Isaiah 51
51
The LORD will bring comfort
1If you want to do right
and obey the LORD,
follow Abraham's example.
He was the rock from which
you were chipped.
2God chose Abraham and Sarah
to be your ancestors.
The LORD blessed Abraham,
and from that one man
came many descendants.
3Though Zion is in ruins,
the LORD will bring comfort,
and the city will be as lovely
as the garden of Eden
that he provided.
Then Zion will celebrate;
it will be thankful
and sing joyful songs.
The LORD's victory will last
4The LORD says:
You are my people and nation!
So pay attention to me.
My teaching will cause justice
to shine like a light
for every nation.
5Those who live across the sea
are eagerly waiting
for me to rescue them.
I am strong and ready;
soon I will come to save
and to rule all nations.
6Look closely at the sky!
Stare at the earth.
The sky will vanish like smoke;
the earth will wear out
like clothes.
Everyone on this earth
will die like flies.
But my victory will last;
my saving power never ends.
7If you want to do right
and to obey my teaching
with all your heart,
then pay close attention.
Don't be discouraged
when others insult you
and say hurtful things.
8They will be eaten away
like a moth-eaten coat.
But my victory will last;
my saving power
will never end.
A prayer for the LORD's help
9Wake up! Do something, LORD.
Be strong and ready.
Wake up! Do what you did
for our people long ago.
Didn't you chop up
Rahab#51.9 Rahab: This may refer to Egypt at the time of the exodus. the monster?
10Didn't you dry up the deep sea
and make a road for your people
to follow safely across?
11Now those you have rescued
will return to Jerusalem,
singing on their way.
They will be crowned
with great happiness,
never again to be burdened
with sadness and sorrow.
The LORD gives hope
12I am the LORD, the one
who encourages you.
Why are you afraid
of mere humans?
They dry up and die like grass.
13I spread out the heavens
and laid foundations
for the earth.
But you have forgotten me,
your LORD and Creator.
All day long you were afraid
of those who were angry
and hoped to abuse you.
Where are they now?
14Everyone crying out in pain
will be quickly set free;
they will be rescued
from the power of death
and never go hungry.
15I will help them
because I am your God,
the LORD All-Powerful,
who makes the ocean roar.
16I have told you what to say,
and I will keep you safe
in the palm of my hand.
I spread out the heavens
and laid foundations
for the earth.
Now I say, “Jerusalem,
your people are mine.”
A warning to Jerusalem
17Jerusalem, wake up! Stand up!#Rev 14.10; 16.19.
You've drunk too much
from the cup filled
with the LORD's anger.
You have swallowed every drop,
and you can't walk straight.
18Not one of your many children
is there to guide you
or to offer a helping hand.
19You have been destroyed
by war and by famine;
I cannot comfort you.#51.19 I…you: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
20The LORD your God is angry,
and on every street corner
your children lie helpless,
like deer trapped in nets.
21You are in trouble and drunk,
but not from wine.
So pay close attention
22to the LORD your God,
who defends you and says,
“I have taken from your hands
the cup filled with my anger
that made you drunk.
You will never be forced
to drink it again.
23Instead I will give it
to your brutal enemies,
who treated you like dirt
and walked all over you.”
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Isaiah 51: CEVUK
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© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012
Isaiah 51
51
1“Hearken to me, you who pursue deliverance,
you who seek the Lord;
look to the rock from which you were hewn,
and to the quarry from which you were digged.
2Look to Abraham your father
and to Sarah who bore you;
for when he was but one I called him,
and I blessed him and made him many.
3For the Lord will comfort Zion;
he will comfort all her waste places,
and will make her wilderness like Eden,
her desert like the garden of the Lord;
joy and gladness will be found in her,
thanksgiving and the voice of song.
4“Listen to me, my people,
and give ear to me, my nation;
for a law will go forth from me,
and my justice for a light to the peoples.
5My deliverance draws near speedily,
my salvation has gone forth,
and my arms will rule the peoples;
the coastlands wait for me,
and for my arm they hope.
6 #
Heb 1.11. Lift up your eyes 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 they who dwell in it will die like gnats;#51.6 Or in like manner
but my salvation will be for ever,
and my deliverance will never be ended.
7“Hearken to me, you who know righteousness,
the people in whose heart is my law;
fear not the reproach of men,
and be not dismayed at their revilings.
8For the moth will eat them up like a garment,
and the worm will eat them like wool;
but my deliverance will be for ever,
and my salvation to all generations.”
9Awake, awake, put on strength,
O arm of the Lord;
awake, as in days of old,
the generations of long ago.
Was it not thou that didst cut Rahab in pieces,
that didst pierce the dragon?
10Was it not thou that didst dry up the sea,
the waters of the great deep;
that didst make the depths of the sea a way
for the redeemed to pass over?
11And the ransomed of the Lord shall return,
and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
they shall obtain joy and gladness,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
12“I, I am he that comforts you;
who are you that you are afraid of man who dies,
of the son of man who is made like grass,
13and have forgotten the Lord, your Maker,
who stretched out the heavens
and laid the foundations of the earth,
and fear continually all the day
because of the fury of the oppressor,
when he sets himself to destroy?
And where is the fury of the oppressor?
14He who is bowed down shall speedily be released;
he shall not die and go down to the Pit,
neither shall his bread fail.
15For I am the Lord your God,
who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—
the Lord of hosts is his name.
16And I have put my words in your mouth,
and hid you in the shadow of my hand,
stretching out#51.16 Syr: Heb plant the heavens
and laying the foundations of the earth,
and saying to Zion, ‘You are my people.’ ”
17Rouse yourself, rouse yourself,
stand up, O Jerusalem,
you who have drunk at the hand of the Lord
the cup of his wrath,
who have drunk to the dregs
the bowl of staggering.
18There is none to guide her
among all the sons she has borne;
there is none to take her by the hand
among all the sons she has brought up.
19These two things have befallen you—
who will condole with you?—
devastation and destruction, famine and sword;
who will comfort you?#51.19 One ancient Ms Gk Syr Vg: Heb how may I comfort you
20Your sons have fainted,
they lie at the head of every street
like an antelope in a net;
they are full of the wrath of the Lord,
the rebuke of your God.
21Therefore hear this, you who are afflicted,
who are drunk, but not with wine:
22Thus says your Lord, the Lord,
your God who pleads the cause of his people:
“Behold, I have taken from your hand
the cup of staggering;
the bowl of my wrath
you shall drink no more;
23and I will put it into the hand of your tormentors,
who have said to you,
‘Bow down, that we may pass over’;
and you have made your back like the ground
and like the street for them to pass over.”
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Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America