Isaiah 51
51
The Lord’s Saving Power for Zion Lasts Forever
1The Lord says, “Listen to me, you who want to do what is right.
Pay attention, you who look to me.
Consider the rock you were cut out of.
Think about the rock pit you were dug from.
2Consider Abraham. He is the father of your people.
Think about Sarah. She is your mother.
When I chose Abraham, he did not have any children.
But I blessed him and gave him many of them.
3You can be sure that I will comfort Zion’s people.
I will look with loving concern on all their destroyed buildings.
I will make their deserts like Eden.
I will make their dry and empty land like the garden of the Lord.
Joy and gladness will be there.
People will sing and give thanks to me.
4“Listen to me, my people.
Pay attention, my nation.
My instruction will go out to the nations.
I make everything right.
That will be a guiding light for them.
5The time for me to set you free is near.
I will soon save you.
My powerful arm will make everything right among the nations.
The islands will put their hope in me.
They will wait for my powerful arm to act.
6Look up toward the heavens.
Then look at the earth.
The heavens will vanish like smoke.
The earth will wear out like clothes.
Those who live there will die like flies.
But I will save you forever.
My saving power will never end.
7“Listen to me, you who know what is right.
Pay attention, you who have taken my instruction to heart.
Do not be afraid when mere human beings make fun of you.
Do not be terrified when they laugh at you.
8They will be like clothes that moths have eaten up.
They will be like wool that worms have chewed up.
But my saving power will last forever.
I will save you for all time to come.”
9Wake up, arm of the Lord! Wake up!
Dress yourself with strength as if it were your clothes!
Wake up, just as you did in the past.
Wake up, as you did long ago.
Didn’t you cut Rahab to pieces?
Didn’t you stab that sea monster to death?
10Didn’t you dry up the Red Sea?
Didn’t you dry up those deep waters?
You made a road on the bottom of that sea.
Then those who were set free went across.
11Those the Lord has saved will return to their land.
They will sing as they enter the city of Zion.
Joy that lasts forever will be like beautiful crowns on their heads.
They will be filled with gladness and joy.
Sorrow and sighing will be gone.
12The Lord says to his people,
“I comfort you because of who I am.
Why are you afraid of mere human beings?
They are like grass that dries up.
13How can you forget me? I made you.
I stretch out the heavens.
I lay the foundations of the earth.
Why are you terrified every day?
Is it because those who are angry with you are crushing you?
Is it because they are trying to destroy you?
Their anger can’t harm you anymore.
14You prisoners who are so afraid will soon be set free.
You will not die in your prison cells.
You will not go without food.
15I am the Lord your God.
I stir up the ocean. I make its waves roar.
My name is the Lord Who Rules Over All.
16I have put my words in your mouth.
I have kept you safe in the palm of my hand.
I set the heavens in place.
I laid the foundations of the earth.
I say to Zion, ‘You are my people.’ ”
The Cup of the Lord’s Great Anger
17Wake up, Jerusalem!
Wake up! Get up!
The Lord has handed you the cup of his great anger.
And you have drunk from it.
That cup makes people unsteady on their feet.
And you have drunk from it to the very last drop.
18Among all the children who were born to you
there was none to guide you.
Among all the children you brought up
there was none to lead you by the hand.
19Nothing but trouble has come to you.
You have been wiped out and destroyed.
And you have suffered hunger and war.
No one feels sorry for you.
No one can comfort you.
20Your children have fainted.
They lie helpless at every street corner.
They are like antelope that have been caught in a net.
They have felt the full force of the Lord’s great anger.
Jerusalem, your God had to warn them strongly.
21So listen to me, you suffering people of Jerusalem.
You have been made drunk, but not by drinking wine.
22Your Lord and King speaks.
He is your God.
He stands up for his people. He says,
“I have taken from you the cup of my great anger.
It made you unsteady on your feet.
But you will never drink
from that cup again.
23Instead, I will give it to those who made you suffer.
They said to you,
‘Fall down flat on the ground.
Then we can walk all over you.’
And that is exactly what you did.
You made your back like a street to be walked on.”
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Isaiah 51: NIrV
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Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998, 2014 by Biblica, Inc.®
Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Isaiah 51
51
Salvation for Zion
1Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness,
you who seek the Lord:
Look to the rock from which you were cut,
and to the quarry from which you were dug.
2Look to Abraham your father,
and to Sarah who gave birth to you.
When I called him, he was only one;
I blessed him and made him many.#Gn 12:1; 15:5; Dt 1:10; Is 29:22; 41:8; 63:16; Ezk 33:24
3For the Lord will comfort Zion;#Is 40:1
he will comfort all her waste places,
and he will make her wilderness like Eden,#Gn 2:8; Jl 2:3
and her desert like the garden of the Lord.#Gn 13:10
Joy and gladness will be found in her,
thanksgiving and melodious song.
4Pay attention to me, my people,
and listen to me, my nation;
for instruction will come from me,
and my justice for a light to the nations.#Is 42:6; 49:6
I will bring it about quickly.
5My righteousness is near,#Is 46:13; 54:17
my salvation appears,
and my arms will bring justice to the nations.#Is 40:10
The coasts and islands will put their hope in me,
and they will look to my strength.#51:5 Lit arm
6Look up to the heavens,
and look at the earth beneath;
for the heavens will vanish like smoke,
the earth will wear out like a garment,
and its inhabitants will die like gnats.#51:6 Or die in like manner#Ps 102:25–26; Is 34:4; Mt 24:35; Heb 1:10–12; 2Pt 3:10
But my salvation will last forever,#Is 45:17; 2Tm 2:10; Heb 5:9
and my righteousness will never be shattered.
7Listen to me, you who know righteousness,
the people in whose heart is my instruction:#Ps 37:31
do not fear disgrace by men,
and do not be shattered by their taunts.
8For moths will devour them like a garment,#Is 50:9
and worms will eat them like wool.#Is 14:11
But my righteousness will last forever,
and my salvation for all generations.
9Wake up, wake up!
Arm of the Lord, clothe yourself with strength.
Wake up as in days past,
as in generations long ago.
Wasn’t it you who hacked Rahab to pieces,#Jb 26:12; Ps 89:10; Is 30:7
who pierced the sea monster?#Ps 74:13; Is 27:1
10Wasn’t it you who dried up the sea,#Is 11:15–16; 50:2; 63:11–12
the waters of the great deep,
who made the sea-bed into a road
for the redeemed to pass over?#Ex 15:13
11And the ransomed of the Lord will return#Is 35:10
and come to Zion with singing,
crowned with unending joy.
Joy and gladness will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee.
12I — I am the one who comforts you.
Who are you that you should fear humans who die,#Ps 118:6; Is 2:22
or a son of man who is given up like grass?#Is 40:6–7; Jms 1:10–11; 1Pt 1:24
13But you have forgotten the Lord, your Maker,
who stretched out the heavens
and laid the foundations of the earth.#Is 44:24; 45:12; Am 9:6; Zch 12:1
You are in constant dread all day long
because of the fury of the oppressor,
who has set himself to destroy.
But where is the fury of the oppressor?#Is 49:26
14The prisoner#51:14 Hb obscure is soon to be set free;
he will not die and go to the Pit,
and his food will not be lacking.
15For I am the Lord your God
who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar#Ps 107:25; Jr 31:35 —
his name is the Lord of Armies.
16I have put my words in your mouth,#Is 59:21
and covered you in the shadow of my hand,#Ex 33:22; Is 49:2
in order to plant#51:16 Syr reads to stretch out the heavens,
to found the earth,
and to say to Zion, “You are my people.”
17Wake yourself, wake yourself up!
Stand up, Jerusalem,
you who have drunk the cup of his fury#Jb 21:20; Is 63:6; Jr 25:15; Mt 20:22; 26:39; Jn 18:1; Rv 14:10
from the Lord’s hand;
you who have drunk the goblet to the dregs —
the cup that causes people to stagger.
18There is no one to guide her
among all the children she has raised;
there is no one to take hold of her hand
among all the offspring she has brought up.
19These two things have happened to you:#Is 47:9
devastation and destruction,
famine and sword.
Who will grieve for you?
How can I#51:19 DSS, LXX, Syr, Vg read you? Who can comfort you?
20Your children have fainted;
they lie at the head of every street
like an antelope in a net.
They are full of the Lord’s fury,
the rebuke of your God.
21So listen to this, suffering
and drunken one — but not with wine.#Is 29:9
22This is what your Lord says —
the Lord, even your God,
who defends his people#Is 3:12–13; 49:25; Jr 50:34 —
“Look, I have removed from your hand
the cup that causes staggering;
that goblet, the cup of my fury.
You will never drink it again.
23I will put it into the hands of your tormentors,
who said to you,#Is 49:26; Jr 25:15–17,26,28; Zch 12:2
‘Lie down, so we can walk over you.’
You made your back like the ground,
and like a street for those who walk on it.
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