17 (A)Wake yourself, wake yourself,
    stand up, O Jerusalem,
(B)you who have drunk from the hand of the Lord
    the cup of his wrath,
who have drunk to the dregs
    the bowl, (C)the cup of staggering.
18 (D)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 (E)These two things have happened to you—
    who will console you?—
devastation and destruction, famine and sword;
    who will comfort you?[a]
20 (F)Your sons have fainted;
    they lie at the head of every street
    like an (G)antelope (H)in a net;
they are full of the wrath of the Lord,
    the rebuke of your God.

21 (I)Therefore hear this, you who are afflicted,
    who are drunk, but not with wine:
22 Thus says your Lord, the Lord,
    your God (J)who pleads the cause of his people:
“Behold, I have taken from your hand (K)the cup of staggering;
the bowl of my wrath you shall drink no more;
23 (L)and I will put it into the hand of your tormentors,
    (M)who have said to you,
    ‘Bow down, that we may pass over’;
and (N)you have made your back like the ground
    and like the street for them to pass over.”

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 51:19 Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Masoretic Text how shall I comfort you

17 “Awake, Awake!
    Stand up, Jerusalem,
you who have drunk from the Lord’s hand
    from the cup that is[a] his anger.
You have drunk to the dregs
    the cup that makes you stagger,[b]
        and have drained it.
18 There is no one to guide you[c]
    out of all the children she bore,
no one to take her by the hand
    out of all the children she brought up.

19 “These twin things have come upon you
    (who can feel sorry for you?):
ruin and destruction,
    famine and the sword—
        who can console you?
20 Your children have fainted.
    They lie at the head of every street,
        like antelope caught in a trap,
filled with the anger of the Lord
    and the rebuke of your God.
21 Now listen to this, you afflicted one,
    made drunk, but not with wine:
22 This is what your Lord, the Lord,[d] says,
    your[e] God, who defends his people’s cause:

“See, I have taken from your hand the cup that made you stagger.[f]
    And you will never again drink to the dregs the cup that is my anger.
23 But I will put it into the hands of those who tormented and oppressed you,[g]
    those who said to you,
‘Lie down,[h] so we can step over you,’
    so that you had to make your back like the ground,
        and like a street for them to walk over.”

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 51:17 Lit. hand, the cup of
  2. Isaiah 51:17 Lit. the cup of staggering
  3. Isaiah 51:18 So 1QIsaa; MT reads no one to guide her; LXX reads no one who comforted you
  4. Isaiah 51:22 1QIsaa MT; MTms lacks Lord
  5. Isaiah 51:22 So 1QIsaa; MT reads and your
  6. Isaiah 51:22 Lit. the cup of staggering
  7. Isaiah 51:23 So 1QIsaa; MT reads tormented you; LXX reads harmed you and humiliated you
  8. Isaiah 51:23 Lit.bow down