Isaiah 51
1 Listen to me, those of you who follow what is right, and who worship the Lord. Think about the rock from which you were cut, and to the quarry from which you were chiseled.
Here ye me, that suen that that is iust, and seken the Lord. Take ye hede to the stoon, fro whennys ye ben hewun doun, and to the caue of the lake, fro which ye ben kit doun.
2 Look back at Abraham your father, and Sarah who gave birth to you. When I called him, he was only one man, but then I blessed him and he had many descendants.
Take ye heede to Abraham, youre fadir, and to Sare, that childide you; for Y clepide hym oon, and Y blesside hym, and Y multipliede hym.
3 The Lord will care for Zion and feel sorry about all her ruined places. He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert areas like the garden of the Lord. People there will have joy and happiness, giving thanks and singing sweet songs.
Therfor the Lord schal coumforte Sion, and he schal coumforte alle the fallyngis therof; and he schal sette the desert therof as delices, and the wildirnesse therof as a gardyn of the Lord; ioie and gladnesse schal be foundun therynne, the doyng of thankyngis and the vois of heriyng.
4 Pay attention to me, my people; listen to me, my nation: I will send out my law, and my justice will be a light to the nations.
Mi puple, take ye heede to me, and, my lynage, here ye me; for whi a lawe schal go out fro me, and my doom schal reste in to the liyt of puplis.
5 My rule of right will arrive soon. My salvation is coming. My power will bring judgment to the nations. The distant lands are waiting for me and my power.
My iust man is nyy, my sauyour is gon out, and myn armes schulen deme puplis; ilis schulen abide me, and schulen suffre myn arm.
6 Look up at the heavens, and look down at the earth beneath. The heavens will disappear like smoke, the earth will wear out like old clothes. The people living there will die like flies, but my salvation will last forever, and my way of goodness and right will never be destroyed.
Reise youre iyen to heuene, and se ye vndur erthe bynethe; for whi heuenes schulen melte awei as smoke, and the erthe schal be al to-brokun as a cloth, and the dwelleris therof schulen perische as these thingis; but myn helthe schal be withouten ende, and my riytfulnesse schal not fayle.
7 Listen to me, you who know what's right, and who have really accepted my teachings. Don't be afraid of people's insults—they're just human—or be terrified by their abusive language.
Ye puple, that knowen the iust man, here me, my lawe is in the herte of hem; nyle ye drede the schenschipe of men, and drede ye not the blasfemyes of hem.
8 Moths will eat them up like clothing; bugs will chew through them like wool. But my goodness will last forever, my salvation will endure for all generations.
For whi a worm schal ete hem so as a cloth, and a mouyte schal deuoure hem so as wolle; but myn helthe schal be withouten ende, and my riytfulnesse in to generaciouns of generaciouns.
9 Please wake up, wake up! Use your strength, powerful Lord! Act as you used to in olden days, in former generations. Weren't you the one who cut Rahab to pieces, who killed that sea monster?
Rise thou, rise thou, arm of the Lord, be thou clothyd in strengthe; rise thou, as in elde daies, in generaciouns of worldis. Whether thou smytidist not the proude man, woundidist not the dragoun?
10 Weren't you the one who dried up the sea, making a way through the deep waters for the redeemed to cross over?
Whether thou driedist not the see, the watir of the greet depthe, which settidist the depthe of the see a weie, that men `that weren delyuered, schulden passe?
11 Those the Lord has set free will return, singing as they enter Jerusalem, wearing crowns of everlasting joy. They are overcome with thankfulness and happiness; sorrow and sadness simply disappear.
And now thei that ben ayenbouyt of the Lord schulen turne ayen, and schulen come heriynge in to Syon, and euerlastynge gladnesse on the heedis of hem; thei schulen holde ioie and gladnesse, sorewe and weilyng schal fle awei.
12 It's me, yes, I am the one who comforts you. Why should you be afraid of mortals who die just like grass?
`Y my silf schal coumforte you; what art thou, that thou drede of a deedli man, and of the sone of man, that schal wexe drie so as hei?
13 You have forgotten the Lord, your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and who laid the foundations of the earth! That's why you shake with fear all day long, because you're threatened by the anger of those who oppress you, wanting to destroy you. But where are your oppressors and their anger now?
And thou hast foryete `the Lord, thi creatour, that stretchide abrood heuenes, and foundide the erthe; and thou dreddist contynueli al dai of the face of his woodnesse, that dide tribulacioun to thee, and made redi for to leese. Where is now the woodnesse of the troblere?
14 The prisoners that are bowed down will soon be set free. They're not going to die; they won't go on being hungry.
Soone he schal come, goynge for to opene; and he schal not sle til to deth, nether his breed schal faile.
15 For I am the Lord your God who whips up the sea so its waves roar. The Lord Almighty is his name.
Forsothe Y am thi Lord God, that disturble the see, and the wawis therof wexen greet; the Lord of oostis is my name.
16 I have told you what to say, and I have protected you with my hand. I created the heavens and founded the earth, and told Zion, “You are my people.”
Y haue put my wordis in thi mouth, and Y defendide thee in the schadewe of myn hond; that thou plaunte heuenes, and founde the erthe, and seie to Sion, Thou art my puple.
17 Wake up, wake up! Get up, Jerusalem! You have drunk from the cup of the Lord's anger he handed to you. You have drained it down to the bottom of the cup, the drink that makes people stagger around.
Be thou reisid, be thou reisid, rise thou, Jerusalem, that hast drunke of the hond of the Lord the cuppe of his wraththe; thou hast drunke `til to the botme of the cuppe of sleep, thou hast drunke of `til to the drastis.
18 Of all your children you had, there's not one left to guide you. Of all the children you raised, there's not one to take you by the hand.
Noon is that susteyneth it, of alle the sones whiche it gendride; and noon is that takith the hond therof, of alle the sones whiche it nurshide.
19 Two tragedies have struck you: devastation caused by famine, and destruction caused by war. Who is going to sympathize with you? Who is going to comfort you?
Twei thingis ben that camen to thee; who schal be sori on thee? distriyng, and defoulyng, and hungur, and swerd. Who schal coumforte thee?
20 Your children have collapsed, lying in every street like antelopes caught in a trap. They experienced the full anger of the Lord, the condemnation of your God.
Thi sones ben cast forth, thei slepten in the heed of alle weies, as the beeste orix, takun bi a snare; thei ben ful of indignacioun of the Lord, of blamyng of thi God.
21 So please listen to this, you poor people, sitting there in a drunken state, but not from drinking wine.
Therfor, thou pore, and drunkun, not of wyn, here these thingis.
22 This is what your Lord God says, your God, who defends his people's cause: Look! I have taken away from you the cup that made you stagger around. You will never again have to drink from that cup, the cup of my anger.
Thi lordli gouernour, the Lord, and thi God, that fauyt for his puple, seith these thingis, Lo! Y haue take fro thyn hond the cuppe of sleep, the botme of the cuppe of myn indignacioun; Y schal not leie to, that thou drynke it ony more.
23 Instead I will give that cup to the people who tormented you, to those who said to you, “Lie face down so we can walk all over you.” You had to make your backs like the ground, like a street to be walked on.
And Y schal sette it in the hond of hem that maden thee low, and seiden to thi soule, Be thou bowid that we passe; and thou hast set thi bodi as erthe, and as a weye to hem that goen forth.
