Isaiah 51
Contemporary English Version
The Lord Will Bring Comfort
51 (A) If you want to do right
and obey the Lord,
follow Abraham's example.
He was the rock from which
you were chipped.
2 God chose Abraham and Sarah
to be your ancestors.
The Lord blessed Abraham,
and from that one man
came many descendants.
3 Though Zion is in ruins,
the Lord will bring comfort,
and the city will be as lovely
as the garden of Eden
that he provided.
Then Zion will celebrate;
it will be thankful
and sing joyful songs.
The Lord's Victory Will Last
4 The Lord says:
You are my people and nation!
So pay attention to me.
My teaching will cause justice
to shine like a light
for every nation.
5 Those who live across the sea
are eagerly waiting
for me to rescue them.
I am strong and ready;
soon I will come to save
and to rule all nations.
6 Look closely at the sky!
Stare at the earth.
The sky will vanish like smoke;
the earth will wear out
like clothes.
Everyone on this earth
will die like flies.
But my victory will last;
my saving power never ends.
7 If you want to do right
and obey my teaching
with all your heart,
then pay close attention.
Don't be discouraged
when others insult you
and say hurtful things.
8 They will be eaten away
like a moth-eaten coat.
But my victory will last;
my saving power
will never end.
A Prayer for the Lord's Help
9 Wake up! Do something, Lord.
Be strong and ready.
Wake up! Do what you did
for our people long ago.
Didn't you chop up
Rahab[a] the monster?
10 Didn't you dry up the deep sea
and make a road for your people
to follow safely across?
11 Now those you have rescued
will return to Jerusalem,
singing on their way.
They will be crowned
with great happiness,
never again to be burdened
with sadness and sorrow.
The Lord Gives Hope
12 I am the Lord, the one
who encourages you.
Why are you afraid
of mere humans?
They dry up and die like grass.
13 I spread out the heavens
and laid foundations
for the earth.
But you have forgotten me,
your Lord and Creator.
All day long you were afraid
of those who were angry
and hoped to oppress you.
Where are they now?
14 Everyone crying out in pain
will be quickly set free;
they will be rescued
from the power of death
and never go hungry.
15 I will help them
because I am your God,
the Lord All-Powerful,
who makes the ocean roar.
16 I have told you what to say,
and I will keep you safe
in the palm of my hand.
I spread out the heavens
and laid foundations
for the earth.
Now I say, “Jerusalem,
your people are mine.”
A Warning to Jerusalem
17 (B) Jerusalem, wake up! Stand up!
You've drunk too much
from the cup filled
with the Lord's anger.
You have swallowed every drop,
and you can't walk straight.
18 Not one of your many children
is there to guide you
or to offer a helping hand.
19 You have been destroyed
by war and by famine;
I cannot comfort you.[b]
20 The Lord your God is angry,
and on every street corner
your children lie helpless,
like deer trapped in nets.
21 You are in trouble and drunk,
but not from wine.
So pay close attention
22 to the Lord your God,
who defends you and says,
“I have taken from your hands
the cup filled with my anger
that made you drunk.
You will never be forced
to drink it again.
23 Instead I will give it
to your brutal enemies,
who treated you like dirt
and walked all over you.”
Yeshayah 51
Orthodox Jewish Bible
51 Pay heed to Me, ye that pursue tzedek, ye that seek Hashem; look unto the Tzur from where ye are cut, and to the quarry from where ye were hewn.
2 Look unto Avraham Avichem, and unto Sarah that gave birth to you; for I called him as one alone, and put a brocha on him, and made him many.
3 For Hashem shall comfort Tziyon; He will comfort all her ruins; and He will make her midbar like Eden, and her ruins like the Gan (Garden) of Hashem; sasson and simchah shall be found therein, todah, and the kol zimrah (the sound of singing).
4 Pay heed unto Me, O My people; and give ear unto Me, O My Nation; for torah [42:4] shall go forth from Me, and I will set at rest [establish] My mishpat as Ohr Amim (Light for the Nations).
5 My tzedek is near; My Salvation is gone forth, and Mine zero’a shall judge the Ammim; the iyim shall wait upon Me, and on Mine zero’a [Moshiach; See 53:1] shall they trust.
6 Lift up your eyes to Shomayim, and look upon ha’aretz beneath; for Shomayim shall vanish like ashan (smoke), and ha’aretz shall wear out like a beged, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner; but My Yeshuah (Salvation) shall be l’olam, and My tzedakah shall not be dismayed.
7 Pay heed unto Me, ye that know tzedek, Am torati velibam (the People with My torah in their heart); fear ye not the cherpat enosh (the reproach, reviling of man) neither be ye afraid of their giddufot (insults, scorn).
8 For the ahsh (moth) shall eat them up like a beged, and the worm shall eat them like wool; but My tzedakah shall be l’olahm, and My Yeshuah (Salvation) l’odor dorim (from generation to generation).
9 Awake, awake, clothe thyself with oz, O zero’a Hashem [Moshiach; see Isaiah 53:1]; awake, as in the yemei kedem, in the dorot olamim. Art thou not it that hath cut Rachav to pieces, and pierced Tannin [See 27:1].
10 Art thou not the One Who hath dried the yam, the waters of the tehom rabbah; that hath made the depths of the yam a derech for the ge’ulim (redeemed ones) to cross over?
11 Therefore the Redeemed of Hashem shall return, and come with singing unto Tziyon; and simchat olam shall be upon their rosh; they shall obtain sasson and simchah; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.
12 I, even I, am He that comforteth you. Who art thou, that thou shouldest fear enosh that shall die, and ben adam which shall be made as khatzir (grass);
13 And forgettest Hashem Osehcha [thy Maker], that hath stretched out Shomayim, and laid the foundations of Eretz; and thou art terrified tamid (constantly), kol hayom, because of the fury of the oppressor when he is ready to destroy? And where is the fury of the oppressor?
14 The tzo’eh (the one stooped [in the Golus]) hasteneth that he may be set free, and that he should not die in shachat, nor that his lechem should fail.
15 But I am Hashem Eloheicha Who stirs up the yam, whose waves roar; Hashem Tzva’os Shmo.
16 And I put My words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the tzel (shadow) of Mine yad, that I may set Shomayim in place, and lay the foundations of Eretz, and say unto Tziyon, Thou art My people.
17 Awake, awake, rise up, O Yerushalayim, which hast drunk at the Yad Hashem the kos of His fury; thou hast drunk to the dregs and drained dry the Kos HaTarelah (Cup of Reeling).
18 Among kol banim whom she hath given birth to, there is none to guide her; neither is there any that taketh her by the yad of kol banim that she hath reared.
19 These two are come upon thee. Who shall grieve for thee? Shod and shever and ra’av (famine) and cherev; with whom shall I console thee?
20 Thy banim have fainted, they lie at the rosh of all the streets, like a wild bull in a net; they are full of the chamat Hashem, the rebuke of thy G-d.
21 Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted one, thou drunken one, but not with yayin;
22 Thus saith thy L-rd Hashem, and thy G-d that pleadeth the cause of His people, Hinei, I have taken out of thine yad the Kos HaTarelah (Cup of Reeling, the Cup that causes reeling) even the dregs of the cup of My fury; thou shalt no more drink it again;
23 But I will put it into the yad of them that torment thee; which have said to thy nefesh, Bow down, that we may walk over; and thou hast laid thy gev (back) like the ground and like the street, to them that walked over.
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