The Lord Comforts Zion

51 “Listen to Me, ayou who 1follow after righteousness,

You who seek the Lord:

Look to the rock from which you were hewn,

And to the hole of the pit from which you were dug.

2 bLook to Abraham your father,

And to Sarah who bore you;

cFor I called him alone,

And dblessed him and increased him.”

3 For the Lord will ecomfort Zion,

He will comfort all her waste places;

He will make her wilderness like Eden,

And her desert flike the garden of the Lord;

Joy and gladness will be found in it,

Thanksgiving and the voice of melody.

4 “Listen to Me, My people;

And give ear to Me, O My nation:

gFor law will proceed from Me,

And I will make My justice rest

hAs a light of the peoples.

5 iMy righteousness is near,

My salvation has gone forth,

jAnd My arms will judge the peoples;

kThe coastlands will wait upon Me,

And lon My arm they will trust.

6 mLift up your eyes to the heavens,

And look on the earth beneath.

For nthe heavens will vanish away like smoke,

oThe earth will grow old like a garment,

And those who dwell in it will die in like manner;

But My salvation will be pforever,

And My righteousness will not be 2abolished.

7 “Listen to Me, you who know righteousness,

You people qin whose heart is My law:

rDo not fear the reproach of men,

Nor be afraid of their insults.

8 For sthe 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 from generation to generation.”

9 tAwake, awake, uput on strength,

O arm of the Lord!

Awake vas in the ancient days,

In the generations of old.

wAre You not the arm that cut xRahab apart,

And wounded the yserpent?

10 Are You not the One who zdried up the sea,

The waters of the great deep;

That made the depths of the sea a road

For the redeemed to cross over?

11 So athe ransomed of the Lord shall return,

And come to Zion with singing,

With everlasting joy on their heads.

They shall obtain joy and gladness;

Sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

12 “I, even I, am He bwho comforts you.

Who are you that you should be afraid

cOf a man who will die,

And of the son of a man who will be made dlike grass?

13 And eyou forget the Lord your Maker,

fWho stretched out the heavens

And laid the foundations of the earth;

You have feared continually every day

Because of the fury of the oppressor,

When he has prepared to destroy.

gAnd where is the fury of the oppressor?

14 The captive exile hastens, that he may be loosed,

hThat he should not die in the pit,

And that his bread should not fail.

15 But I am the Lord your God,

Who idivided the sea whose waves roared—

The Lord of hosts is His name.

16 And jI have put My words in your mouth;

kI have covered you with the shadow of My hand,

lThat I may 3plant the heavens,

Lay the foundations of the earth,

And say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’ ”