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, you who pursue righteousness, you who seek Yahweh: look at the rock from which you were chiseled and to the quarry from which you were cut.

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 at Abraham, your father, and to Sarah, who bore you; for when he was a lone individual, I called him. I blessed him and made 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.

Yes, Yahweh will comfort Zion; he will comfort all her waste places; her wilderness he made like Eden, and her desert plains beside the Jordan River valley like the garden of Yahweh; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving, and the sound of singing.

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.

“Be attentive to me, my people; and listen to me, my people! For I will issue a decree, and I will make my justice to be a light for 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 righteousness is near; my salvation will go out, and my arm will judge the nations; the coastlands will wait for me; for my arm they will eagerly wait.

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 your eyes to the sky, and look at the earth beneath, for the heavens will vanish away like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and its inhabitants will die like flies. But my salvation will continue forever, and my righteousness will never stop working.

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 is right, you people who have my law in your heart: Do not fear the insults of men, nor be disheartened by their abuse.

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 the moth will eat them up like a garment, and the worm will eat them like wool; but my righteousness will be forever, and my salvation to 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?

Awake, awake, clothe yourself with strength, arm of Yahweh. Awake as in the days of old, the generations of ancient times. Is it not you who crushed Rahab, you who pierced the 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?

Did you not dry up the sea, the waters of the great deep, and make the depths of the sea into a way for the redeemed to pass through?

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,

The ransomed of Yahweh will return and come to Zion with cries of joy and with gladness forever on their heads; and gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and mourning will flee 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 who comforts you. Why are you afraid of men, who will die, the sons of mankind, who are made 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?

Why have you forgotten Yahweh your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth? You are in constant dread every day because of the hot fury of the oppressor when he decides to destroy. Where 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 one who is bent down, Yahweh will hurry to release; he will not die and go down to the pit, nor will he lack bread.

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

For I am Yahweh your God, who churns up the sea so that its waves roar—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.”

I have placed my words in your mouth, and I have covered you in the shadow of my hand, that I may plant the heavens, lay the foundations of the earth, and say to 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.

Awake, awake, stand up, Jerusalem, you who have drunk out of the hand of Yahweh from the bowl of his anger; you who have drunk out of the bowl, down to the dregs from the cup of staggering.

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 no one among all the sons she has born to guide her; there is no one among all the sons that she has raised to take her 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?

These two troubles happened to you—who will grieve with you?— desolation and destruction, and the famine and the sword. Who will 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 sons have fainted; they lie at every street corner, like an antelope in a net; they are filled with the anger of Yahweh, the rebuke of your God.

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

But now hear this, you oppressed one and drunken one, but not drunk 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.

Your Lord Yahweh, your God, who pleads the cause of his people, says this, “See, I have taken the cup of staggering from your hand— the bowl, which is the cup of my anger—so that you will not drink it again.

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!”

I will put it into the hand of your tormentors, those who have said to you, 'Lie down, that we may walk over you'; you made your back like the ground and like the street for them to walk on.”