Isaiah 51
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 51
Exhortation To Trust in the Lord[a]
1 Listen to me, you who pursue justice,
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 gave birth to you.
When I called him, he was but one,
but I blessed him and made him many.
3 The Lord will comfort Zion
and have pity on all her ruins.
He will make her deserts like Eden
and her wastelands into the garden of the Lord.
Joy and gladness will resound in her,
thanksgiving and the sound of music.
4 Listen attentively to me, my people,
and pay heed to me, my nation.
For the law will issue forth from me,
and my justice will serve as a light to the nations.
5 My justice will issue forth swiftly,
my salvation will appear,
and I will judge the nations with my arm.
The coastlands and the islands
will place their hope in me
and trust in my protection.
6 Raise your eyes to the heavens
and gaze down on the earth below.
For the heavens will vanish like smoke,
and the earth will wear out like a garment
as its inhabitants die like flies.
But my salvation will be everlasting
and my justice will never cease.
7 Listen to me,
you who truly comprehend the meaning of justice
and who have my teaching in your hearts.
Do not fear the reproach of others
or allow their reviling to dismay you.
8 For they will be like a garment eaten away by moths,
like wool devoured by grubs.
But my saving justice will be everlasting
and my deliverance for all generations.
9 Awake, awake, O arm of the Lord!
Clothe yourself in strength.
Awake as in the days of old,
in ages long past.
Was it not you who hacked Rahab[b] to pieces
and pierced the dragon through?
10 Was it not you who dried up the sea,
the waters of the great deep,
and turned the depths of the sea into a path
for the redeemed to pass over?
11 Therefore, those whom the Lord has redeemed will return
and enter Zion singing,
their heads crowned with everlasting joy.
They shall experience joy and gladness,
while sorrow and mourning will disappear.
12 I, I alone, am the one who comforts you.
Why then do you fear mortal men who must die,
human beings who must perish like grass?
13 You have forgotten the Lord, your maker,
who stretched out the heavens
and laid the foundations of the earth.
You are in constant fear every moment of the day,
dreading the fury of the oppressor
who is bent on your destruction.
But where now is the oppressor’s fury?
14 The oppressed will soon be set free;
they will not die in the dungeon,
nor will they be without food.
15 For I am the Lord, your God
who stirs up the sea and makes its waves roar;
the Lord of hosts is my name.
16 I have put my words into your mouth
and sheltered you in the shadow of my hand,
I who stretched out the heavens
and laid the foundations of the earth,
and who say to Zion,
You are my people.
The Cup of Salvation
17 Awake, awake!
Rise up, O Jerusalem!
You have drunk from the Lord’s hand
the cup of his wrath;
and have drained to the dregs
the goblet that causes men to become inebriated.
18 Of all the sons you have brought forth,
there is no one to guide you;
of all the sons you have reared,
there is no one to take you by the hand.
19 Who is there to grieve with you
about the twofold disaster you have suffered?
Devastation and destruction, famine and sword:
who can comfort you?
20 Your children are lying helpless
at the corner of every street
like antelopes trapped in a net.
They are filled with the wrath of the Lord,
with the rebuke of your God.
21 Therefore, hear this, you who are afflicted,
you who are drunk although not with wine.
22 Thus says your sovereign Lord,
your God who defends his people:
I have taken from your hand
the cup of inebriation;
you will never again drink
from the bowl of my wrath.
23 I will hand it over to your tormentors,
those who said to you,
“Lie on the ground
so that we may walk over you.”
And you flattened your back
like ground beneath their feet,
like a road for them to walk on.[c]
Footnotes
- Isaiah 51:1 Forgetting henceforth Cyrus and his victories and passing over the destruction of Babylon, the prophet focuses his attention on a restored Jerusalem and on the new era of justice and of God’s favor.
- Isaiah 51:9 Rahab is a personification of Egypt (see Isa 30:7; Pss 87:4; 89:10). The dragon is the crocodile, the emblem of Egypt—allusion to the ten plagues.
- Isaiah 51:23 Conquerors signified their victory by putting their foot on the neck of the conquered.
Isaiah 51
Expanded Bible
Jerusalem Will Be Saved
51 The Lord says, “Listen to me,
those of you who ·try to live right [L pursue righteousness] and ·follow [seek] the Lord.
Look ·at [or to] the rock from which you were cut;
look ·at [or to] the stone quarry from which you were dug [C referring to their ancestors Abraham and Sarah; see v. 2].
2 Look at Abraham, your ·ancestor [father],
and Sarah, who gave birth to ·your ancestors [L you].
Abraham ·had no children [was just one person; L was one] when I called him [Gen. 12:1–3],
but I blessed him and ·gave him many descendants [L made him many].
3 So the Lord will comfort ·Jerusalem [L Zion; C the location of the Temple];
he will ·show mercy to [comfort] ·those who live in [L all] her ruins.
He will change her ·deserts [wilderness] into ·a garden like Eden [L Eden];
he will make her ·empty lands [desert; arid plains] like the garden of the Lord.
·People there will be very happy [L Joy and gladness will be found in her];
·they will give thanks and sing songs [L thanksgiving and the voice of song].
4 “My people, listen to me;
my nation, pay attention to me.
·I will give the people my teachings [L Law/Instruction/Torah will go out from me],
and my ·decisions [justice] will be like a light to the ·people [nations].
5 ·I will soon show that I do what is right [L My righteousness/justice draws near].
·I will soon save you [L My salvation goes out].
·I will use my power and [L My arms will] judge the nations.
The ·faraway places [or islands; or coastlands] are ·waiting for [looking to; hoping in] me;
they wait for my ·power to help them [L arm].
6 ·Look up [L Lift your eyes] to the heavens [40:26].
Look at the earth below.
The skies will disappear like clouds of smoke.
The earth will ·become useless [wear out] like old clothes [Ps. 102:26],
and its people will die like flies.
But my salvation will continue forever,
and my ·goodness [righteousness] will never end.
7 “You people who know ·what is right [righteousness] should listen to me;
you people who ·follow my teachings [have my law/L Torah in your heart] should hear what I say.
Don’t be afraid of the ·evil things people say [L reproach/scorn of people],
and don’t be ·upset [discouraged; dismayed] by their insults.
8 Moths will eat those people as if they were clothes,
and worms will eat them as if they were wool.
But my goodness will continue forever,
and my salvation ·will continue from now on [L from generation to generation].”
9 Wake up, wake up, and ·use your [clothe yourself with] strength,
·powerful [L arm of the] Lord.
Wake up as you did in the ·old times [ancient days],
as you did ·a long time ago [L in generations everlasting].
·With your own power, you [L Were you not the one who…?] cut Rahab [C a mythical sea monster symbolizing chaos; 30:7; Ps. 89:10] into pieces
and ·killed [pierced] that ·sea monster [serpent; dragon; 27:1; Ps. 74:13–14].
10 ·You dried [L Did you not dry…?] up the sea
and the waters of the deep ocean.
You made a road through the deepest parts of the sea
for your ·people to cross over and be saved [or redeemed people to cross over; 43:16; Ex. 14:21; Ps. 106:9].
11 The people the Lord has ·freed [rescued; ransomed] will return
and enter ·Jerusalem [L Zion; v. 3] with ·joy [singing].
·Their happiness will last forever [L Everlasting joy will crown them/be on their head].
They will ·have [be overwhelmed/overtaken with] joy and gladness,
and all sadness and sorrow will ·be gone far [flee] away [35:10].
12 The Lord says, “·I [L I, even I] am the one who ·comforts you [40:1].
So why should you be afraid of people, who die?
·Why should you fear people [L …or the son of man; C human beings] who ·die [L is given up] like the grass [40:6]?
13 Have you forgotten the Lord who made you,
who stretched out the ·skies [heavens]
and ·made [L laid the foundations of] the earth [48:13]?
Why are you always afraid
of ·those angry people who trouble you [the anger/wrath of the oppressor]
and who ·want [seek; plan] to destroy?
But where ·are those angry people [is the anger/wrath of the oppressor] now?
14 ·People in prison [L Those who are burdened/stooped over] will soon be set free;
they will not die in prison,
and they will ·have enough food [not lack bread].
15 I am the Lord your God,
who stirs the sea and makes the waves roar.
My name is the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts].
16 I will ·give you the words I want you to say [L put my words in your mouth].
I will cover you with ·my hands and protect you [L the shadow of my hand].
I ·made [established] the heavens and [L laid the foundation of] the earth,
and I say to ·Jerusalem [L Zion; v. 3], ‘You are my people.’”
God Punished Israel
17 Awake! Awake!
Get up, Jerusalem.
·The Lord was very angry with you;
your punishment was like wine in a cup.
The Lord made you drink that wine [L You have drunk from the hand of the Lord the cup of his wrath];
you ·drank the whole cup [L drained the goblet to its dregs] until you stumbled.
18 ·Though Jerusalem had many people [L Among all the children she bore],
there was not one to lead her.
Of all the people ·who grew up there [she raised],
no one was there to ·guide her [L take her by the hand].
19 ·Troubles [Calamities] came to you two by two,
but no one will ·feel sorry for [or console] you.
There was ruin and ·disaster [destruction], ·great hunger [famine] and ·fighting [L sword].
·No one [L But who…?] can comfort you.
20 Your ·people [L children; sons] have ·become weak [fainted].
They fall down and lie ·on every street corner [L at the head of every street],
like ·animals [L antelope] caught in a net.
They ·have felt the full anger [or are filled with the wrath] of the Lord
and have heard God’s ·angry shout [rebuke].
21 So listen to me, ·poor Jerusalem [L oppressed/afflicted one],
you who are drunk but not from wine.
22 Your God will ·defend [plead the case of] his people.
This is what the Lord your God says:
“·The punishment I gave you is like a cup of wine.
You drank it and could not walk straight.
But I am taking that cup of my anger away from you, [L Look/T Behold, I have taken from your hand the cup of staggering,
the dregs of the cup of my wrath]
and you will never ·be punished by my anger [L drink from it] again.
23 I will now give that cup of punishment to ·those who gave you pain [your tormentors; Jer. 25:17, 26, 28],
who told you,
‘Bow down so we can walk over you.’
·They [L You] made your back like dirt for them to walk on;
you were like a street for them to travel on.”
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