51
1 “Listen
to me, you
who follow after
righteousness,
you who seek
the LORD.
Look to the
rock you were
cut from,
and to the
quarry you were
dug from.
2 Look
to Abraham your father,
and to Sarah
who bore you;
for when he
was but one
I called him,
I blessed him,
and made him
many.
3 For
the LORD has
comforted Zion.
He has comforted
all her waste
places,
and has made
her wilderness
like Eden,
and her desert
like the garden
of the LORD.
Joy and gladness
will be found
in them,
thanksgiving, and
the voice of
melody.
4 “Listen
to me, my
people;
and hear me,
my nation,
for a law
will go out
from me,
and I
will establish my
justice for a light
to the peoples.
5 My
righteousness is
near.
My salvation has
gone out,
and my arms
will judge the
peoples.
The islands will
wait for me,
and they will
trust my arm.
6 Lift
up your eyes
to the heavens,
and look at
the earth beneath;
for the heavens
will vanish away
like smoke,
and the earth
will wear out
like a garment.
Its inhabitants
will die in
the same way,
but my salvation
will be forever,
and my
righteousness will
not be abolished.
7 “Listen
to me, you
who know
righteousness,
the people in
whose heart is
my law.
Don’t fear the
reproach of men,
and don’t be
dismayed at their
insults.
8 For
the moth will eat
them up like
a garment,
and the worm
will eat them like
wool;
but my
righteousness will
be forever,
and my salvation
to all
generations.”
9 Awake,
awake, put on
strength, arm of
the LORD!
Awake, as in
the days of
old,
the generations
of ancient times.
Isn’t it you who
cut Rahab in
pieces,
who pierced the
monster?
10 Isn’t it
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 Those
ransomed by the
LORD will return,
and come with
singing to Zion.
Everlasting joy
shall be on
their heads.
They will obtain
gladness and joy.
Sorrow and sighing
shall flee away.
12 “I, even
I, am he
who comforts you.
Who are you,
that you are
afraid of man
who shall die,
and of the
son of man
who will be
made as grass?
13 Have
you forgotten the
LORD your Maker,
who stretched out
the heavens,
and laid the
foundations of the
earth?
Do you live
in fear
continually all
day because of
the fury of
the oppressor,
when he prepares
to destroy?
Where is the fury
of the oppressor?
14 The captive
exile will
speedily be freed.
He will not
die and go
down into the pit.
His bread won’t
fail.
15 For
I am the
LORD your God,
who stirs up
the sea
so that its waves
roar.
the LORD of
Armies is his
name.
16 I
have put my
words in your
mouth
and have covered
you in the
shadow of my
hand,
that I may
plant the heavens,
and lay the
foundations of the
earth,
and tell Zion, ‘You
are my people.’ ”
17 Awake,
awake!
Stand up,
Jerusalem,
you who have
drunk from the
LORD’s hand the
cup of his
wrath.
You have drunken
the bowl of the
cup of staggering,
and drained it.
18 There
is no one
to guide her among
all the sons
to whom she has
given birth;
and there is
no one who
takes her by
the hand among all
the sons whom she
has brought up.
19 These
two things have
happened to you—
who will grieve
with you?—
desolation and
destruction,
and famine and
the sword.
How can I
comfort you?
20 Your
sons have fainted.
They lie at
the head of
all the streets,
like an antelope
in a net.
They are full
of the LORD’s
wrath,
the rebuke of
your God.
21 Therefore
now hear this,
you afflicted,
and drunken, but
not with wine:
22 Your
Lord GOD,
your God who
pleads the cause
of his people,
says,
“Behold, I have
taken out of
your hand the
cup of staggering,
even the bowl of
the cup of
my wrath.
You will not
drink it any
more.
23 I
will put it
into the hand
of those who
afflict you,
who have said to
your soul, ‘Bow
down, that we
may walk over
you;’
and you have
laid your back
as the ground,
like a street
to those who
walk over.”