Isaiah 51
English Standard Version Anglicised
The Lord's Comfort for Zion
51 (A)“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 (B)he was but one when I called him,
that I might bless him and multiply him.
3 For the Lord (C)comforts Zion;
he comforts all her waste places
and makes her wilderness like (D)Eden,
her desert like (E)the garden of the Lord;
(F)joy and gladness will be found in her,
thanksgiving and the voice of song.
4 (G)“Give attention to me, my people,
and give ear to me, my nation;
(H)for a law[a] will go out from me,
and I will set my justice for a light to the peoples.
5 (I)My righteousness draws near,
my salvation has gone out,
and my arms will judge the peoples;
(J)the coastlands hope for me,
and for my arm they wait.
6 (K)Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
and look at the earth beneath;
(L)for the heavens vanish like smoke,
the earth will wear out like a garment,
and they who dwell in it will die in like manner;[b]
(M)but my salvation will be for ever,
and my righteousness will never be dismayed.
7 (N)“Listen to me, you who know righteousness,
the people (O)in whose heart is my law;
(P)fear not the reproach of man,
nor be dismayed at their revilings.
8 (Q)For the moth will eat them up like a garment,
and the worm will eat them like wool;
(R)but my righteousness will be for ever,
and my salvation to all generations.”
9 (S)Awake, awake, (T)put on strength,
O (U)arm of the Lord;
awake, (V)as in days of old,
the generations of long ago.
Was it not you who cut (W)Rahab in pieces,
who pierced (X)the dragon?
10 (Y)Was it not you who dried up the sea,
the waters of the great deep,
who made the depths of the sea a way
for the redeemed to pass over?
11 (Z)And the ransomed of the Lord shall return
and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
they shall obtain gladness and joy,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
12 “I, I am he (AA)who comforts you;
who are you that you are afraid of (AB)man who dies,
of the son of man who is made (AC)like grass,
13 and have forgotten the Lord, your Maker,
(AD)who stretched out the heavens
and (AE)laid the foundations of the earth,
and you fear continually all the day
because of the wrath of (AF)the oppressor,
when he sets himself to destroy?
And where is the wrath of (AG)the oppressor?
14 (AH)He who is bowed down shall speedily be released;
he shall not die and go down (AI)to the pit,
neither shall his bread be lacking.
15 I am the Lord your God,
(AJ)who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—
the Lord of hosts is his name.
16 (AK)And I have put my words in your mouth
(AL)and covered you in the shadow of my hand,
(AM)establishing[c] the heavens
and (AN)laying the foundations of the earth,
and saying to Zion, ‘You are my people.’”
17 (AO)Wake yourself, wake yourself,
stand up, O Jerusalem,
(AP)you who have drunk from the hand of the Lord
the cup of his wrath,
who have drunk to the dregs
the bowl, (AQ)the cup of staggering.
18 (AR)There is none to guide her
among all the sons she has borne;
there is none to take her by the hand
among all the sons she has brought up.
19 (AS)These two things have happened to you—
who will console you?—
devastation and destruction, famine and sword;
who will comfort you?[d]
20 (AT)Your sons have fainted;
they lie at the head of every street
like an (AU)antelope (AV)in a net;
they are full of the wrath of the Lord,
the rebuke of your God.
21 (AW)Therefore hear this, you who are afflicted,
who are drunk, but not with wine:
22 Thus says your Lord, the Lord,
your God (AX)who pleads the cause of his people:
“Behold, I have taken from your hand (AY)the cup of staggering;
the bowl of my wrath you shall drink no more;
23 (AZ)and I will put it into the hand of your tormentors,
(BA)who have said to you,
‘Bow down, that we may pass over’;
and (BB)you have made your back like the ground
and like the street for them to pass over.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 51:4 Or for teaching; also verse 7
- Isaiah 51:6 Or will die like gnats
- Isaiah 51:16 Or planting
- Isaiah 51:19 Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Masoretic Text how shall I comfort you
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
The Message
Committed to Seeking God
51 1-3 “Listen to me, all you who are serious about right living
and committed to seeking God.
Ponder the rock from which you were cut,
the quarry from which you were dug.
Yes, ponder Abraham, your father,
and Sarah, who bore you.
Think of it! One solitary man when I called him,
but once I blessed him, he multiplied.
Likewise I, God, will comfort Zion,
comfort all her mounds of ruins.
I’ll transform her dead ground into Eden,
her moonscape into the garden of God,
A place filled with exuberance and laughter,
thankful voices and melodic songs.
4-6 “Pay attention, my people.
Listen to me, nations.
Revelation flows from me.
My decisions light up the world.
My deliverance arrives on the run,
my salvation right on time.
I’ll bring justice to the peoples.
Even faraway islands will look to me
and take hope in my saving power.
Look up at the skies,
ponder the earth under your feet.
The skies will fade out like smoke,
the earth will wear out like work pants,
and the people will die off like flies.
But my salvation will last forever,
my setting-things-right will never be obsolete.
7-8 “Listen now, you who know right from wrong,
you who hold my teaching inside you:
Pay no attention to insults, and when mocked
don’t let it get you down.
Those insults and mockeries are moth-eaten,
from brains that are termite-ridden,
But my setting-things-right lasts,
my salvation goes on and on and on.”
9-11 Wake up, wake up, flex your muscles, God!
Wake up as in the old days, in the long ago.
Didn’t you once make mincemeat of Rahab,
dispatch the old chaos-dragon?
And didn’t you once dry up the sea,
the powerful waters of the deep,
And then made the bottom of the ocean a road
for the redeemed to walk across?
In the same way God’s ransomed will come back,
come back to Zion cheering, shouting,
Joy eternal wreathing their heads,
exuberant ecstasies transporting them—
and not a sign of moans or groans.
What Are You Afraid of—or Who?
12-16 “I, I’m the One comforting you.
What are you afraid of—or who?
Some man or woman who’ll soon be dead?
Some poor wretch destined for dust?
You’ve forgotten me, God, who made you,
who unfurled the skies, who founded the earth.
And here you are, quaking like an aspen
before the tantrums of a tyrant
who thinks he can kick down the world.
But what will come of the tantrums?
The victims will be released before you know it.
They’re not going to die.
They’re not even going to go hungry.
For I am God, your very own God,
who stirs up the sea and whips up the waves,
named God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
I teach you how to talk, word by word,
and personally watch over you,
Even while I’m unfurling the skies,
setting earth on solid foundations,
and greeting Zion: ‘Welcome, my people!’”
17-20 So wake up! Rub the sleep from your eyes!
Up on your feet, Jerusalem!
You’ve drunk the cup God handed you,
the strong drink of his anger.
You drank it down to the last drop,
staggered and collapsed, dead-drunk.
And nobody to help you home,
no one among your friends or children
to take you by the hand and put you in bed.
You’ve been hit with a double dose of trouble
—does anyone care?
Assault and battery, hunger and death
—will anyone comfort?
Your sons and daughters have passed out,
strewn in the streets like stunned rabbits,
Sleeping off the strong drink of God’s anger,
the rage of your God.
21-23 Therefore listen, please,
you with your splitting headaches,
You who are nursing the hangovers
that didn’t come from drinking wine.
Your Master, your God, has something to say,
your God has taken up his people’s case:
“Look, I’ve taken back the drink that sent you reeling.
No more drinking from that jug of my anger!
I’ve passed it over to your abusers to drink, those who ordered you,
‘Down on the ground so we can walk all over you!’
And you had to do it. Flat on the ground,
you were the dirt under their feet.”
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson