Isaiah 51

Listen to Me, You Who Pursue Righteousness

1“Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness,
you who seek the LORD.
Look to the rock from which you were cut
and the quarry from which you were dug. 2Look to Abraham your father
and to Sarah who gave you birth.
He was only one when I called him,
but I blessed him and made him many. 3For the LORD has comforted Zion,
comforted all her ruins.
He will make her wilderness like Eden,
her desert like the LORD’s garden.
Joy and gladness will be found in her,
thanksgiving and the sound of song. 4Pay attention to me, my people;
my nation, listen to me.
Instruction will go out from me,
and I will establish my justice as a light for peoples.

5My righteousness is near;
my salvation has gone out.
My arms will judge the peoples.
The coastlands wait for me;
they put their hope in my arm. 6Lift your eyes to the heavens;
look at the earth below.
The heavens will dissolve like smoke,
the earth wear out like a garment,
and its inhabitants die in the same way.
But my salvation will last forever;
my righteousness will never fail. 7Listen to me, you who know righteousness,
people with my instruction in your hearts.
Do not fear human insults
or be shattered by their taunts. 8For moths will eat them like a garment,
and grubs will eat them like wool.
But my righteousness will last forever,
and my salvation through every generation.”

9Awake, awake! Clothe yourself in strength,
arm of the LORD!
Awake as in days long past,
generations of old.
Was it not you who cut Rahab apart
and pierced the sea monster? 10Was it not you who dried up the sea,
the waters of the great deep,
and made the sea’s depths a road
for the redeemed to cross? 11Those ransomed by the LORD will return
and come to Zion with singing,
everlasting joy upon their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them;
sorrow and sighing will flee. 12“I, I am the one who comforts you.
Who are you to fear a mortal who dies,
a human being who becomes grass,

13and forget the LORD, your Maker,
who stretched out the heavens and founded the earth?
All day long you tremble
before the oppressor’s fury
as he prepares to destroy.
But where is the oppressor’s fury now? 14The one bent down in chains will soon be freed;
he will not die in the pit
nor run short of bread. 15I am the LORD your God,
who stirs the sea so its waves roar;
the LORD of hosts is his name. 16I have put my words in your mouth
and covered you in the shadow of my hand,
to plant the heavens, to found the earth,
and to say to Zion, ‘You are my people.’”

17Rouse yourself, rouse yourself!
Stand up, Jerusalem,
you who drank from the LORD’s hand
the cup of his fury.
You drank the cup that makes people stagger
and drained its bowl. 18Of all the children she bore,
not one guides her;
of all the children she raised,
not one takes her hand. 19These two calamities have met you—
who will mourn with you?—
devastation and destruction, famine and sword.
How can I comfort you? 20Your children faint;
they lie at every street corner
like antelope caught in a net,
filled with the LORD’s fury,
your God’s rebuke.

21So hear this, afflicted one,
drunk, but not with wine. 22This is what your Lord, the LORD, says,
your God who argues his people’s case:
“Look, I have taken from your hand
the cup that makes people stagger,
the bowl of my fury.
You will never drink from it again. 23I will put it into the hands of your tormentors,
who told you, ‘Lie face down so we can walk over you.’
You made your back like the ground,
like a street for them to walk on.”