Isaiah 51
1 Listen to me, you who follow what is just and who seek the Lord. Pay attention to the rock from which you have been hewn, and to the walls of the pit from which you have been dug.
Hearken to Me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD; look unto the rock whence ye were hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye were digged.
2 Pay attention to Abraham, your father, and to Sarah, who bore you. For I called him alone, and I blessed him, and I multiplied him.
Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bore you; for when he was but one I called him, and I blessed him, and made him many.
3 Therefore, the Lord will console Zion, and he will console all its ruins. And he will turn her desert into a place of delights, and her wilderness into a garden of the Lord. Gladness and rejoicing will be found in her, thanksgiving and a voice of praise.
For the LORD hath comforted Zion; He hath comforted all her waste places, and hath made her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.
4 Pay attention to me, my people, and listen to me, my tribes. For a law will go forth from me, and my judgment will rest as a light for the nations.
Attend unto Me, O My people, and give ear unto Me, O My nation; for instruction shall go forth from Me, and My right on a sudden for a light of the peoples.
5 My just one is near. My savior has gone forth. And my arms will judge the people. The islands will hope in me, and they will patiently wait for my arm.
My favour is near, My salvation is gone forth, and Mine arms shall judge the peoples; the isles shall wait for Me, and on Mine arm shall they trust.
6 Lift up your eyes to heaven, and look down to the earth below. For the heavens will vanish like smoke, and the earth will be worn away like a garment, and its inhabitants will pass away in like manner. But my salvation will be forever, and my justice will not fail.
Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath; for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner; but My salvation shall be for ever, and My favour shall not be abolished.
7 Listen to me, you who know what is just, my people who have my law in their heart. Do not be afraid of disgrace among men, and do not dread their blasphemies.
Hearken unto Me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is My law; fear ye not the taunt of men, neither be ye dismayed at their revilings.
8 For the worm will consume them like a garment, and the moth will devour them like wool. But my salvation will be forever, and my justice will be from generation to generation.
For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool; but My favour shall be for ever, and My salvation unto all generations.
9 Rise up, Rise up! Clothe yourself in strength, O arm of the Lord! Rise up as in the days of antiquity, as in generations long past. Have you not struck the arrogant one and wounded the dragon?
Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the days of old, the generations of ancient times. Art thou not it that hewed Rahab in pieces, that pierced the dragon?
10 Have not you dried up the sea, the waters of the great abyss, and turned the depths of the sea into a road, so that the delivered could cross over it?
Art thou not it that dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep; that made the depths of the sea a way for the redeemed to pass over?
11 And now, those who have been redeemed by the Lord will return. And they will arrive in Zion, praising. And everlasting rejoicing will be upon their heads. They will take hold of gladness and rejoicing. Anguish and mourning will flee away.
And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come with singing unto Zion, and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
12 It is I, I myself, who will console you. Who are you that you would be afraid of a mortal man, and of a son of man, who will wither like the grass?
I, even I, am He that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou art afraid of man that shall die, and of the son of man that shall be made as grass;
13 And have you forgotten the Lord, your Maker, who extended the heavens, and who founded the earth? And have you been in constant dread, all day long, at the face of his fury, of the one who afflicted you and who had prepared to destroy you? Where is the fury of the oppressor now?
And hast forgotten the LORD thy Maker, that stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and fearest continually all the day because of the fury of the oppressor, as he maketh ready to destroy? And where is the fury of the oppressor?
14 Advancing quickly, he will arrive to be revealed, and he will not kill unto utter destruction, nor will his bread fail.
He that is bent down shall speedily be loosed; and he shall not go down dying into the pit, neither shall his bread fail.
15 But I am the Lord, your God, who stirs up the sea, and who makes the waves swell. The Lord of hosts is my name.
For I am the LORD thy God, who stirreth up the sea, that the waves thereof roar; the LORD of hosts is His name.
16 I have placed my words in your mouth, and I have protected you in the shadow of my hand, so that you might plant the heavens, and found the earth, and so that you might say to Zion, “You are my people.”
And I have put My words in thy mouth, and have covered thee in the shadow of My hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion: 'Thou art My people.'
17 Lift up, Lift up! Arise, O Jerusalem! You drank, from the hand of the Lord, the cup of his wrath. You drank, even to the bottom of the cup of deep sleep. And you were given to drink, all the way to the dregs.
Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, that hast drunk at the hand of the LORD the cup of His fury; thou hast drunken the beaker, even the cup of staggering, and drained it.
18 There is no one who can uphold her, out of all the sons whom she has conceived. And there is no one who would take her by the hand, out of all the sons whom she has raised.
There is none to guide her among all the sons whom she hath brought forth; neither is there any that taketh her by the hand of all the sons that she hath brought up.
19 There are two things which have happened to you. Who will be saddened over you? There is devastation and destruction, and famine and sword. Who will console you?
These two things are befallen thee; who shall bemoan thee? desolation and destruction, and the famine and the sword; how shall I comfort thee?
20 Your sons have been cast out. They have slept at the head of all the roads, and they have been ensnared like a gazelle. They have been filled by the indignation of the Lord, by the rebuke of your God.
Thy sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets, as an antelope in a net; they are full of the fury of the LORD, the rebuke of thy God.
21 Therefore, listen to this, O poor little ones, and you who have been inebriated, but not by wine.
Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunken, but not with wine;
22 Thus says your Sovereign, the Lord, and your God, who will fight on behalf of his people: Behold, I have taken the cup of deep sleep from your hand. You shall no longer drink from the bottom of the cup of my indignation.
Thus saith thy Lord the LORD, and thy God that pleadeth the cause of His people: behold, I have taken out of thy hand the cup of staggering; the beaker, even the cup of My fury, thou shalt no more drink it again;
23 And I will set it in the hand of those who have humiliated you, and who have said to your soul: “Bow down, so that we pass over.” And you placed your body on the ground, as a path for them to pass over.
And I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee; that have said to thy soul: 'Bow down, that we may go over'; and thou hast laid thy back as the ground, and as the street, to them that go over.
