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.
[Yahweh says], “You people who desire to act righteously/justly, who want to do what I want you to do, listen to me! Think about Abraham! [It is as though] [MET] he was a huge rock cliff; and when you [people of Israel became a nation], [it was as though] [MET] you were cut from that rock [DOU].
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.”
Think about your ancestor Abraham and [his wife] Sarah, of whom [all of] you are descendants. When I first spoke to Abraham, he had no children. But after I blessed him, he had a huge number of 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.
[Some day I], Yahweh, will encourage his descendants [again], and I will comfort all [the people who live in] the ruins [of Jerusalem]. The desert in that area will become like Eden, like the garden that I, Yahweh, [made/planted]. All the people there will be joyful and happy; they will thank me and sing.
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.
My people of Judah, listen carefully [DOU] to me, because [I want you to] proclaim my laws; the just/right things that I do will be [like] [MET] a light for the people of 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.
I will soon/quickly rescue you [DOU]; by my power [MTY] I will bring you back [from being exiled in Babylonia] [DOU]. The people who live on islands in the ocean will wait for me [to help them], confidently expecting for me to use my power [MTY].
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 sky, and look at the earth, [and see what they are like now], because [some day] the sky will disappear like [SIM] smoke, and the earth will wear out like [SIM] old clothes wear out, and people on the earth will die like gnats/flies. But I will rescue/save you, and you will remain free forever, and I will rule you righteously/fairly forever.
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,
You people who know what things are right to do, and who know in your inner beings [what is written in] my laws, listen to me! Do not be afraid of people who taunt/insult you; do not be disturbed/upset when people revile you,
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.”
because [some day they will be destroyed] like [MET] clothing that is eaten by ([larvae of] moths/cockroaches), like wool garments that have been eaten by worms. I will save you people, and you will be saved forever.”
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?
Yahweh, wake up [and do something for us]! Show your power! Do mighty things like you did long ago, when you stabbed [RHQ] that sea monster/dragon Rahab and cut it into pieces.
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?
Surely you are [RHQ] the one who caused the [Red] Sea to become dry and made a path through that deep water in order that your people could cross it!
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,
And those whom Yahweh will rescue [from being exiled in Babylonia] will [similarly] return to Jerusalem, singing. Their being joyful forever will be [like] [MET] a crown on their heads. They will not be sad or mourn any more; they will be [completely] joyful and happy.
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!
[Yahweh says], “I am the one who encourages you. So (why are you/you should not be) [RHQ] afraid of humans who will [wither and disappear like] [MET] 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?
(Why have you/You should not have) [RHQ] forgotten [me], Yahweh, the one who created your nation, the one who stretched out the sky and laid the foundations of the earth. (Why are you/You should not be) [RHQ] continually afraid of those who are angry with you and (oppress you/treat you cruelly) and want to get rid of you. [You should not be afraid of them now], because those angry people have now disappeared!
14 A wanderer has hurried to be loosed, And he does not die in the pit, And his bread is not lacking.
Soon you people who have been caused to be slaves [in Babylonia] will be freed! You will not remain in prison, and you will not die of hunger,
15 And I [am] your God YHWH, Quieting the sea when its billows roar, YHWH of Hosts [is] His Name.
because I am Yahweh, your God, the one who stirs up the sea and causes the waves to roar; I am the Commander of the armies of angels!
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 given you my message [MTY] to proclaim, and I have protected you with my hand [MTY]. I stretched out the sky and laid the foundation of the earth. And I am the one who says to you Israeli people, ‘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.
[You people of] [APO] Jerusalem, wake up [DOU]! You have experienced Yahweh severely punishing [MTY] you. Yahweh has caused you to suffer much, all that he wanted you to suffer, like [MET] someone who causes another person to suffer by forcing him to drink every drop of [MTY] a cupful of bitter liquid.
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.
[Now] you do not have any children who are alive [DOU] and able to take your hand and guide you.
19 These two are meeting you, Who is moved for you? Spoiling and destruction, famine and sword! By whom do I comfort you?
You have experienced several disasters: Your country has become desolate/deserted; [your cities have been] destroyed; [many people have] died from hunger; [many people have been] killed by your enemies’ swords. Now, there is no one [RHQ] left to console/comfort you and sympathize with 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 fainted and lie in the streets; they are [as helpless as] [SIM] an antelope [that has been caught] in a net. What has happened to them is because Yahweh has been very angry with them; he has rebuked them severely.
21 Therefore, please hear this, O afflicted and drunken one, and not with wine,
So now, you people who have suffered much, [you act as though] you are drunk, but it is not because you have drunk a lot of 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.
Yahweh, your Lord and your God, the one who argues/pleads your case, says this: “Note this: [It is as though] [MET] I have taken that cup of bitter liquid from your hands; I will not be angry with you and cause you to suffer 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!”
Instead, I will cause those who have tormented you to suffer; [I will severely punish] those who said to you, ‘Prostrate yourselves in order that we may walk on you; [lie down on your stomachs] in order that your backs will be like [SIM] streets that we can walk on.’”
