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,

my salvationx is on the way,y

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’ ”