Isaiah 51
51
Chapter 51
The Lord will bless his people
1‘Listen to me,
you people who want to do what is right.
You people who want to serve the Lord,
listen to me!
Think about the rock that you are a part of. #51:1 The ‘rock’ is like a picture of Israel's ancestor, Abraham.
Think about the ground that they dug you out from.
2You all started from your ancestor Abraham,
and his wife Sarah.
When I first spoke to Abraham,
he had no children.
But I blessed him,
so that he had many descendants.’
3Surely, the Lord will comfort Zion's people.
He will take care of the buildings
that enemies have destroyed.
Zion's land that is now a wilderness
will become like the beautiful Garden of Eden.
It will be the Lord's own garden!
People will be happy again in Zion.
They will sing with joy to thank God.
4‘Listen to me, my people.
Listen carefully, my nation.
I will tell all people about my laws.
I will cause my justice to be like a light to all nations.
5I am ready to do what is right for them.
I am ready to save them.
I will judge all the nations fairly.
Lands that are far away will wait for me to help them.
They wait for me to come and rule them all with power.
6Look up at the sky!
Look down at the earth below!
One day, the sky will disappear
like smoke that blows away.
The earth will become useless,
like old clothes.
The people who live on it will die.
They will fall like flies.
But I will keep my people safe for ever.
I will always rule with righteousness.
7Listen to me,
you people who know what is right.
You people who think carefully about my law,
listen to me.
When people speak against you,
do not be afraid.
Do not be upset,
when they insult you.
8Those people will soon disappear,
like clothes that moths have eaten,
like wool that worms have eaten.
But I will always rule with righteousness.
I will keep my people safe for ever.’
9Wake up, Lord!
Get ready to show your strength!
Do great things, as you did in past days,
when our ancestors were alive.
Remember how you cut the monster, Rahab, into pieces. #51:9 ‘Rahab’ was a monster that lived in the sea. It is a picture of the enemies of God's people. See Psalms 89:10. Here it may mean Egypt.
10You made the sea become dry,
so that there was a path through the deep water.
The slaves that you rescued
could then cross over. #51:10 This describes how God's people escaped from Egypt, where they had been slaves.
11The people that the Lord has rescued
will return from exile.
They will sing with joy
while they go into Zion city.
Their joy will be like a crown
that they wear on their heads for ever.
They will continue to be very happy.
They will never be sad or weep again.
12‘I am the Lord who comforts you.
You do not need to be afraid of people who are only human.
Remember that they will all die one day,
like grass that only lives for a short time.
13Do not forget about the Lord who made you!
I hung up the sky like a curtain.
I made the foundation of the earth.
So why are you always shaking with fear?
Do not be afraid when your enemy is angry,
and he is ready to attack you.
Your enemy's anger is useless!
14The people who have trouble and pain
will soon become free.
They will not stay in the prison of death.
They will have all the food that they need.
15Remember that I am the Lord your God.
I shake the sea so that its waves roar!
My name is the Lord Almighty.
16I have given you my message
to speak on my behalf.
I have kept you safe in my hand.
I hung up the sky like a curtain,
and I made the foundation of the earth.
I say to Zion, “You are my people.” ’
17Wake up, people in Jerusalem! Get ready!
The Lord has been angry with you,
and he has punished you.
You had to receive all of his anger,
like you were drinking strong wine from a cup.
Now that you have drunk it all,
you cannot stand up straight!
18Among all of Jerusalem's people,
there was nobody left to be your leader.
There was nobody who could take care of you.
19War and famine have destroyed you.
Both those terrible things have happened to you.
Who feels sorry for you?
Who is there to comfort you?
20Your children have become weak,
and they lie on the ground at the side of every street.
They are like deer that a trap has caught.
The anger of the Lord your God has made them helpless.
He has warned them loudly.
21So listen to this, you people who are in trouble.
You walk like drunk people,
but wine has not done that to you.
22The Lord God who is your Lord stands beside his people. He says,
‘Look! Now I have taken the cup of my punishment out of your hand.
You will no longer have to drink the strong wine of my anger
that makes you drunk.
23Instead, I will give it to your cruel enemies
to punish them.
They said to you, “Lie down on the ground,
so that we can walk over you.”
You made your backs become like the ground.
You became like a street for your enemies to walk on.’
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Isaiah 51
51
LI
1Hearken unto me, ye that follow after righteousness,
Ye that seek Jehovah:
Look unto the rock, from whence ye were hewn,
And to the hole of the pit, whence ye were digged.
2Look unto Abraham your father,
And unto Sarah, who bare you:
For I called him, being then one,
And blessed him, and multiplied him.
3For Jehovah shall comfort Zion;
He will comfort all her desolate places:
And He will make her wilderness like Eden,
And her desert like the garden of Jehovah:
Joy and gladness shall be found in her,
Thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.
4Attend unto me, my people;
And give ear unto me, O my nation:
For a law shall proceed from me,
And my judgment will I establish for a light of the people.
5My righteousness is near, my salvation is gone forth;
And mine arm shall judge the people;
The isles shall wait upon me,
And on mine arm shall they trust
6Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
And look upon the earth beneath:
For the heavens shall vanish away like smoke,
And the earth shall wax old like a garment,
And the inhabitants thereof shall die off like insects;
But my solvation shall be for ever,
And my righteousness shall not be abolished.
7Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness,
The people in whose heart is my law;
Fear ye not the reproach of men,
Neither be ye borne down by their revilings:
8For the moth shall eat them up like a garment,
And the worm shall eat them like wool:
But my righteousness shall be for ever,
And my salvation from generation to generation.
9Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of Jehovah!
Awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old.
Art thou not it that cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon?
10Art thou not it which dried the sea, the waters of the great deep?
That made the depths of the sea a path for the redeemed to pass over?
11Thus shall the ransomed of Jehovah return,
And come with singing unto Zion;
And everlasting joy shall be upon their head:
They shall obtain gladness and joy,
And sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
12I, even I, am he that comforteth you:
Who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of man that shall die,
And of the son of man, who shall be made as grass?
13And shouldest forget Jehovah thy maker,
Who hath stretched out the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth;
And shouldest fear continually, every day,
Because of the fury of the oppressor,
As if he were ready to destroy:
And where is the fury of the oppressor?
14The bound prisoner shall soon be released:
He shall not die in the pit,
Neither shall his bread fail.
15For I am Jehovah thy God,
He who setteth the sea in commotion, so that the waves thereof roar:
Jehovah of hosts is his name.
16I have put my words in thy mouth,
And with the shadow of my hand have I covered thee:
That I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth,
And say unto Zion: Thou art my people.
17Awake, awake; stand up, O Jerusalem!
Which hast drunk from the hand of Jehovah the cup of his fury:
The dregs of the cup of dizziness, hast thou drunk; thou hast wrung them out.
18There is not one to guide her of all the sons which she hath brought forth;
Neither is there one to support her by the hand, of all the sons which she hath brought up.
19These two things have befallen thee, who shall bemoan thee?
Desolation and destruction; and the famine and the sword; by whom shall I comfort thee?
20Thy sons have fainted away; they lie down at the head of all the streets,
As a stag in a net;
They are full of the fury of Jehovah, the rebuke of thy God.
21Wherefore hear now this, thou afflicted,
And drunken, but not with wine.
22Thus saith thy Lord, Jehovah,
And thy God, who pleadeth the cause of his people;
Behold! I take from thy hand the cup of dizziness,
The dregs of the cup of my fury;
Thou shalt no more drink it again.
23But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee,
Who have said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over:
And thou madest thy back as the ground,
And as the street, to them that passed over.
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Translated by Rev John Jones (Ioan Tegid).Published at Oxford in 1830, second edition 1842.