Isaiah 51

1 “Listen to Me, you pursuing righteousness, Seeking YHWH, Look attentively to the rock—you have been hewn, And to the hole of the pit—you have been dug.

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.

2 Look attentively to your father Abraham, And to Sarah—she brings you forth, For—one—I have called him, And I bless him, and multiply him.”

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.

3 For YHWH has comforted Zion, He has comforted all her ruins, And He sets her wilderness as Eden, And her desert as a garden of YHWH, Joy, indeed, gladness is found in her, Confession, and the voice of song.

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.

4 “Attend to Me, O My people, And, O My nation, give ear to Me. For a law goes out from Me, And My judgment to the light, I cause peoples to rest.

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.

5 My righteousness [is] near, My salvation has gone out, And My arms judge peoples, Islands wait on Me, Indeed, on My arm they wait with hope.

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.

6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens, And look attentively to the earth beneath, For the heavens have vanished as smoke, And the earth wears out as a garment, And its inhabitants die as gnats, And My salvation is for all time, And My righteousness is not broken.

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.

7 Listen to Me, you who know righteousness, A people in whose heart [is] My law, Do not fear the reproach of men, And do not be frightened of their reviling,

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.

8 For a moth eats them as a garment, And a worm eats them as wool, And My righteousness is for all time, And My salvation from generation to generation.”

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.

9 Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of YHWH, Awake, as [in] days of old, generations of the ages, Are You not it that is hewing down Rahab, Piercing a dragon?

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?

10 Are You not it that is drying up a sea, Waters of a great deep? That has made deep places of a sea A way for the passing of the redeemed?

Weren't you the one who dried up the sea, making a way through the deep waters for the redeemed to cross over?

11 And the ransomed of YHWH return, And they have come to Zion with singing, And continuous joy [is] on their head, They attain gladness and joy, Sorrow and sighing have fled away,

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.

12 “I [am] He who comforts you, Who [are] you—and you are afraid of man? He dies! And of the son of man—he is made [like] grass!

It's me, yes, I am the one who comforts you. Why should you be afraid of mortals who die just like grass?

13 And you forget YHWH your Maker, Who is stretching out the heavens, and founding earth, And you continually fear all the day, Because of the fury of the oppressor, As he has prepared to destroy. And where [is] the fury of the oppressor?

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?

14 A wanderer has hurried to be loosed, And he does not die in the pit, And his bread is not lacking.

The prisoners that are bowed down will soon be set free. They're not going to die; they won't go on being hungry.

15 And I [am] your God YHWH, Quieting the sea when its billows roar, YHWH of Hosts [is] His Name.

For I am the Lord your God who whips up the sea so its waves roar. The Lord Almighty is his name.

16 And I put My words in your mouth, And have covered you with the shadow of My hand, To plant the heavens, and to found earth, And to say to Zion, You [are] My people.”

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.”

17 Stir yourself, stir yourself, rise, Jerusalem, You who have drunk from the hand of YHWH The cup of His fury, The goblet, the cup of trembling, you have drunk, You have wrung out.

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.

18 There is not a leader to her Out of all the sons she has borne, And there is none laying hold on her hand Out of all the sons she has nourished.

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.

19 These two are meeting you, Who is moved for you? Spoiling and destruction, famine and sword! By whom do I comfort you?

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?

20 Your sons have been wrapped up, they have lain down, At the head of all out places, as an antelope [in] a dragnet, They are full of the fury of YHWH, The rebuke of Your God.

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.

21 Therefore, please hear this, O afflicted and drunken one, and not with wine,

So please listen to this, you poor people, sitting there in a drunken state, but not from drinking wine.

22 Thus said your Lord YHWH, and your God, He pleads [for] His people: “Behold, I have taken the cup of trembling out of your hand, The goblet, the cup of My fury, You do not add to drink it anymore.

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.

23 And I have put it into the hand of those afflicting you, Who have said to your soul, Bow down, and we pass over, And you make your body as the earth, And as the street to those passing by!”

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.