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.

Hearken unto me, Ye that pursue righteousness, Ye that seek Yahweh, —Look well unto the rock whence ye were hewn, And unto the quarry whence ye were digged:

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 well unto Abraham your father, And unto Sarah who gave you birth, —For he was, alone, when called I him, And, I blessed him that I might make him, many.

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.

For Yahweh hath comforted Zion, He hath comforted all her waste places, And hath made her wilderness like Eden, And her waste plain like the garden of Yahweh, —Joy and gladness, shall be found in her, Thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.

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.

Attend unto me, O my people, And, O, my nation unto me give ear, —For, instruction, from me, shall go forth, And, my justice—for a light of peoples, will I establish:

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.

At hand is my righteousness. Gone forth hath my salvation, And, mine own arms, unto the peoples, shall give justice, —Upon me, Coastlands, shall wait, And for mine arm, shall they hope.

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.

Lift up—to the heavens—your eyes, And look around to the earth beneath Though, the heavens, like smoke, should have vanished And, the earth, like a garment, should fall to pieces, And, her inhabitants, in like manner, should die, Yet, my salvation, unto times age-abiding, shall continue, And, my righteousness, shall not be broken down.

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,

Hearken unto me ye who discern righteousness, The people in whose heart is my law, —Do not fear the reproach of frail men, Nor at their revilings, be dismayed;

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.”

For like a garment, shall they be eaten of the moth, And like wool, shall they be eaten of the larva; But, my righteousness, unto times age-abiding shall continue, And, my salvation, unto the remotest generation.

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?

Awake, awake put on strength, O arm of Yahweh, Awake, As in days of old, The generations of bygone ages: Art not thou that which—Hewed down Rahab, Piercing the Crocodile?

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?

Art not thou that which dried up—The Sea, The waters of the mighty Deep, —That which made of the abysses of the sea a road for the passing over of the redeemed?

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,

Therefore, the ransomed of Yahweh, shall again come unto Zion, with shouts of triumph, With gladness age-abiding on their head, —Joy, and gladness, shall overtake [them]. Sorrow and sighing have fled away.

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!

I—I, am he that comforteth you, —Who art, thou, that thou hast feared Frail man that dieth, and A son of the earthborn, who, as grass, shall be delivered up?

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?

That thou hast forgotten Yahweh thy maker, Who stretched out the heavens And founded the earth? That thou hast dreaded continually, all the day, by reason of the fury of the oppressor, in that he was ready to destroy? Where then is the fury of the oppressor?

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

The captive hath hastened to be loosed, —That he might not die in the pit. Neither should, his bread, be cut off.

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

But, I—Yahweh, am thy God, Who threw into commotion the sea And the waves thereof roared, —Yahweh of hosts, 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.”

Therefore have I put 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 unto Zion My people, thou art!

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.

Rouse thee—rouse, thee stand up, O Jerusalem, Who hast drunk, at the hand of Yahweh, his cup of indignation: The goblet-cup of confusion, hast thou drunk—hast thou drained.

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.

There is none to guide her, Among all the sons she hath borne, —There is none to grasp her hand, Among all the sons she hath brought up.

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

Twain, are the things befalling thee, Who will lament for thee? Wasting and destruction and famine and sword By whom shall I comfort thee?

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.

Thy sons, have fainted, They lie at the head of all the streets like a gazelle in a net, —Who, indeed, are full of The indignation of Yahweh The rebuke of thy God.

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

Therefore, hear, I pray thee, this, thou humbled one, —And drunken but not with 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.

Thus, saith Thy Lord, Yahweh, Even thy God who pleadeth the cause of his people: —Lo! I have taken, out of thy hand, the cup of confusion, —As for the goblet-cup of mine indignation, Thou shalt not again drink it, any more;

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!”

But I will put it into the hand of thy tormentors, Who said to thy soul, Bow down that we may pass over, —And so thou didst place as the ground, thy back, Yea as the street to such as were passing along.