Isaiah 51

1 Hearken to me, ye that pursue righteousness, that seek the Lord: look unto the rock whence ye were hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye were dug up.

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

2 Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bore you; for he was one when I called him, and I blessed him, and I increased him.

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.

3 Yea, the Lord hath comforted Zion; he hath comforted all her ruins; and he hath made her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord: gladness and joy shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of song.

And now I will comfort you, 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.

4 Listen unto me, my people; and O my nation, give ear unto me; for a law shall proceed from me, and my justice will I establish as a light of the people.

Hear me, hear me, my people; and you kings, listen to me: for a law shall proceed from me, and my judgement [shall be] for a light of the nations.

5 My righteousness is near; my salvation goeth forth, and my arms shall judge the people: on me the isles shall wait, and for my arm shall they hope.

My righteousness speedily draws near, 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.

6 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 wear out like a garment, and they that dwell thereon shall die in like manner; but my salvation shall exist for ever, and my righteousness shall not be delayed.

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.

7 Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, O people in whose heart my law is: ye must not fear the reproach of men, and of their revilings shall ye not be in dread.

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

8 For like a garment shall the moth eat them up, and like wool shall the worm eat them; but my righteousness shall exist for ever, and my salvation from generation to generation.

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.

9 Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord: awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of olden times. Art thou not it that struck down Rahab, that pierced the crocodile?

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

10 Art thou not it that dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep; that rendered the depths of the sea a road for the redeemed to pass through?

Are you 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?

11 And [so] shall the ransomed of the Lord return, and come to Zion with song, with everlasting joy upon their head; gladness and joy shall they obtain, while sorrow and sighing shall have fled away.

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.

12 I, I am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldst be afraid of a mortal that must die, and of a son of man who will wither as the grass?

I, [even] I, am he that comforts you: consider who you are, that you were afraid of mortal man, and of the son of man, who are withered as grass.

13 And thou forgettest the Lord, thy Maker, who hath spread out the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and thou dreadest continually, all the day, because of the fury of the oppressor, whenever he aimeth to destroy: and where is [now] the fury of the oppressor?

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

14 The exile will be speedily set free; and he shall not die in the dungeon, and his bread shall not fail.

For in your deliverance he shall not halt, nor wait;

15 For I am the Lord thy God, who stirreth up the sea that its waves roar: the Lord of hosts is his name.

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

16 And I have placed my words in thy mouth, and with the shadow of my hand have I covered thee: to plant the heavens, and to lay the foundations of the earth, and to say to Zion, Thou art my people.

I will put my words into your mouth, and I will shelter you under the shadow of mine hand, with which I fixed the sky, and founded the earth: and [the Lord] shall say to Sion, You are my people.

17 Rouse up, rouse up, arise, O Jerusalem, thou who hast drunk from the hand of the Lord the cup of his fury: the deep cup of confusion hast thou drunk, hast thou drained.

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

18 There is none to lead her, from all the children whom she hath born; and there is none that taketh her by the hand, from all the children whom she hath brought up.

and there was none to comfort you of all the children whom you bore; and there was none to take hold of your hand, not even of all the children whom you has reared.

19 Two things are these which have befallen thee: who will have compassion for thee? desolation and destruction, and famine and sword—with whom shall I comfort thee?

Therefore these things are against you; who shall sympathise with you in your grief? downfall, and destruction, famine, and sword: who shall comfort you?

20 Thy children have fainted, they lie at the entrance of all streets, as a wild bull caught in a net, [they are those] who are full of the fury of the Lord, the threatening of thy God.

Your 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.

21 Therefore hear now this, O thou afflicted, and drunken, but not with wine.

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

22 Thus hath said thy Lord, the Eternal, and thy God, who will ever plead for his people, Behold, I have taken out of thy hand the cup of confusion, the deep cup of my fury: thou shalt never more drink it again.

thus says the Lord God that judges his people, Behold, I have taken out of your hand the cup of calamity, the cup of my wrath; and you shall not drink it any more.

23 And I will place it in the hand of those who have tortured thee, that have said to thy soul, Bend thee down, that we may pass over; and thou madest like the earth thy back, and like the street for those that passed over.

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