Isaiah 51

1 Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD: look to the rock [whence] ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit [whence] ye are digged.

“Listen to Me, you who pursue righteousness, you who seek the LORD: Look to the rock from which you were cut, and to the quarry from which you were hewn.

2 Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah [that] bore you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him.

Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who gave you birth. When I called him, he was but one; then I blessed him and multiplied him.

3 For the LORD will comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.

For the LORD will comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; He will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and melodious song.

4 Hearken to me, my people; and give ear to me, O my nation: for a law shall proceed from me, and I will make my judgment to rest for a light of the people.

Pay attention to Me, My people, and listen to Me, My nation; for a law will go out from Me, and My justice will become a light to the nations; I will bring it about quickly.

5 My righteousness [is] near; my salvation is gone forth, and my arms shall judge the people; the isles shall wait upon me, and on my arm shall they trust.

My righteousness draws near, My salvation is on the way, and My arms will bring justice to the nations. The islands will look for Me and wait in hope for My arm.

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 become old like a garment, and its inhabitants shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.

Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth below; for the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and its people will die like gnats. But My salvation will last forever, and My righteousness will never fail.

7 Hearken to me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart [is] my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings.

Listen to Me, you who know what is right, you people with My law in your hearts: Do not fear the scorn of men; do not be broken by their insults.

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

For the moth will devour them like a garment, and the worm will eat them like wool. But My righteousness will last forever, My salvation through all generations.”

9 Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. [Art] thou not that which hath cut Rahab, [and] wounded the dragon?

Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD. Wake up as in days past, as in generations of old. Was it not You who cut Rahab to pieces, who pierced through the dragon?

10 [Art] thou not that which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over?

Was it not You who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, who made a road in the depths of the sea for the redeemed to cross over?

11 Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall return, and come with singing to Zion; and everlasting joy [shall be] upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; sorrow and mourning shall flee away.

So the redeemed of the LORD will return and enter Zion with singing, crowned with everlasting joy. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee.

12 I, [even] I, [am] he that comforteth you: who [art] thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man [that] shall die, and of the son of man [who] shall be made [as] grass;

“I, even I, am He who comforts you. Why should you be afraid of mortal man, of a son of man who withers like grass?

13 And forgettest the LORD thy maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and hast feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? and where [is] the fury of the oppressor?

But you have forgotten the LORD, your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth. You live in terror all day long because of the fury of the oppressor who is bent on destruction. But where is the fury of the oppressor?

14 The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed, and that he should not die in the pit, nor that his bread should fail.

The captive will soon be freed; he will not die in the dungeon, and his bread will not be lacking.

15 But I [am] the LORD thy God, that divided the sea, whose waves roared: The LORD of hosts [is] his name.

For I am the LORD your God who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the LORD of Hosts is His name.

16 And I have put my words in thy mouth, and have covered thee in the shade of my hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say to Zion, Thou [art] my people.

I have put My words in your mouth, and covered you with the shadow of My hand, to establish the heavens, to found the earth, and to say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’”

17 Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drank at the hand of the LORD the cup of his fury; thou hast drank the dregs of the cup of trembling, [and] wrung [them] out.

Awake, awake! Rise up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of His fury; you who have drained the goblet to the dregs— the cup that makes men stagger.

18 [There is] none to guide her among all the sons [whom] she hath brought forth; neither [is there any] that taketh her by the hand of all the sons [that] she hath brought up.

Among all the sons she bore, there is no one to guide her; among all the sons she brought up, there is no one to take her hand.

19 These two [things] have come to thee; who shall be sorry for thee? desolation, and destruction, and famine, and the sword: by whom shall I comfort thee?

These pairs have befallen you: devastation and destruction, famine and sword. Who will grieve for you? Who can comfort you?

20 Thy sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets, as a wild bull in a net: they are full of the fury of the LORD, the rebuke of thy God.

Your sons have fainted; they lie at the head of every street, like an antelope in a net. They are full of the wrath of the LORD, the rebuke of your God.

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

Therefore now hear this, you afflicted one, drunken, but not with wine.

22 Thus saith thy Lord Jehovah, and thy God [that] pleadeth the cause of his people, Behold, I have taken out of thy hand the cup of trembling, [even] the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again:

Thus says your Lord, the LORD, even your God, who defends His people: “See, I have removed from your hand the cup of staggering. From that goblet, the cup of My fury, you will never drink again.

23 But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee; who have said to thy soul, Prostrate thyself, that we may go over: and thou hast laid thy body as the ground, and as the street, to them that went over.

I will place it in the hands of your tormentors, who told you: ‘Lie down, so we can walk over you,’ so that you made your back like the ground, like a street to be traversed.”