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
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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