Isaiah 51
New Living Translation
A Call to Trust the Lord
51 “Listen to me, all who hope for deliverance—
all who seek the Lord!
Consider the rock from which you were cut,
the quarry from which you were mined.
2 Yes, think about Abraham, your ancestor,
and Sarah, who gave birth to your nation.
Abraham was only one man when I called him.
But when I blessed him, he became a great nation.”
3 The Lord will comfort Israel[a] again
and have pity on her ruins.
Her desert will blossom like Eden,
her barren wilderness like the garden of the Lord.
Joy and gladness will be found there.
Songs of thanksgiving will fill the air.
4 “Listen to me, my people.
Hear me, Israel,
for my law will be proclaimed,
and my justice will become a light to the nations.
5 My mercy and justice are coming soon.
My salvation is on the way.
My strong arm will bring justice to the nations.
All distant lands will look to me
and wait in hope for my powerful arm.
6 Look up to the skies above,
and gaze down on the earth below.
For the skies will disappear like smoke,
and the earth will wear out like a piece of clothing.
The people of the earth will die like flies,
but my salvation lasts forever.
My righteous rule will never end!
7 “Listen to me, you who know right from wrong,
you who cherish my law in your hearts.
Do not be afraid of people’s scorn,
nor fear their insults.
8 For the moth will devour them as it devours clothing.
The worm will eat at them as it eats wool.
But my righteousness will last forever.
My salvation will continue from generation to generation.”
9 Wake up, wake up, O Lord! Clothe yourself with strength!
Flex your mighty right arm!
Rouse yourself as in the days of old
when you slew Egypt, the dragon of the Nile.[b]
10 Are you not the same today,
the one who dried up the sea,
making a path of escape through the depths
so that your people could cross over?
11 Those who have been ransomed by the Lord will return.
They will enter Jerusalem[c] singing,
crowned with everlasting joy.
Sorrow and mourning will disappear,
and they will be filled with joy and gladness.
12 “I, yes I, am the one who comforts you.
So why are you afraid of mere humans,
who wither like the grass and disappear?
13 Yet you have forgotten the Lord, your Creator,
the one who stretched out the sky like a canopy
and laid the foundations of the earth.
Will you remain in constant dread of human oppressors?
Will you continue to fear the anger of your enemies?
Where is their fury and anger now?
It is gone!
14 Soon all you captives will be released!
Imprisonment, starvation, and death will not be your fate!
15 For I am the Lord your God,
who stirs up the sea, causing its waves to roar.
My name is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
16 And I have put my words in your mouth
and hidden you safely in my hand.
I stretched out[d] the sky like a canopy
and laid the foundations of the earth.
I am the one who says to Israel,
‘You are my people!’”
17 Wake up, wake up, O Jerusalem!
You have drunk the cup of the Lord’s fury.
You have drunk the cup of terror,
tipping out its last drops.
18 Not one of your children is left alive
to take your hand and guide you.
19 These two calamities have fallen on you:
desolation and destruction, famine and war.
And who is left to sympathize with you?
Who is left to comfort you?[e]
20 For your children have fainted and lie in the streets,
helpless as antelopes caught in a net.
The Lord has poured out his fury;
God has rebuked them.
21 But now listen to this, you afflicted ones
who sit in a drunken stupor,
though not from drinking wine.
22 This is what the Sovereign Lord,
your God and Defender, says:
“See, I have taken the terrible cup from your hands.
You will drink no more of my fury.
23 Instead, I will hand that cup to your tormentors,
those who said, ‘We will trample you into the dust
and walk on your backs.’”
Footnotes
- 51:3 Hebrew Zion; also in 51:16.
- 51:9 Hebrew You slew Rahab; you pierced the dragon. Rahab is the name of a mythical sea monster that represents chaos in ancient literature. The name is used here as a poetic name for Egypt.
- 51:11 Hebrew Zion.
- 51:16 As in Syriac version (see also 51:13); Hebrew reads planted.
- 51:19 As in Dead Sea Scrolls and Greek, Latin, and Syriac versions; Masoretic Text reads How can I comfort you?
Isaiah 51
Lexham English Bible
Yahweh Comforts Zion
51 “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness,
who seek Yahweh.
Look to the rock from which you were hewn,
and to the excavation of the pit from which you were quarried.
2 Look to Abraham your father,
and to Sarah; she brought you forth.
For I called him alone,[a]
but[b] I blessed him and made him numerous.”
3 For Yahweh will comfort Zion;
he will comfort all its sites of ruins.
And he will make[c] its wilderness like Eden,
and its desert like the garden of Yahweh.
Joy and gladness will be found in it,
thanksgiving and the sound[d] of song.
4 “Listen attentively to me, my people,
and my nation, listen to me!
For a teaching will go out from me,
and I will cause my justice to rest for a light to the peoples.
5 My righteousness is near; my salvation has gone out,
and my arms will judge the peoples.
The coastlands wait for me,
and for my arm they wait.
6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens
and look to the earth beneath,
for the heavens will be torn to pieces like smoke,
and the earth will be worn out like a garment,
and those who inhabit her will die like gnats.
But[e] my salvation will be forever,
and my righteousness will not be broken to pieces.
7 Listen to me, you who know righteousness,
people who have my teaching in their heart;
you must not fear the reproach of men,
or be terrified because of their abuse.
8 For a moth will eat them like garments;
a moth will devour[f] them like wool,
but[g] my righteousness will be forever,
and my salvation for generation after generation.[h]”
9 Awake! Awake; put on strength, O arm of Yahweh!
Awake as in days of long ago,
the generations of a long time back!
Are you not the one who cut Rahab in pieces,
the one who pierced the sea-dragon?
10 Are you not the one who dried up the sea,
the waters of the great deep,
the one who made[i] the depths of the sea a way
for those who are redeemed to cross over?
11 So[j] the redeemed ones of Yahweh shall return,
and they shall come to Zion with singing,
and everlasting joy shall be on their heads.[k]
Joy and gladness shall appear;[l]
sorrow and sighing shall flee away!
12 “I, I am he who comforts you;
who are you that[m] you are afraid of man? He dies!
And of the son of humankind? He is sacrificed[n] as grass!
13 And you have forgotten Yahweh, your maker,
who stretched out the heavens,
and founded the earth.
And you tremble continually, all day,
because of the wrath of the oppressor
when he takes aim[o] to destroy.
But[p] where is the wrath of the oppressor?
14 The fettered one shall make haste to be freed.
And he shall not die in[q] the pit,
and he shall not lack his bread.
15 For[r] I am Yahweh, your God,
who stirs up[s] the sea, so that[t] its waves roar;
Yahweh of hosts is his name.
16 And I have put my words in your mouth,
and I have covered you in the shadow of my hand,
to plant the heavens
and to found the earth,
saying to Zion, ‘You are my people.’”
17 Rouse yourself! Rouse yourself!
Stand up, Jerusalem, who have drunk from the hand of Yahweh the cup of his wrath;
you have drunk the goblet, the cup of staggering;
you have drained it out.
18 There is no one who guides her among[u] all the children she has borne,
and there is no one who grasps her by the hand among[v] all the children she raised.
19 Two things here have happened to you—who will show sympathy[w] for you?—
devastation and destruction, famine and sword—who will comfort you?
20 Your children have fainted;
they lie at the head of all the streets, like an antelope in[x] a snare,
those who are full of the wrath of Yahweh,
the rebuke of your God.
21 Therefore hear now this afflicted one
and drunken one but[y] not from wine.
22 Thus says your Lord, Yahweh,
and your God pleads the cause of his people:
“Look! I have taken from your hand the cup of staggering.
You shall not continue[z] to drink the goblet, the cup of my wrath, any longer.
23 And I will put it in the hand of your tormenters,
who have said to you,[aa] ‘Bow down that[ab] we may pass[ac] over you!’
And you have made[ad] your back like the ground,
and like the street for those who pass[ae] over you.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 51:2 Literally “one”
- Isaiah 51:2 Or “and”
- Isaiah 51:3 Literally “put”
- Isaiah 51:3 Literally “voice”
- Isaiah 51:6 Or “And”
- Isaiah 51:8 Or “eat”
- Isaiah 51:8 Or “and”
- Isaiah 51:8 Literally “generation of generations”
- Isaiah 51:10 Literally “placed”
- Isaiah 51:11 Or “And”
- Isaiah 51:11 Hebrew “head”
- Isaiah 51:11 Literally “reach”
- Isaiah 51:12 Or “and”
- Isaiah 51:12 Literally “given”
- Isaiah 51:13 Literally “sets up”
- Isaiah 51:13 Or “And”
- Isaiah 51:14 Or “to”
- Isaiah 51:15 Or “And”
- Isaiah 51:15 Or “stirring up”
- Isaiah 51:15 Or “and”
- Isaiah 51:18 Or “from”
- Isaiah 51:18 Or “from”
- Isaiah 51:19 Literally “wander”
- Isaiah 51:20 Or “of”
- Isaiah 51:21 Or “and”
- Isaiah 51:22 Literally “do again”
- Isaiah 51:23 Literally “your inner self”
- Isaiah 51:23 Or “and”
- Isaiah 51:23 Or “stride”
- Isaiah 51:23 Literally “placed”
- Isaiah 51:23 Or “stride”
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