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®
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Isaiah 51
51
1“Listen to me, you who follow after righteousness,
you who seek Yahweh.
Look to the rock you were cut from,
and to the quarry you were dug from.
2Look 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.
3For Yahweh has comforted Zion.
He has comforted all her waste places,
and has made her wilderness like Eden,
and her desert like the garden of Yahweh.
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.
5My 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.
6Lift 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.
8For 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.”
9Awake, awake, put on strength, arm of Yahweh!
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?
10Isn’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?
11Those ransomed by Yahweh 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?
13Have you forgotten Yahweh 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?
14The captive exile will speedily be freed.
He will not die and go down into the pit.
His bread won’t fail.
15For I am Yahweh your God, who stirs up the sea
so that its waves roar.
Yahweh of Armies is his name.
16I 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.’”
17Awake, awake!
Stand up, Jerusalem,
you who have drunk from Yahweh’s hand the cup of his wrath.
You have drunken the bowl of the cup of staggering,
and drained it.
18There 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.
19These two things have happened to you—
who will grieve with you?—
desolation and destruction,
and famine and the sword.
How can I comfort you?
20Your sons have fainted.
They lie at the head of all the streets,
like an antelope in a net.
They are full of Yahweh’s wrath,
the rebuke of your God.
21Therefore now hear this, you afflicted,
and drunken, but not with wine:
22Your Lord Yahweh,
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.
23I 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.”
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