Salvation for Zion

51 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 dug.
Look to Abraham your father,
and to Sarah who gave birth to you in pain.
When I called him, he was only one;
I blessed him and made him many.(A)
For the Lord will comfort Zion;(B)
He will comfort all her waste places,
and He will make her wilderness like Eden,(C)
and her desert like the garden of the Lord.(D)
Joy and gladness will be found in her,
thanksgiving and melodious song.

Pay attention to Me, My people,
and listen to Me, My nation;
for instruction will come from Me,
and My justice for a light to the nations.(E)
I will bring it about quickly.
My righteousness is near,(F)
My salvation appears,
and My arms will bring justice to the nations.(G)
The coastlands[a] will put their hope in Me,
and they will look to My strength.[b]
Look up to the heavens,
and look at the earth beneath;
for the heavens will vanish like smoke,
the earth will wear out like a garment,
and its inhabitants will die like gnats.[c](H)
But My salvation will last forever,(I)
and My righteousness will never be shattered.

Listen to Me, you who know righteousness,
the people in whose heart is My instruction:(J)
do not fear disgrace by men,
and do not be shattered by their taunts.
For the moth will devour them like a garment,(K)
and the worm will eat them like wool.(L)
But My righteousness will last forever,
and My salvation for all generations.

Wake up, wake up!
Put on the strength of the Lord’s power.
Wake up as in days past,
as in generations of long ago.
Wasn’t it You who hacked Rahab to pieces,(M)
who pierced the sea monster?(N)
10 Wasn’t it You who dried up the sea,(O)
the waters of the great deep,
who made the sea-bed into a road
for the redeemed to pass over?(P)
11 And the redeemed of the Lord will return(Q)
and come to Zion with singing,
crowned with unending joy.
Joy and gladness will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee.

12 I—I am the One who comforts you.
Who are you that you should fear man who dies,(R)
or a son of man who is given up like grass?(S)
13 But you have forgotten the Lord, your Maker,
who stretched out the heavens
and laid the foundations of the earth.(T)
You are in constant dread all day long
because of the fury of the oppressor,
who has set himself to destroy.
But where is the fury of the oppressor?(U)
14 The prisoner[d] is soon to be set free;
he will not die and go to the Pit,
and his food will not be lacking.
15 For I am Yahweh your God
who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar(V)
His name is Yahweh of Hosts.
16 I have put My words in your mouth,(W)
and covered you in the shadow of My hand,(X)
in order to plant[e] the heavens,
to found the earth,
and to say to Zion, “You are My people.”

17 Wake yourself, wake yourself up!
Stand up, Jerusalem,
you who have drunk the cup of His fury(Y)
from the hand of the Lord;
you who have drunk the goblet to the dregs—
the cup that causes people to stagger.
18 There is no one to guide her
among all the children she has raised;
there is no one to take hold of her hand
among all the offspring she has brought up.
19 These two things have happened to you:(Z)
devastation and destruction,
famine and sword.
Who will grieve for you?
How can I[f] comfort you?
20 Your children have fainted;
they lie at the head of every street
like an antelope in a net.
They are full of the Lord’s fury,
the rebuke of your God.

21 So listen to this, afflicted
and drunken one—but not with wine.(AA)
22 This is what your Lord says—
Yahweh, even your God,
who defends His people(AB)
“Look, I have removed
the cup of staggering from your hand;
that goblet, the cup of My fury.
You will never drink it again.
23 I will put it into the hands of your tormentors,
who said to you:(AC)
Lie down, so we can walk over you.
You made your back like the ground,
and like a street for those who walk on it.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 51:5 Or islands
  2. Isaiah 51:5 Lit arm
  3. Isaiah 51:6 Or die in like manner
  4. Isaiah 51:14 Hb obscure
  5. Isaiah 51:16 Syr reads to stretch out
  6. Isaiah 51:19 DSS, LXX, Syr, Vg read you? Who can

主對錫安的安慰

51 耶和華說:「追求公義、
尋求我的人啊,聽我說。
你們要追想那磐石,
你們是從那裡被鑿出來的;
你們要追想那岩穴,
你們是從那裡被挖出來的。
你們要追想你們的祖先亞伯拉罕和生你們的撒拉。
我呼召亞伯拉罕的時候,
他是孤身一人,
但我賜福給他,
使他子孫眾多。
我必安慰錫安和錫安所有的荒場,
使曠野像伊甸園,
使沙漠變成我的園囿,
裡面有歡喜、快樂、感謝和歌頌的聲音。

「我的子民啊,要留心聽我的話;
我的國民啊,要側耳聽我說。
因為我必賜下訓誨,
我的公正必成為萬民的光。
我的公義臨近,
我的拯救已經開始,
我的臂膀要審判萬民。
眾海島都在等候我,
仰賴我的臂膀。
你們舉目仰望穹蒼,
俯首觀看大地吧。
穹蒼必像煙雲消散,
大地必像衣服一樣漸漸破舊,
地上的居民必像蚊蠅一樣死亡。
但我的救恩永遠長存,
我的公義永不廢除。
認識公義、銘記我訓誨的人啊,
聽我說。
你們不要害怕人的辱罵,
也不要畏懼他們的譭謗。
因為蛀蟲必吃掉他們,
像吃衣服;
蟲子必蠶食他們,如食羊毛。
但我的公義永遠長存,
我的救恩延及萬代。」

耶和華啊,伸出臂膀,
施展能力吧,
像在從前的世代一樣施展你的能力吧!
難道不是你砍碎了拉哈伯,
刺死了海怪嗎?
10 難道不是你使海洋和深淵乾涸,
在海中開出道路讓蒙救贖的人穿過的嗎?
11 耶和華所救贖的人必回來,
必歡唱著回到錫安,
得到永遠的福樂。
他們將歡喜快樂,
再沒有憂愁和歎息。

12 耶和華說:「安慰你們的是我,是我。
你為什麼要害怕難逃一死、
生命如草芥的世人呢?
13 難道你忘記了創造你、
鋪展穹蒼、
奠立大地根基的耶和華嗎?
難道因為試圖毀滅你的欺壓者大發怒氣,
你就整天驚恐不安嗎?
他們的怒氣如今在哪裡呢?
14 被囚的人快得釋放了,
他們不會死在牢中,
也不會缺乏食物。
15 我是你的上帝耶和華,
我翻動大海、捲起波濤,
萬軍之耶和華是我的名。
16 我把我的話傳給你,
用我的手庇護你。
我鋪展穹蒼,奠立大地的根基,
對錫安說,『你是我的子民。』」

17 耶路撒冷啊,醒來,醒來,站起來吧!你從耶和華手中的杯裡喝了祂的憤怒,喝乾了那杯使人東倒西歪的酒。

18 你生育的兒子沒有一個來引導你,
你撫養成人的眾子沒有一個來攙扶你。
19 荒涼、毀滅、饑荒、
戰禍已臨到你身上,
誰會為你哀哭呢?
誰能安慰你呢[a]
20 你的兒子們昏倒在街頭,
好像羚羊掉進網羅,
你的上帝耶和華把祂的憤怒和責備重重地降在他們身上。
21 你這身受痛苦、並非因酒而醉的人啊,
要聽我的話。
22 你的主耶和華是為祂子民申辯的上帝,祂說:
「看啊,我已從你手中拿走那使人東倒西歪的杯和盛滿我憤怒的碗,
你必不再喝。
23 我必把這杯給苦待你的人,
他們曾對你說,『趴下,
我們好從你身上走過。』
你曾把你的背當作地面,
當作街道任人踐踏。」

Footnotes

  1. 51·19 誰能安慰你呢」有古卷作「我該怎樣安慰你呢」。