Isaiah 51:1–52:15
1 “aListen to me, you who bpursue righteousness,
Who seek the Lord:
Look to the crock from which you were hewn
And to the 1quarry from which you were dug.
2 “Look to aAbraham your father
And to Sarah who gave birth to you in pain;
When he bwas but one I called him,
Then I blessed him and multiplied him.”
3 Indeed, athe Lord will comfort Zion;
He will comfort all her bwaste places.
And her cwilderness He will make like dEden,
And her desert like the egarden of the Lord;
fJoy and gladness will be found in her,
Thanksgiving and sound of a melody.
4 “aPay attention to Me, O My people,
And give ear to Me, O My 1nation;
For a blaw will go forth from Me,
And I will 2set My cjustice for a dlight of the peoples.
5 “My arighteousness is near, My salvation has gone forth,
And My barms will judge the peoples;
The ccoastlands will wait for Me,
And for My darm they will wait expectantly.
6 “aLift up your eyes to the sky,
Then look to the earth beneath;
For the bsky will vanish like smoke,
And the bearth will wear out like a garment
And its inhabitants will die 1in like manner;
But My csalvation will be forever,
And My righteousness will not 2wane.
7 “aListen to Me, you who know righteousness,
A people in whose bheart is My law;
Do not fear the creproach of man,
Nor be dismayed at their revilings.
8 “For the amoth will eat them like a garment,
And the bgrub will eat them like wool.
But My crighteousness will be forever,
And My salvation to all generations.”
9 aAwake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord;
Awake as in the bdays of old, the generations of long ago.
cWas it not You who cut Rahab in pieces,
Who pierced the ddragon?
10 Was it not You who adried up the sea,
The waters of the great deep;
Who made the depths of the sea a pathway
For the bredeemed to cross over?
11 So the aransomed of the Lord will return
And come with joyful shouting to Zion,
And beverlasting joy will be on their heads.
They will obtain gladness and joy,
And csorrow and sighing will flee away.
12 “I, even I, am He who acomforts you.
Who are you that you are afraid of bman who dies
And of the son of man who is made clike grass,
13 That you have aforgotten the Lord your Maker,
Who bstretched out the heavens
And laid the foundations of the earth,
That you cfear continually all day long because of the fury of the oppressor,
As he makes ready to destroy?
But where is the fury of the doppressor?
14 “The 1aexile will soon be set free, and will not die in the dungeon, bnor will his bread be lacking.
15 “For I am the Lord your God, who astirs up the sea and its waves roar (the Lord of hosts is His name).
16 “I have aput My words in your mouth and have bcovered you with the shadow of My hand, to 1cestablish the heavens, to found the earth, and to say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’ ”
17 aRouse yourself! Rouse yourself! Arise, O Jerusalem,
You who have bdrunk from the Lord’s hand the cup of His anger;
The 1chalice of reeling you have 2drained to the dregs.
18 There is anone to guide her among all the sons she has borne,
Nor is there one to take her by the hand among all the sons she has reared.
19 These two things have befallen you;
Who will mourn for you?
The adevastation and destruction, famine and sword;
How shall I comfort you?
They alie helpless at the head of every street,
Like an bantelope in a net,
Full of the wrath of the Lord,
The crebuke of your God.
21 Therefore, please hear this, you aafflicted,
Who are bdrunk, but not with wine:
22 Thus says your Lord, the Lord, even your God
Who acontends for His people,
“Behold, I have taken out of your hand the bcup of reeling,
The 1chalice of My anger;
You will never drink it again.
23 “I will aput it into the hand of your tormentors,
Who have said to 1you, ‘bLie down that we may walk over you.’
You have even made your back like the ground
And like the street for those who walk over it.”
1 aAwake, awake,
Clothe yourself in your strength, O Zion;
Clothe yourself in your bbeautiful garments,
O Jerusalem, the choly city;
For the uncircumcised and the dunclean
Will no longer come into you.
2 Shake yourself afrom the dust, brise up,
O captive Jerusalem;
cLoose yourself from the chains around your neck,
O captive daughter of Zion.
3 For thus says the Lord, “You were asold for nothing and you will be bredeemed cwithout money.”
4 For thus says the Lord 1God, “My people awent down at the first into Egypt to reside there; then the Assyrian oppressed them without cause.
5 “Now therefore, what do I have here,” declares the Lord, “seeing that My people have been taken away without cause?” Again the Lord declares, “Those who rule over them howl, and My aname is continually blasphemed all day long.
6 “Therefore My people shall aknow My name; therefore in that day I am the one who is speaking, ‘Here I am.’ ”
Are the feet of him who brings agood news,
Who announces 1peace
And brings good news of 2happiness,
Who announces salvation,
And says to Zion, “Your bGod 3reigns!”
8 Listen! Your watchmen lift up their avoices,
They shout joyfully together;
For they will see 1with their own eyes
When the Lord restores Zion.
9 aBreak forth, shout joyfully together,
You bwaste places of Jerusalem;
For the Lord has comforted His people,
He has credeemed Jerusalem.
10 The Lord has bared His holy aarm
In the sight of all the nations,
1That ball the ends of the earth may see
The salvation of our God.
11 aDepart, depart, go out from there,
bTouch nothing unclean;
Go out of the midst of her, cpurify yourselves,
You who carry the vessels of the Lord.
12 But you will not go out in ahaste,
Nor will you go 1as fugitives;
For the bLord will go before you,
And cthe God of Israel will be your rear guard.
13 Behold, My aservant will prosper,
He will be high and lifted up and 1greatly bexalted.
14 Just as many were astonished at you, My people,
So His aappearance was marred more than any man
And His form more than the sons of men.
15 Thus He will asprinkle many nations,
Kings will bshut their mouths on account of Him;
For cwhat had not been told them they will see,
And what they had not heard they will understand.