Isaiah 51

1 “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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 who comforts you. Why should you be afraid of mortal man, of a son of man who withers like grass?

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

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

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

22 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 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.”

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

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

3 For the LORD shall 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.

4 ¶ Hearken unto me, my people; and give ear unto 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.

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

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 wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.

7 Hearken unto 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.

8 For the moth shall eat them up 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.

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

10 [Art] thou not it 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?

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

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 [which] shall be made [as] 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?

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

1 Hearken unto me, ye that pursue after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the well whence ye are digged.

2 Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah, of whom ye were born. For I called unto him, while he was yet single, and blessed him, and multiplied him.

3 For the LORD hath comforted Zion; he hath comforted all her desolations; he hath made her wildernesses as gardens of pleasure, and her fields as the garden of the LORD; to find delight and joy in them, and thanksgiving and praise.

4 Hearken unto me, my people; hearken unto me, my people. For from me shall go forth a law, and my judgment will I soon set forth for the light of the nations.

5 For my righteousness is near, my salvation goeth forth, and mine arms shall judge the nations. The isles wait for me, and wait for my arm.

6 Lift up your eyes toward heaven, and look down upon the earth. For the heavens shall pass away as smoke, and the earth shall wax old as a garment; and they that dwell therein shall die in the twinkling of an eye. But my salvation endureth for ever, and my righteousness shall not fail.

7 Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, O people, in whose hearts is my law. Fear not when men revile you, and be not dismayed when they make you despondent.

8 For moths shall eat them up as a garment, and worms shall devour them as a willing cloth: but my righteousness shall stand for ever, and my salvation for ever.

9 Hither, hither, come power, thou arm of the LORD! Farewell, as of old, as of old! Art thou not he that hath cut down the proud, and wounded the dragon?

10 Art thou not he that dried up the sea of great deep waters, that made the bottom of the sea a way for the redeemed to pass through?

11 So shall the redeemed of the LORD return, and come unto Zion with glory; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head. Delight and joy shall take hold of them, but mourning and sighing shall flee from them.

12 I am your Comforter. Who art thou then that thou art afraid of men that die, and of the children of men that are eaten for hay?

13 And forget the LORD that made thee, that stretched out the heavens, and founded the earth? But thou fearest the wrath of the wicked all the day long, when he is about to destroy. Where is the wrath of the wicked?

14 When he had made haste and run about, that he might deliver, and they died not in the destruction, neither lacked they bread?

15 For I am the LORD thy God, which turneth the sea, and the waves thereof rage: his name is called LORD of hosts.

16 I will put my word in thy mouth, and will cover thee under the shadow of my hands, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people.

17 Awake, awake, arise, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk of the hand of the LORD the cup of his wrath. The lees of the cup of staggering thou hast drunk, and licked the drops.

18 There was none of all the children which she bare to guide her, none of all the children which she brought up to take her by the hand.

19 These two met thee: who bare sorrow with thee? There was disturbance, harm, famine, and sword; who should comfort thee?

20 Thy children were fainted; they lay in every street like a snared hart, full of wrath from the LORD, and reproach from thy God.

21 Therefore hear this, thou wretched man, and drunken without wine!

22 Thus saith thy sovereign LORD, and thy God that avengeth his people; Behold, I take away the cup of stumbling out of thine hand, and the lees of the cup of my wrath; thou shalt drink it no more,

23 But I will deliver him into the hand of thy oppressors, which have said unto thy soul: Bend thee down, that we may pass over; and put thy back to the ground, and like an alley to pass over.