Isaiah 51
51
Jerusalem Will Be Saved
1The Lord says, “Listen to me,
those of you who try to live right and follow the Lord.
Look at the rock from which you were cut.
Look at the stone quarry from which you were dug.
2Look at Abraham, your ancestor.
Look at Sarah, who gave birth to your ancestors.
Abraham had no children when I called him.
But I blessed him and gave him many descendants.
3So the Lord will comfort Jerusalem.
He will show mercy to those who live in her ruins.
He will change her deserts into a garden like Eden.
He will make her empty lands like the garden of the Lord.
People there will be very happy.
They will give thanks and sing songs.
4“My people, listen to me.
My nation, pay attention to me.
I will give the people my teachings.
And my decisions will be like a light to all people.
5I will soon show I do what is right.
I will soon save you.
I will use my power and judge all nations.
All the faraway places are waiting for me.
They wait for my power to help them.
6Look up to the heavens.
Look around you at the earth below.
The skies will disappear like clouds of smoke.
The earth will become useless like old clothes.
Its people will die like flies.
But my salvation will continue forever.
My goodness will never end.
7“You people who know what is right should listen to me.
You people who follow my teachings should hear what I say.
Don’t be afraid of the evil things people say.
Don’t be upset by their insults.
8Moths will eat those people as if they were clothes.
Worms will eat them as if they were wool.
But my goodness will continue forever.
My salvation will continue from now on.”
9Wake up, wake up, and use your strength,
powerful Lord.
Wake up as you did in the old times.
Wake up as you did a long time ago.
With your own power, you cut Rahab into pieces.
You killed that sea monster.
10You caused the sea to become dry.
You dried the waters of the deep ocean.
You made the deepest parts of the sea into a road.
Your people crossed over on that road and were saved.
11The people the Lord has freed will return.
They will enter Jerusalem with joy.
Their happiness will last forever.
They will have joy and gladness.
All sadness and sorrow will be gone far away.
12The Lord says, “I am the one who comforts you.
So why should you be afraid of people, who die?
Why should you fear people who die like the grass?
13Have you forgotten that the Lord made you?
He stretched out the skies.
He made the earth.
Why are you always afraid
of those angry people who trouble you?
They want to destroy.
But where are those angry people now?
14People in prison will soon be set free.
They will not die in prison.
They will have enough food.
15This is because I am the Lord your God.
I stir the sea and make the waves roar.
My name is the Lord of heaven’s armies.
16I will give you the words I want you to say.
I will cover you with my hands and protect you.
I made the heavens and the earth.
And I say to Jerusalem, ‘You are my people.’”
God Punished Israel
17The Lord was very angry with you.
Your punishment was like wine in a cup.
The Lord made you drink that wine
until you stumbled.
18Jerusalem had many people.
But there was not a person to lead her.
Of all the people who grew up there,
no one was there to guide her.
19Troubles came to you in groups of two.
No one will feel sorry for you.
There was ruin and disaster, great hunger and fighting.
No one can comfort you.
20Your people have become weak.
They fall down and lie on every street corner.
They are like animals caught in a net.
They have felt the full anger of the Lord.
They have heard God’s angry shout.
21So listen to me, poor Jerusalem,
you who are drunk but not from wine.
22Your God will fight for his people.
This is what the Lord your God says:
“The punishment I gave you is like a cup of wine.
You drank it and could not walk straight.
I am taking that cup of my anger away from you.
You will never be punished by my anger again.
23I will now give that cup of punishment to those who gave you pain.
They told you,
‘Bow down so we can walk over you.’
They made your back like dirt for them to walk on.
You were like a street for them to travel on.”
Currently Selected:
Isaiah 51: ICB
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
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.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers