Yahweh is speaking to Jerusalem, which Good News Translation and Bible en français courant make clear by beginning with a direct address to “Jerusalem.”

In 49.14-26 the LORD referred to Jerusalem as a childless woman, because her children had been taken away into exile. Here the metaphor is different. Jerusalem is childless because she never had any children. This change in the metaphor heightens the contrast between the city’s present and its future. After not having any children, the city will soon become so crowded that it will not be large enough to contain its abundant offspring. This figurative language signifies that the abandoned city of Jerusalem will have a rapidly expanding population.

Sing … break forth into singing and cry aloud…!: God calls on the city of Jerusalem to rejoice. These three imperatives combine to make a powerful call to celebrate. The Hebrew verb rendered Sing does not usually mean “to sing a song,” but rather “to shout with joy” (see the comments on 12.6, where it is translated “sing for joy”). For break forth into singing, see the comments on 14.7. Into singing renders the same Hebrew root translated Sing. The Hebrew verb rendered cry aloud does not mean “to weep in sorrow” in this context, but rather “to shout with joy” (see the comments on 12.6, where it is rendered “Shout”). Translators will need to consider how to render these three imperatives naturally without undue repetition. New Jerusalem Bible translates “Shout for joy … Break into cries and shouts of joy…!” Some translators may choose to combine them into two verbs (so Good News Translation, Bible en français courant).

O barren one, who did not bear … you who have not been in travail: Just as there are three imperatives telling Jerusalem to celebrate, so there are three descriptions of the city. God compares it to a woman who has never given birth. He first refers to Jerusalem as the barren one. The Hebrew adjective for barren describes a man or woman who has been unable to have children. Here it applies to Jerusalem as a barren woman. Who did not bear gives the sense of barren. The Hebrew verb for bear means to give birth to a child, not just to be pregnant. You who have not been in travail describes the barren condition of Jerusalem even further. The Hebrew verb here means “to twist in pain,” which is a graphic way of referring to the painful process of childbirth (see the comments on 26.17, where it is translated “writhes”). For these three expressions that compare Jerusalem to a childless woman, New Jerusalem Bible has “barren one who has borne no children … you who were never in labour,” and Revised English Bible says “barren woman who never bore a child … you that have never been in labour” (similarly New International Version). Good News Translation combines these three expressions into one and changes the metaphor into a simile, saying “Jerusalem, you have been like a childless woman.” This model may be helpful for languages that do not favor the use of metaphors. However, Good News Translation‘s simile reduces some of the impact of the LORD’s words by giving the impression that Jerusalem may have had children once—she now only resembles a childless woman. Good News Translation also loses some of the emphasis by combining the imperatives and the figurative language in the first three lines of this verse. A better model is “Jerusalem, you are like a woman who has never had children—but now shout with joy! You are like a woman who has never gone through the pains of childbirth—but now sing aloud!” (similarly Bible en français courant).

For the children of the desolate one will be more than the children of her that is married: The Hebrew particle ki rendered For introduces the reason for celebration. The LORD tells Jerusalem to rejoice because her future population will far exceed that of the past. The meaning of the Hebrew word rendered the desolate one is not completely clear, since it comes from a root that can mean “abandoned/deserted/forsaken/rejected” or “appalled/dismayed.” Most versions prefer the sense of “abandoned,” but New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh includes the emotional sense by saying “forlorn.” In this context it most likely compares Jerusalem after the exile to a woman who has been abandoned by her husband (compare 50.1). Her that is married compares Jerusalem before the exile to a married woman. Just as the children of the desolate one will be more than the children of her that is married, so Jerusalem’s population in the future will be more than it was before her people were taken into exile. Good News Translation expresses this comparison clearly with “Now you will have more children than a woman whose husband never left her.”

Says the LORD notes that these words are a divine promise (see the comments on 7.7). Some languages may find it helpful to begin with this quote frame (see the second example below)

For the translation of this verse consider the following examples:

• “Sing out with joy, childless woman, who has never borne a child;
sing out and shout, you who have never given birth!
For the children of the abandoned woman will outnumber
those of the married woman,
says Yahweh.

• The LORD says:
“Celebrate, you childless one, who has never borne a child;
sing out for joy and cry aloud, you who have never given birth!
Because you who were abandoned will have more children
than the one who is married.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .