t hold back. Make your ropes longer and your stakes stronger. You will spread out to the right and to the left. Your children will take over other lands. They will make empty cities full of people again.

God Will Remove Your Shame

Don’t be afraid. You won’t be ashamed. Don’t worry. You won’t be put to shame. You will forget the shame of your youth. You won’t remember the sadness of being alone anymore. Your Maker is your husband. His name is the Lord of hosts. The Holy One of Israel will save you. He is the God of the whole earth. The Lord has called you back like a woman who was left alone and sad. He has called you back like a wife who was young and rejected, says your God.

I left you for a short time. But I will bring you back with great kindness. I was angry and hid my face from you for a moment. But I will show you kindness forever. I will have mercy on you, says the Lord who saves you. This is like the waters of Noah to me. I promised that the flood would never cover the earth again. In the same way, I promise I will not be angry with you. The mountains may move and the hills may fall. But my kindness will not leave you. My promise to my people will not be broken, says the Lord who has mercy on you.

A Beautiful New City

You have had hard times. You have been tossed around like a storm. No one has helped you. But I will make your stones beautiful. I will build your foundation with sapphires. I will make your windows out of beautiful stones. I will make your gates from rubies. All your walls will be made from lovely stones. The Lord will teach all your children. Your children will have great peace.

God’s Protection

You will be made strong by doing what is right. You will be far from those who hurt you. You won’t be afraid. Terror will not come near you. People may gather together against you. But it won’t be because of me. Anyone who gathers against you will fall. I made the person who works with metal. He blows on the coals in the fire. He makes tools for his work. I also made the one who destroys. No weapon made against you will work. Anyone who speaks against you will be proven wrong. This is what I give to those who serve the Lord. I make them right, says the Lord.

Influences

  • 22:1 — Isaiah 54:1 (KJV)
    Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD.
  • 22:2 — Isaiah 54:2 (KJV)
    Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes;
  • 22:3 — Isaiah 54:3 (KJV)
    For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.
  • 22:4 — Isaiah 54:4 (KJV)
    Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more.
  • 22:5 — Isaiah 54:5 (KJV)
    For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.
  • 22:6 — Isaiah 54:6 (KJV)
    For the LORD hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God.
  • 22:7 — Isaiah 54:7 (KJV)
    For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee.
  • 22:8 — Isaiah 54:8 (KJV)
    In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer.
  • 22:9 — Isaiah 54:9 (KJV)
    For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee.
  • 22:10 — Isaiah 54:10 (KJV)
    For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee.
  • 22:11 — Isaiah 54:11 (KJV)
    O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires.
  • 22:12 — Isaiah 54:12 (KJV)
    And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones.
  • 22:13 — Isaiah 54:13 (KJV)
    And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children.
  • 22:14 — Isaiah 54:14 (KJV)
    In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee.
  • 22:15 — Isaiah 54:15 (KJV)
    Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake.
  • 22:16 — Isaiah 54:16 (KJV)
    Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.
  • 22:17 — Isaiah 54:17 (KJV)
    No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.
3 Nephi 213 Nephi 23