IsaiahChapter 51

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¹"Listen to me, you who chase after what is right,
you who look for the LORD.
Look at the rock you were cut from.
Look at the stone pit you were dug out of. ²Look at Abraham your father.
Look at Sarah, who gave birth to you.
When I called him, he was only one man.
Then I blessed him and made him into many. ³For the LORD will comfort Zion.
He will look with love on all her ruins.
He will make her wilderness like Eden.
He will make her desert like the garden of the LORD.
Joy and gladness will be found there.
There will be thanks and the sound of songs. ⁴Pay attention to me, my people.
Listen to me, my nation.
For a law will go out from me.
My justice will become a light to the nations.
I will make it happen quickly. ⁵My righteousness is coming near.
My saving help is on the way.
My arms will bring justice to the nations.
The islands will look to me.
They will wait with hope for my arm. ⁶Look up at the skies.
Look down at the earth below.
For the skies will disappear like smoke.
The earth will wear out like old clothes.
Its people will die like gnats.
But my saving help will last forever.
My righteousness will never end. ⁷Listen to me, you who know what is right,
you people who have my law in your hearts.
Do not be afraid when people make fun of you.
Do not be crushed by their insults. ⁸For the moth will eat them up like clothes.
The worm will eat them like wool.
But my righteousness will last forever.
My saving help will last for all generations." ⁹Wake up, wake up!
Arm of the LORD, put on strength.
Wake up as you did in days long ago,
in generations of the past.
Wasn't it you who cut Rahab to pieces?
Wasn't it you who stabbed the dragon? ¹⁰Wasn't it you who dried up the sea,
the waters of the great deep?
You made a road in the deep sea
so the people you redeemed could cross over. ¹¹So the people the LORD has redeemed will return.
They will come into Zion singing.
Joy that lasts forever will be like a crown on their heads.
Gladness and joy will fill them.
Sorrow and sighing will run away. ¹²"I, yes I, am the one who comforts you.
Why should you be afraid of humans who die?
Why fear people who dry up like grass? ¹³But you have forgotten the LORD who made you.
He stretched out the skies.
He laid the foundations of the earth.
All day long you live in fear
of the anger of the one who hurts you.
He is set on destroying you.
But where is his anger now? ¹⁴The prisoner will soon be set free.
He will not die in the dungeon.
He will not run out of bread. ¹⁵For I am the LORD your God.
I stir up the sea so that its waves roar.
The LORD of Hosts is his name. ¹⁶I have put my words in your mouth.
I have covered you with the shadow of my hand.
I did this to set the skies in place
and to lay the foundations of the earth.
I did it to say to Zion, 'You are my people.'" ¹⁷Wake up, wake up!
Stand up, Jerusalem!
You have drunk from the LORD's hand
the cup of his anger.
You have drunk it down to the last drop.
It is the cup that makes people stumble. ¹⁸Of all the sons she had,
none is there to guide her.
Of all the sons she raised,
none is there to take her hand. ¹⁹Two pairs of troubles have come on you:
ruin and destruction, hunger and the sword.
Who will feel sorry for you?
Who can comfort you? ²⁰Your sons have fainted.
They lie at the corner of every street,
like an antelope caught in a net.
They are filled with the anger of the LORD.
Your God has scolded them. ²¹So now listen to this, you who suffer.
You are drunk, but not with wine. ²²This is what your Lord says,
the LORD your God, who stands up for his people:
"Look, I have taken from your hand
the cup that makes you stumble.
You will never drink again from that cup,
the cup of my anger. ²³I will put it into the hands of those who hurt you.
They told you, 'Lie down, so we can walk on you.'
So you made your back like the ground,
like a street for them to walk on."