Isaiah 51
Modern English Version
The Eternal Salvation of Zion
51 Listen to Me, you who pursue righteousness,
you who seek the Lord:
Look to the rock from which you were hewn
and to the quarry from which you were dug.
2 Look to Abraham your father
and to Sarah who bore you;
for I called him alone,
and blessed him, and multiplied him.
3 For the Lord shall comfort Zion,
He will comfort all her waste places;
He will make her wilderness like Eden,
and her desert like the garden of the Lord;
joy and gladness shall be found in it,
thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.
4 Listen to Me, O My people;
and give ear to Me, O My nation:
for a law shall proceed from Me,
and I will set My justice as a light of the peoples.
5 My righteousness is near,
My salvation has gone forth,
and My arms shall judge the peoples;
the coastlands shall wait for Me,
and for My arm they shall expectantly wait.
6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
and look on the earth beneath.
For the heavens shall vanish away like smoke,
and the earth shall grow old like a garment,
and those who dwell in it shall die in like manner;
but My salvation shall be forever,
and My righteousness shall not be abolished.
7 Listen to Me, you who know righteousness,
the people in whose heart is My law;
do not fear the reproach of men
nor be 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 forever
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.
Was it not You who cut Rahab to pieces
and wounded the dragon?
10 Was it not You who dried up the sea,
the waters of the great deep,
who made the depths of the sea a pathway
for the ransomed to pass 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,
and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.
12 I, even I, am He who comforts you.
Who are you that you should be afraid of a man who shall die,
and of the son of man who shall be made as grass,
13 and forget the Lord your maker
who has stretched out the heavens
and laid the foundations of the earth?
And have feared continually every day
because of the fury of the oppressor
as he makes ready to destroy?
Yet where is the fury of the oppressor?
14 The exile shall soon be freed,
and shall not die in the dungeon,
nor will his bread be lacking.
15 But I am the Lord your God
who divided the sea whose waves roared;
the Lord of Hosts is His name.
16 I have put My words in your mouth,
and I have covered you in the shadow of My hand
that I may plant the heavens,
and lay the foundations of the earth,
and say to Zion, “You are My people.”
The Wrath of God Ceases
17 Awake, awake,
stand up, O Jerusalem,
you who have drunk at the hand of the Lord
the cup of His fury;
the cup of reeling
you have drained to the dregs.
18 There is no one to guide her
among all the sons she has brought forth;
nor is there anyone to take hold of her hand
of all the sons that she has brought up.
19 These two things have befallen you;
who shall be mournful for you?
Desolation, and destruction, and famine, and sword—
how shall I comfort you?
20 Your sons have fainted;
they lie at the head of all the streets
as an antelope in a net;
they are full of the fury of the Lord,
the rebuke of your God.
21 Therefore please hear this,
you afflicted who are drunk but not with wine.
22 Thus says your Lord, the Lord,
and your God who pleads the cause of His people:
See, I have taken out of your hand
the cup of reeling,
even the dregs of the cup of My fury;
you will never drink it again.
23 But I will put it into the hand of those who afflict you,
who have said to you,
“Lie down that we may walk over you.”
And you have laid your back as the ground
and as the street for those who walk on it.
Isaiah 51
Good News Translation
Words of Comfort to Jerusalem
51 The Lord says,
“Listen to me, you that want to be saved,
you that come to me for help.
Think of the rock from which you came,
the quarry from which you were cut.
2 Think of your ancestor, Abraham,
and of Sarah, from whom you are descended.
When I called Abraham, he was childless,
but I blessed him and gave him children;
I made his descendants numerous.
3 “I will show compassion to Jerusalem,
to all who live in her ruins.
Though her land is a desert, I will make it a garden,
like the garden I planted in Eden.
Joy and gladness will be there,
and songs of praise and thanks to me.
4 “Listen to me, my people,
listen to what I say:
I give my teaching to the nations;
my laws will bring them light.
5 I will come quickly and save them;
the time of my victory is near.
I myself will rule over the nations.
Distant lands wait for me to come;
they wait with hope for me to save them.
6 Look up at the heavens; look at the earth!
The heavens will disappear like smoke;
the earth will wear out like old clothing,
and all its people will die like flies.
But the deliverance I bring will last forever;
my victory will be final.
7 “Listen to me, you that know what is right,
who have my teaching fixed in your hearts.
Do not be afraid when people taunt and insult you;
8 they will vanish like moth-eaten clothing!
But the deliverance I bring will last forever;
my victory will endure for all time.”
9 Wake up, Lord, and help us!
Use your power and save us;
use it as you did in ancient times.
It was you that cut the sea monster Rahab[a] to pieces.
10 It was you also who dried up the sea
and made a path through the water,
so that those you were saving could cross.
11 Those whom you have rescued
will reach Jerusalem with gladness,
singing and shouting for joy.
They will be happy forever,
forever free from sorrow and grief.
12 The Lord says,
“I am the one who strengthens you.
Why should you fear mortals,
who are no more enduring than grass?
13 Have you forgotten the Lord who made you,
who stretched out the heavens
and laid the earth's foundations?
Why should you live in constant fear
of the fury of those who oppress you,
of those who are ready to destroy you?
Their fury can no longer touch you.
14 Those who are prisoners will soon be set free;
they will live a long life
and have all the food they need.
15 “I am the Lord your God;
I stir up the sea
and make its waves roar.
My name is the Lord Almighty!
16 I stretched out[b] the heavens
and laid the earth's foundations;
I say to Jerusalem, ‘You are my people!
I have given you my teaching,
and I protect you with my hand.’”
The End of Jerusalem's Suffering
17 (A)Jerusalem, wake up!
Rouse yourself and get up!
You have drunk the cup of punishment
that the Lord in his anger gave you to drink;
you drank it down, and it made you stagger.
18 There is no one to lead you,
no one among your people
to take you by the hand.
19 A double disaster has fallen on you:
your land has been devastated by war,
and your people have starved.
There is no one to show you sympathy.
20 At the corner of every street
your people collapse from weakness;
they are like deer caught in a hunter's net.
They have felt the force of God's anger.
21 You suffering people of Jerusalem,
you that stagger as though you were drunk,
22 the Lord your God defends you and says,
“I am taking away the cup
that I gave you in my anger.
You will no longer have to drink
the wine that makes you stagger.
23 I will give it to those who oppressed you,
to those who made you lie down in the streets
and trampled on you as if you were dirt.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 51:9 A legendary sea monster, which represented the forces of chaos and evil, was sometimes a symbol of Egypt.
- Isaiah 51:16 One ancient translation stretched out; Hebrew planted.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
