Isaiah 51:1–54:17
Everlasting Salvation for Zion
51 “Listenf to me, you who pursue righteousnessg
and who seekh the Lord:
Look to the rocki from which you were cut
and to the quarry from which you were hewn;
2 look to Abraham,j your father,
and to Sarah, who gave you birth.
When I called him he was only one man,
and I blessed him and made him many.k
3 The Lord will surely comfortl Zionm
and will look with compassion on all her ruins;n
he will make her deserts like Eden,o
her wastelandsp like the garden of the Lord.
Joy and gladnessq will be found in her,
thanksgivingr and the sound of singing.
4 “Listen to me, my people;s
hear me,t my nation:
Instructionu will go out from me;
my justicev will become a light to the nations.w
5 My righteousness draws near speedily,
and my armz will bring justice to the nations.
The islandsa will look to me
and wait in hopeb for my arm.
6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
look at the earth beneath;
the heavens will vanish like smoke,c
the earth will wear out like a garmentd
and its inhabitants die like flies.
But my salvatione will last forever,f
my righteousness will never fail.g
7 “Hear me, you who know what is right,h
you people who have taken my instruction to heart:i
Do not fear the reproach of mere mortals
or be terrified by their insults.j
8 For the moth will eat them up like a garment;k
the worml will devour them like wool.
But my righteousness will last forever,m
my salvation through all generations.”
9 Awake, awake,n armo of the Lord,
clothe yourself with strength!p
Awake, as in days gone by,
as in generations of old.q
Was it not you who cut Rahabr to pieces,
who pierced that monsters through?
10 Was it not you who dried up the sea,t
the waters of the great deep,u
who made a road in the depths of the seav
so that the redeemedw might cross over?
11 Those the Lord has rescuedx will return.
They will enter Zion with singing;y
everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joyz will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee away.a
12 “I, even I, am he who comfortsb you.
Who are you that you fearc mere mortals,d
human beings who are but grass,e
13 that you forgetf the Lord your Maker,g
who stretches out the heavensh
and who lays the foundations of the earth,
that you live in constant terrori every day
because of the wrath of the oppressor,
who is bent on destruction?
For where is the wrath of the oppressor?j
14 The cowering prisoners will soon be set free;k
they will not die in their dungeon,
nor will they lack bread.l
15 For I am the Lord your God,
who stirs up the seam so that its waves roarn—
the Lord Almightyo is his name.
16 I have put my words in your mouthp
and covered you with the shadow of my handq—
I who set the heavens in place,
who laid the foundations of the earth,r
and who say to Zion, ‘You are my people.s’ ”
17 Awake, awake!t
Rise up, Jerusalem,
you who have drunk from the hand of the Lord
you who have drained to its dregsw
the goblet that makes people stagger.x
18 Among all the childreny she bore
there was none to guide her;z
among all the children she reared
there was none to take her by the hand.a
19 These double calamitiesb have come upon you—
who can comfort you?c—
ruin and destruction,d faminee and swordf—
who cana console you?
20 Your children have fainted;
they lie at every street corner,g
like antelope caught in a net.h
They are filled with the wrathi of the Lord,
with the rebukej of your God.
21 Therefore hear this, you afflictedk one,
made drunk,l but not with wine.
22 This is what your Sovereign Lord says,
your God, who defendsm his people:
“See, I have taken out of your hand
the cupn that made you stagger;
from that cup, the goblet of my wrath,
you will never drink again.
23 I will put it into the hands of your tormentors,o
who said to you,
‘Fall prostratep that we may walkq on you.’
And you made your back like the ground,
like a street to be walked on.”r
52 Awake, awake,s Zion,
clothe yourself with strength!t
Put on your garments of splendor,u
Jerusalem, the holy city.v
The uncircumcisedw and defiledx
will not enter you again.y
2 Shake off your dust;z
rise up,a sit enthroned, Jerusalem.
Free yourself from the chains on your neck,b
Daughter Zion,c now a captive.
3 For this is what the Lord says:
“You were sold for nothing,d
and without moneye you will be redeemed.f”
4 For this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“At first my people went down to Egyptg to live;
lately, Assyriah has oppressed them.
5 “And now what do I have here?” declares the Lord.
“For my people have been taken away for nothing,
and those who rule them mock,a”
declares the Lord.
“And all day long
my name is constantly blasphemed.i
6 Therefore my people will knowj my name;k
therefore in that dayl they will know
that it is I who foretoldm it.
Yes, it is I.”
7 How beautiful on the mountainsn
are the feet of those who bring good news,o
who proclaim peace,p
who bring good tidings,
who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion,
“Your God reigns!”q
8 Listen! Your watchmenr lift up their voices;s
together they shout for joy.t
When the Lord returnsu to Zion,v
they will see it with their own eyes.
9 Burst into songs of joyw together,
you ruinsx of Jerusalem,
for the Lord has comfortedy his people,
he has redeemed Jerusalem.z
10 The Lord will lay bare his holy arma
in the sight of all the nations,b
and all the ends of the earthc will see
the salvationd of our God.
11 Depart,e depart, go out from there!
Touch no unclean thing!f
Come out from it and be pure,g
you who carry the articlesh of the Lord’s house.
12 But you will not leave in hastei
or go in flight;
for the Lord will go before you,j
the God of Israel will be your rear guard.k
The Suffering and Glory of the Servant
13 See, my servantl will act wiselyb;
he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.m
14 Just as there were many who were appalledn at himc—
his appearance was so disfiguredo beyond that of any human being
and his form marred beyond human likenessp—
15 so he will sprinkleq many nations,d
and kingsr will shut their mouthss because of him.
For what they were not told, they will see,
and what they have not heard, they will understand.t
53 Who has believed our messageu
and to whom has the armv of the Lord been revealed?w
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,x
and like a rooty out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearancez that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering,a and familiar with pain.b
Like one from whom people hidec their faces
he was despised,d and we held him in low esteem.
and bore our suffering,e
yet we considered him punished by God,f
stricken by him, and afflicted.g
5 But he was piercedh for our transgressions,i
he was crushedj for our iniquities;
the punishmentk that brought us peacel was on him,
and by his woundsm we are healed.n
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,o
each of us has turned to our own way;p
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquityq of us all.
7 He was oppressedr and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;s
he was led like a lambt to the slaughter,u
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
8 By oppressiona and judgmentv he was taken away.
Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;w
for the transgressionx of my people he was punished.b
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,y
and with the richz in his death,
though he had done no violence,a
nor was any deceit in his mouth.b
10 Yet it was the Lord’s willc to crushd him and cause him to suffer,e
and though the Lord makesc his life an offering for sin,f
he will see his offspringg and prolong his days,
and the will of the Lord will prosperh in his hand.
11 After he has suffered,i
he will see the lightj of lifed and be satisfiede;
by his knowledgef my righteous servantk will justifyl many,
and he will bear their iniquities.m
12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,g n
and he will divide the spoilso with the strong,h
because he poured out his life unto death,p
and was numbered with the transgressors.q
For he borer the sin of many,s
and made intercessiont for the transgressors.
54 “Sing, barren woman,u
you who never bore a child;
burst into song, shout for joy,v
you who were never in labor;w
because more are the childrenx of the desolatey woman
than of her who has a husband,z”
says the Lord.
2 “Enlarge the place of your tent,a
stretch your tent curtains wide,
do not hold back;
lengthen your cords,
strengthen your stakes.b
3 For you will spread out to the right and to the left;
your descendantsc will dispossess nationsd
and settle in their desolatee cities.
4 “Do not be afraid;f you will not be put to shame.g
Do not fear disgrace;h you will not be humiliated.
You will forget the shame of your youthi
and remember no more the reproachj of your widowhood.k
5 For your Makerl is your husbandm—
the Lord Almighty is his name—
the Holy Onen of Israel is your Redeemer;o
he is called the God of all the earth.p
6 The Lord will call you backq
as if you were a wife desertedr and distressed in spirit—
a wife who married young,s
only to be rejected,” says your God.
7 “For a brief momentt I abandonedu you,
but with deep compassionv I will bring you back.w
8 In a surge of angerx
I hidy my face from you for a moment,
but with everlasting kindnessz
I will have compassiona on you,”
says the Lord your Redeemer.b
9 “To me this is like the days of Noah,
when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth.c
So now I have swornd not to be angrye with you,
never to rebukef you again.
10 Though the mountains be shakeng
and the hills be removed,
yet my unfailing loveh for you will not be shakeni
nor my covenantj of peacek be removed,”
says the Lord, who has compassionl on you.
11 “Afflictedm city, lashed by stormsn and not comforted,o
I will rebuild