Isaiah 51

1 Give ear to me, you who are searching for righteousness, who are looking for the Lord: see the rock from which you were cut out, and the hole out of which you were taken.

Hearken to me, ye that pursue righteousness. Ye that seek Jehovah! Look to the rock whence ye were hewn, To the pit-quarry whence ye were digged!

2 Let your thoughts be turned to Abraham, your father, and to Sarah, who gave you birth: for when he was but one, my voice came to him, and I gave him my blessing, and made him a great people.

Look to Abraham your father, And to Sarah that bore you! For I called him when only one, And blessed him, and multiplied him.

3 For the Lord has given comfort to Zion: he has made glad all her broken walls; making her waste places like Eden, and changing her dry land into the garden of the Lord; joy and delight will be there, praise and the sound of melody.

Thus will Jehovah have pity upon Zion; He will have pity upon all her desolations. He will make her wilderness like Eden, Her desert like the garden of Jehovah. Joy and gladness shall be found therein; Thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.

4 Give attention to me, O my people; and give ear to me, O my nation; for teaching will go out from me, and the knowledge of the true God will be a light to the peoples.

Hearken to me, O my people! And give ear to me, O my nation! For a law shall proceed from me, And I will establish my statutes for the light of the nations.

5 Suddenly will my righteousness come near, and my salvation will be shining out like the light; the sea-lands will be waiting for me, and they will put their hope in my strong arm.

My help is near; my salvation goeth forth; My arm shall judge the nations; Distant lands shall wait for me, And in my arm shall they trust.

6 Let your eyes be lifted up to the heavens, and turned to the earth which is under them: for the heavens will go in flight like smoke, and the earth will become old like a coat, and its people will come to destruction like insects: but my salvation will be for ever, and my righteousness will not come to an end.

Lift up your eyes to the heavens, And look down upon the earth beneath! For the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, And the earth shall decay like a garment, And its inhabitants shall perish like flies. But my salvation shall endure forever, And my goodness shall not decay.

7 Give ear to me, you who have knowledge of righteousness, in whose heart is my law; have no fear of the evil words of men, and give no thought to their curses.

Hearken to me, ye that know righteousness, The people in whose heart is my law! Fear ye not the reproach of men, Nor be disheartened by their revilings!

8 For like a coat they will be food for the insect, the worm will make a meal of them like wool: but my righteousness will be for ever, and my salvation to all generations.

For the moth shall consume them like a garment, And the worm shall eat them like wool. But my goodness shall endure forever, And my salvation from generation to generation.

9 Awake! awake! put on strength, O arm of the Lord, awake! as in the old days, in the generations long past. Was it not by you that Rahab was cut in two, and the dragon Wounded?

Awake! awake! clothe thyself with strength, O arm of Jehovah! Awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old!

10 Did you not make the sea dry, the waters of the great deep? did you not make the deep waters of the sea a way for the Lord's people to go through?

Art thou not the same that smote Rahab, And wounded the dragon? Art thou not the same that dried up the sea, The waters of the great deep, —That made the depths of the sea a path for the redeemed to pass through?

11 Those whom the Lord has made free will come back with songs to Zion; and on their heads will be eternal joy: delight and joy will be theirs, and sorrow and sounds of grief will be gone for ever.

Thus shall the ransomed of Jehovah return; They shall come to Zion with singing; Everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; They shall obtain gladness and joy, And sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

12 I, even I, am your comforter: are you so poor in heart as to be in fear of man who will come to an end, and of the son of man who will be like grass?

I, even I, am he that hath pity upon you; Who art thou, that thou art afraid of man, that shall die, Of the son of man, that shall perish like grass,

13 And you have given no thought to the Lord your Maker, by whom the heavens were stretched out, and the earth placed on its base; and you went all day in fear of the wrath of the cruel one, when he was making ready for your destruction. And where is the wrath of the cruel one?

And forgettest Jehovah thy maker, That stretched out the heavens, And founded the earth, And fearest continually every day, On account of the fury of the oppressor, As if he were taking aim to destroy thee? Where now is the fury of the oppressor?

14 The prisoner, bent under his chain, will quickly be made free, and will not go down into the underworld, and his bread will not come to an end.

Soon shall the enchained be loosed; He shall not die in the pit, Nor shall his bread fail.

15 For I am the Lord your God, who makes the sea calm when its waves are thundering: the Lord of armies is his name.

For I am Jehovah thy God, That rebuketh the sea when his waves roar; Jehovah of hosts is his name.

16 And I have put my words in your mouth, covering you with the shade of my hand, stretching out the heavens, and placing the earth on its base, and saying to Zion, You are my people.

I have put my words into thy mouth, And have covered thee with the shadow of my hand, To establish the heavens, and to found the earth. And to say to Zion, “Thou art my people!”

17 Awake! awake! up! O Jerusalem, you who have taken from the Lord's hand the cup of his wrath; tasting in full measure the wine which overcomes.

Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem! Thou that hast drunk from the hand of Jehovah the cup of his fury, Thou that hast drunk to the dregs the cup of giddiness!

18 She has no one among all her children to be her guide; not one of the sons she has taken care of takes her by the hand.

There is not one to lead her, of all the sons which she hath brought forth, Nor is there one to take her by the hand, of all the sons which she hath nurtured.

19 These two things have come on you; who will be weeping for you? wasting and destruction; death from need of food, and from the sword; how may you be comforted?

These two things have come upon thee, And who bemoaneth thee? Desolation and destruction, and famine and the sword; How shall I comfort thee?

20 Your sons are overcome, like a roe in a net; they are full of the wrath of the Lord, the punishment of your God.

Thy sons have fainted; they lie at the head of all the streets, Like a deer in the net; They are full of the wrath of Jehovah, Of the rebuke of thy God.

21 So now give ear to this, you who are troubled and overcome, but not with wine:

Therefore, hear this, thou afflicted, Thou drunken, and not with wine!

22 This is the word of the Lord your master, even your God who takes up the cause of his people: See, I have taken out of your hand the cup which overcomes, even the cup of my wrath; it will not again be given to you:

Thus saith thy Lord, Jehovah, And thy God, that defendeth the cause of his people. Behold, I will take from thy hand the cup of giddiness, The cup of my wrath; Thou shalt drink no more of it.

23 And I will put it into the hand of your cruel masters, and of those whose yoke has been hard on you; who have said to your soul, Down on your face! so that we may go over you: and you have given your backs like the earth, even like the street, for them to go over.

And I will put it into the hand of them that have afflicted thee; That have said to thee, “Bow down, that we may pass over!” And thou madest thy body as the ground, And as the street, to them that passed over.