Isaiah 54:4

Do not be afraid, for you will not be put to shame; do not be intimidated, for you will not be humiliated. For you will forget the shame of your youth and will remember no more the reproach of your widowhood.

Berean Standard Bible

Follow its threads on the canvas →

Study note

Setting — God addresses Zion, personified as a woman, in the moment between desolation and restoration. The promise follows the declaration that her descendants will dispossess nations (Isaiah 54:3) and precedes the identification of her husband as the LORD of Hosts (Isaiah 54:5).

The words — The verse pairs two distinct Hebrew words for shame: bāshām (תֵב֔וֹשִׁי, H954), general disgrace or embarrassment, and kālām (תִּכָּלְמִ֖י, H3637), a deeper, more lasting reproach. The escalation from one to the other marks the full range of what is being released.

The thread — Isaiah 61:7 inverts the same structure: "instead of shame... a double portion." The "do not fear" formula recurs in Isaiah 41:10, where the command is grounded in God's present presence rather than in a future reversal.

Why it lands — The verse does not promise the absence of memory but commands its release: "you will forget... you will remember no more." It asks the reader to stop treating past humiliation as an ongoing identity.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

אַל־'al-may not תִּֽירְאִי֙ti.re.'Iyou be afraid כִּי־ki-for לֹ֣אlo'not תֵב֔וֹשִׁיte.Vo.o.shiyou will be put to shame וְאַל־ve./'al-and/ may not תִּכָּלְמִ֖יti.kal.Miyou be ashamed כִּ֣יkifor לֹ֣אlo'not תַחְפִּ֑ירִיtach.Pi.riyou will display shame כִּ֣יkifor בֹ֤שֶׁתVo.shet[the] shame of עֲלוּמַ֙יִךְ֙'a.lu.Ma.yi/khyouth<s>/ your תִּשְׁכָּ֔חִיtish.Ka.chiyou will forget וְחֶרְפַּ֥תve./cher.Patand/ [the] reproach of אַלְמְנוּתַ֖יִךְ'al.me.nu.Ta.yi/khwidowhood/ your לֹ֥אlo'not תִזְכְּרִי־tiz.ke.ri-you will remember עֽוֹד׃odagain

King James Version

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.

Cross-references

Isaiah 41:10 Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will surely help you; I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.
1 Peter 2:6 For it stands in Scripture: “See, I lay in Zion a stone, a chosen and precious cornerstone; and the one who believes in Him will never be put to shame.”
Isaiah 61:7 Instead of shame, My people will have a double portion, and instead of humiliation, they will rejoice in their share; and so they will inherit a double portion in their land, and everlasting joy will be theirs.
Jeremiah 31:19 After I returned, I repented; and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh in grief. I was ashamed and humiliated because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’
Isaiah 45:16 They will all be put to shame and humiliated; the makers of idols will depart together in disgrace.
Isaiah 51:7 Listen to Me, you who know what is right, you people with My law in your hearts: Do not fear the scorn of men; do not be broken by their insults.
Isaiah 41:14 Do not fear, O Jacob, you worm, O few men of Israel. I will help you,” declares the LORD. “Your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
Ezekiel 16:60 But I will remember the covenant I made with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you.
Hosea 3:1 Then the LORD said to me, “Go show love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love to offer raisin cakes to idols.”
Ezekiel 16:43 Because you did not remember the days of your youth, but enraged Me with all these things, I will surely bring your deeds down upon your own head, declares the Lord GOD. Have you not committed this lewdness on top of all your other abominations?