Isaiah 51:17–23

God Punished Israel

¹⁷Awake! Awake!

Get up, Jerusalem.

The Lord was very angry with you;

your punishment was like wine in a cup.

The Lord made you drink that wine;

you drank the whole cup until you stumbled.

¹⁸Jerusalem had many people,

but there was not one to lead her.

Of all the people who grew up there,

no one was there to guide her.

¹⁹Troubles came to you two by two,

but no one will feel sorry for you.

There was ruin and disaster, great hunger and fighting.

No one can comfort you.

²⁰Your people have become weak.

They fall down and lie on every street corner,

like animals caught in a net.

They have felt the full anger of the Lord

and have heard God’s angry shout.

²¹So listen to me, poor Jerusalem,

you who are drunk but not from wine.

²²Your God will defend his people.

This is what the Lord your God says:

“The punishment I gave you is like a cup of wine.

You drank it and could not walk straight.

But I am taking that cup of my anger away from you,

and you will never be punished by my anger again.

²³I will now give that cup of punishment to those who gave you pain,

who told you,

‘Bow down so we can walk over you.’

They made your back like dirt for them to walk on;

you were like a street for them to travel on.”