Esias 51

1 Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, and seek the Lord: look to the solid rock, which ye have hewn, and to the hole of the pit which ye have dug.

“Sh'ma ·Hear obey· to me, you who follow after righteousness, you who seek Adonai: look to the rock you were cut from, and to the quarry you were dug from.

2 Look to Abraam your father, and to Sarrha that bore you: for he was alone when I called him, and blessed him, and loved him, and multiplied him.

Look to Abraham [Father of a multitude] your father, and to Sarah [Princess] who bore you; for when he was but one I called him, and I blessed him, and made him many.

3 And now I will comfort thee, O Sion: and I have comforted all her desert places; and I will make her desert places as a garden, and her western places as the garden of the Lord; they shall find in her gladness and exultation, thanksgiving and the voice of praise.

For Adonai has comforted Zion [Mountain ridge, Marking]. He has comforted all her waste places, and has made her wilderness like Eden [Delight], and her desert like the garden of Adonai. Joy and gladness will be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.

4 Hear me, hear me, my people; and ye kings, hearken to me: for a law shall proceed from me, and my judgment [shall be] for a light of the nations.

“Listen to me, my people; and hear me, my nation: for the Torah ·Teaching· will go out from me, and I will establish my mishpat ·justice· for a light to the peoples.

5 My righteousness speedily draws nigh, and my salvation shall go forth as light, and on mine arm shall the Gentiles trust: the isles shall wait for me, and on mine arm shall they trust.

My righteousness is near. My yesha' ·salvation· has gone out, and my arms will judge the peoples. The islands will wait for me, and they will trust my arm.

6 Lift up your eyes to the sky, and look on the earth beneath: for the sky was darkened like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and the inhabitants shall die in like manner: but my righteousness shall not fail.

Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look on the earth beneath; for the heavens will vanish away like smoke, and the earth will wear out like a garment; and its inhabitants will die in the same way: but my yishu'ah ·salvation· will be forever, and my righteousness will not be abolished.

7 Hear me, ye that know judgment, the people in whose heart is my law: fear not the reproach of men, and be not overcome by their contempt.

“Sh'ma ·Hear obey· to me, you who know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my Torah ·Teaching·: Don’t fear the reproach of men, and don’t be dismayed at their insults.

8 For as a garment will be devoured by time, and as wool will be devoured by a moth, [so shall they be consumed]; but my righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation for all generations.

For the moth will eat them up like a garment, and the worm will eat them like wool; but my righteousness will be forever, and my yishu'ah ·salvation· to all generations.”

9 Awake, awake, O Jerusalem, and put on the strength of thine arm; awake as in the early time, as the ancient generation.

Awake, awake, put on strength, arm of Adonai! Awake, as in the days of old, the generations of ancient times. Is not it you who cut Rahab in pieces, who pierced the monster?

10 Art thou not it that dried the sea, the water, [even] the abundance of the deep; that made the depths of the sea a way of passage for the delivered and redeemed?

Is not it you who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep; who made the depths of the sea a way for the redeemed to pass over?

11 for by [the help of] the Lord they shall return, and come to Sion with joy and everlasting exultation, for praise and joy shall come upon their head: pain, and grief, and groaning, have fled away.

Those ransomed by Adonai will teshuvah ·completely return·, and come with singing to Zion [Mountain ridge, Marking]; and everlasting joy shall be on their heads. They will obtain gladness and joy. Sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

12 I, [even] I, am he that comforts thee: consider who thou art, that thou wast afraid of mortal man, and of the son of man, who are withered as grass.

“I, even I, am he who comforts you. Who are you, that you are afraid of man who shall die, and of the son of man who will be made as grass?

13 And thou hast forgotten God who made thee, who made the sky and founded the earth; and thou wert continually afraid because of the wrath of him that afflicted thee: for [whereas] he counselled to take thee away, yet now where is the wrath of him that afflicted thee?

Have you forgotten Yahweh 'Oseinu [Yahweh our Maker], who stretched out the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth? Do you live in fear continually all day because of the fury of the oppressor, when he prepares to destroy? Where is the fury of the oppressor?

14 For in thy deliverance he shall not halt, nor tarry;

The captive exile will speedily be freed; and he will not die and go down into the pit, and his bread will not fail.

15 for I am thy God, that troubles the sea, and causes the waves thereof to roar: the Lord of hosts is my name.

For I am Adonai your God, who stirs up the sea, so that its waves roar: Adonai Tzva'ot [Yahweh Commander of heaven’s armies] is his name.

16 I will put my words into thy mouth, and I will shelter thee under the shadow of mine hand, with which I fixed the sky, and founded the earth: and [the Lord] shall say to Sion, Thou art my people.

3I have put my words in your mouth, and have covered you in the shadow of my hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and tell Zion [Mountain ridge, Marking], ‘You are my people.’”

17 Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, that hast drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of his fury: for thou hast drunk out and drained the cup of calamity, the cup of wrath:

Awake, awake! Stand up, Jerusalem [City of peace], you who have drunk from Adonai’s hand the cup of his wrath. You have drunken the bowl of the cup of staggering, and drained it.

18 and there was none to comfort thee of all the children whom thou borest; and there was none to take hold of thine hand, not even of all the children whom thou has reared.

There is no one to guide her among all the sons to whom she has given birth; and there is no one who takes her by the hand among all the sons who she has brought up.

19 Wherefore these things are against thee; who shall sympathize with thee in thy grief? downfall, and destruction, famine, and sword: who shall comfort thee?

These two things have happened to you— who will grieve with you?— desolation and destruction, and famine and the sword. How can I comfort you?

20 Thy sons are the perplexed ones, that sleep at the top of every street as a half-boiled beet; they that are full of the anger of the Lord, caused to faint by the Lord God.

Your sons have fainted. They lie at the head of all the streets, like an antelope in a net. They are full of the wrath of Adonai, the rebuke of your God.

21 Therefore hear, thou afflicted one, and drunken, [but] not with wine;

Therefore now sh'ma ·hear obey· this, you afflicted, and drunken, but not with wine:

22 thus saith the Lord God that judges his people, Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of calamity, the cup of my wrath; and thou shalt not drink it any more.

Thus says 'adonayik Adonai [your Lord Yahweh], your God who pleads the cause of his people, “Behold, I have taken out of your hand the cup of staggering, even the bowl of the cup of my wrath. You will not drink it any more:

23 And I will give it into the hands of them that injured thee, and them that afflicted thee; who said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may pass over: and thou didst level thy body with the ground to them passing by without.

and I will put it into the hand of those who afflict you, who have said to your soul, ‘Bow down, that we may walk over you;’ and you have laid your back as the ground, like a street to those who walk over.”