Isaiah 51:1-3
New English Translation
There is Hope for the Future
51 “Listen to me, you who pursue godliness,[a]
who seek the Lord.
Look at the rock from which you were chiseled,
at the quarry[b] from which you were dug.[c]
2 Look at Abraham, your father,
and Sarah, who gave you birth.[d]
When I summoned him, he was a lone individual,[e]
but I blessed him[f] and gave him numerous descendants.[g]
3 Certainly the Lord will console Zion;
he will console all her ruins.
He will make her wilderness like Eden,
her arid rift valley like the garden of the Lord.[h]
Happiness and joy will be restored to[i] her,
thanksgiving and the sound of music.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 51:1 tn Or “righteousness” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “justice”; NLT “hope for deliverance.”
- Isaiah 51:1 tn Heb “the excavation of the hole.”
- Isaiah 51:1 sn The “rock” and “quarry” refer here to Abraham and Sarah, the progenitors of the nation.
- Isaiah 51:2 sn Although Abraham and Sarah are distant ancestors of the people the prophet is addressing, they are spoken of as the immediate parents.
- Isaiah 51:2 tn Heb “one”; NLT “was alone”; TEV “was childless.”
- Isaiah 51:2 tn “Bless” may here carry the sense of “endue with potency, reproductive power.” See Gen 1:28.
- Isaiah 51:2 tn Heb “and I made him numerous.”
- Isaiah 51:3 sn The rift valley (עֲרָבָה, ʿaravah) is known for its dry, desert-like conditions in the area of the Dead Sea and southward (although it also includes the Jordan Valley to the north). The wilderness (מִדְבָּר, midbar) is an area that receives less than twelve inches of rain per year and so can only support meager vegetation at best. The imagery here focuses on the transformation from arid and lifeless to watered and luxuriant.
- Isaiah 51:3 tn Heb “found in” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
Isaiah 51:1-3
International Standard Version
Deliverance for Zion
51 “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness,
you who seek the Lord!
Look to the rock from which you were cut,
to the quarry from which you were hewn.
2 Look to Abraham your father,
and to Sarah who gave you birth.
For when he was only one person I called him,
but I made him fruitful[a] and made him many.
3 For the Lord will have compassion on Zion,
have compassion on all her ruins.
He will make her wilderness like Eden,
and her deserts like the garden of the Lord.
Joy and gladness will be found in her,
thanksgiving, and the sound of singing.[b]
Sorrow and sighing will flee away.[c]
Footnotes
- Isaiah 51:2 So 1QIsaa; MT reads blessed him; LXX reads blessed him and loved him
- Isaiah 51:3 Or music
- Isaiah 51:3 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX lack this line; cf Isa 51:11
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