Isaiah 51
1 Here ye me, that suen that that is iust, and seken the Lord. Take ye hede to the stoon, fro whennys ye ben hewun doun, and to the caue of the lake, fro which ye ben kit doun.
Hearken to me, ye that pursue righteousness. Ye that seek Jehovah! Look to the rock whence ye were hewn, To the pit-quarry whence ye were digged!
2 Take ye heede to Abraham, youre fadir, and to Sare, that childide you; for Y clepide hym oon, and Y blesside hym, and Y multipliede hym.
Look to Abraham your father, And to Sarah that bore you! For I called him when only one, And blessed him, and multiplied him.
3 Therfor the Lord schal coumforte Sion, and he schal coumforte alle the fallyngis therof; and he schal sette the desert therof as delices, and the wildirnesse therof as a gardyn of the Lord; ioie and gladnesse schal be foundun therynne, the doyng of thankyngis and the vois of heriyng.
Thus will Jehovah have pity upon Zion; He will have pity upon all her desolations. He will make her wilderness like Eden, Her desert like the garden of Jehovah. Joy and gladness shall be found therein; Thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.
4 Mi puple, take ye heede to me, and, my lynage, here ye me; for whi a lawe schal go out fro me, and my doom schal reste in to the liyt of puplis.
Hearken to me, O my people! And give ear to me, O my nation! For a law shall proceed from me, And I will establish my statutes for the light of the nations.
5 My iust man is nyy, my sauyour is gon out, and myn armes schulen deme puplis; ilis schulen abide me, and schulen suffre myn arm.
My help is near; my salvation goeth forth; My arm shall judge the nations; Distant lands shall wait for me, And in my arm shall they trust.
6 Reise youre iyen to heuene, and se ye vndur erthe bynethe; for whi heuenes schulen melte awei as smoke, and the erthe schal be al to-brokun as a cloth, and the dwelleris therof schulen perische as these thingis; but myn helthe schal be withouten ende, and my riytfulnesse schal not fayle.
Lift up your eyes to the heavens, And look down upon the earth beneath! For the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, And the earth shall decay like a garment, And its inhabitants shall perish like flies. But my salvation shall endure forever, And my goodness shall not decay.
7 Ye puple, that knowen the iust man, here me, my lawe is in the herte of hem; nyle ye drede the schenschipe of men, and drede ye not the blasfemyes of hem.
Hearken to me, ye that know righteousness, The people in whose heart is my law! Fear ye not the reproach of men, Nor be disheartened by their revilings!
8 For whi a worm schal ete hem so as a cloth, and a mouyte schal deuoure hem so as wolle; but myn helthe schal be withouten ende, and my riytfulnesse in to generaciouns of generaciouns.
For the moth shall consume them like a garment, And the worm shall eat them like wool. But my goodness shall endure forever, And my salvation from generation to generation.
9 Rise thou, rise thou, arm of the Lord, be thou clothyd in strengthe; rise thou, as in elde daies, in generaciouns of worldis. Whether thou smytidist not the proude man, woundidist not the dragoun?
Awake! awake! clothe thyself with strength, O arm of Jehovah! Awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old!
10 Whether thou driedist not the see, the watir of the greet depthe, which settidist the depthe of the see a weie, that men `that weren delyuered, schulden passe?
Art thou not the same that smote Rahab, And wounded the dragon? Art thou not the same that dried up the sea, The waters of the great deep, —That made the depths of the sea a path for the redeemed to pass through?
11 And now thei that ben ayenbouyt of the Lord schulen turne ayen, and schulen come heriynge in to Syon, and euerlastynge gladnesse on the heedis of hem; thei schulen holde ioie and gladnesse, sorewe and weilyng schal fle awei.
Thus shall the ransomed of Jehovah return; They shall come to Zion with singing; Everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; They shall obtain gladness and joy, And sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
12 `Y my silf schal coumforte you; what art thou, that thou drede of a deedli man, and of the sone of man, that schal wexe drie so as hei?
I, even I, am he that hath pity upon you; Who art thou, that thou art afraid of man, that shall die, Of the son of man, that shall perish like grass,
13 And thou hast foryete `the Lord, thi creatour, that stretchide abrood heuenes, and foundide the erthe; and thou dreddist contynueli al dai of the face of his woodnesse, that dide tribulacioun to thee, and made redi for to leese. Where is now the woodnesse of the troblere?
And forgettest Jehovah thy maker, That stretched out the heavens, And founded the earth, And fearest continually every day, On account of the fury of the oppressor, As if he were taking aim to destroy thee? Where now is the fury of the oppressor?
14 Soone he schal come, goynge for to opene; and he schal not sle til to deth, nether his breed schal faile.
Soon shall the enchained be loosed; He shall not die in the pit, Nor shall his bread fail.
15 Forsothe Y am thi Lord God, that disturble the see, and the wawis therof wexen greet; the Lord of oostis is my name.
For I am Jehovah thy God, That rebuketh the sea when his waves roar; Jehovah of hosts is his name.
16 Y haue put my wordis in thi mouth, and Y defendide thee in the schadewe of myn hond; that thou plaunte heuenes, and founde the erthe, and seie to Sion, Thou art my puple.
I have put my words into thy mouth, And have covered thee with the shadow of my hand, To establish the heavens, and to found the earth. And to say to Zion, “Thou art my people!”
17 Be thou reisid, be thou reisid, rise thou, Jerusalem, that hast drunke of the hond of the Lord the cuppe of his wraththe; thou hast drunke `til to the botme of the cuppe of sleep, thou hast drunke of `til to the drastis.
Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem! Thou that hast drunk from the hand of Jehovah the cup of his fury, Thou that hast drunk to the dregs the cup of giddiness!
18 Noon is that susteyneth it, of alle the sones whiche it gendride; and noon is that takith the hond therof, of alle the sones whiche it nurshide.
There is not one to lead her, of all the sons which she hath brought forth, Nor is there one to take her by the hand, of all the sons which she hath nurtured.
19 Twei thingis ben that camen to thee; who schal be sori on thee? distriyng, and defoulyng, and hungur, and swerd. Who schal coumforte thee?
These two things have come upon thee, And who bemoaneth thee? Desolation and destruction, and famine and the sword; How shall I comfort thee?
20 Thi sones ben cast forth, thei slepten in the heed of alle weies, as the beeste orix, takun bi a snare; thei ben ful of indignacioun of the Lord, of blamyng of thi God.
Thy sons have fainted; they lie at the head of all the streets, Like a deer in the net; They are full of the wrath of Jehovah, Of the rebuke of thy God.
21 Therfor, thou pore, and drunkun, not of wyn, here these thingis.
Therefore, hear this, thou afflicted, Thou drunken, and not with wine!
22 Thi lordli gouernour, the Lord, and thi God, that fauyt for his puple, seith these thingis, Lo! Y haue take fro thyn hond the cuppe of sleep, the botme of the cuppe of myn indignacioun; Y schal not leie to, that thou drynke it ony more.
Thus saith thy Lord, Jehovah, And thy God, that defendeth the cause of his people. Behold, I will take from thy hand the cup of giddiness, The cup of my wrath; Thou shalt drink no more of it.
23 And Y schal sette it in the hond of hem that maden thee low, and seiden to thi soule, Be thou bowid that we passe; and thou hast set thi bodi as erthe, and as a weye to hem that goen forth.
And I will put it into the hand of them that have afflicted thee; That have said to thee, “Bow down, that we may pass over!” And thou madest thy body as the ground, And as the street, to them that passed over.
