There is Hope for the Future

51:1 “Listen to me, you who pursue godliness,1

who seek the Lord!

Look at the rock from which you were chiseled,

at the quarry2 from which you were dug!3

51:2 Look at Abraham, your father,

and Sarah, who gave you birth.4

When I summoned him, he was a lone individual,5

but I blessed him6 and gave him numerous descendants.7

51:3 Certainly the Lord will console Zion;

he will console all her ruins.

He will make her wilderness like Eden,

her desert like the Garden of the Lord.

Happiness and joy will be restored to8 her,

thanksgiving and the sound of music.

51:4 Pay attention to me, my people!

Listen to me, my people!

For9 I will issue a decree,10

I will make my justice a light to the nations.11

51:5 I am ready to vindicate,12

I am ready to deliver,13

I will establish justice among the nations.14

The coastlands15 wait patiently for me;

they wait in anticipation for the revelation of my power.16

51:6 Look up at the sky!

Look at the earth below!

For the sky will dissipate17 like smoke,

and the earth will wear out like clothes;

its residents will die like gnats.

But the deliverance I give18 is permanent;

the vindication I provide19 will not disappear.20

51:7 Listen to me, you who know what is right,

you people who are aware of my law!21

Don’t be afraid of the insults of men;

don’t be discouraged because of their abuse!

51:8 For a moth will eat away at them like clothes;

a clothes moth will devour them like wool.

But the vindication I provide22 will be permanent;

the deliverance I give will last.”

51:9 Wake up! Wake up!

Clothe yourself with strength, O arm of the Lord!23

Wake up as in former times, as in antiquity!

Did you not smash24 the Proud One?25

Did you not26 wound the sea monster?27

51:10 Did you not dry up the sea,

the waters of the great deep?

Did you not make28 a path through the depths of the sea,

so those delivered from bondage29 could cross over?

51:11 Those whom the Lord has ransomed will return;

they will enter Zion with a happy shout.

Unending joy will crown them,30

happiness and joy will overwhelm31 them;

grief and suffering will disappear.32

51:12 “I, I am the one who consoles you.33

Why are you afraid of mortal men,

of mere human beings who are as short-lived as grass?34

51:13 Why do you forget35 the Lord, who made you,

who stretched out the sky36

and founded the earth?

Why do you constantly tremble all day long37

at the anger of the oppressor,

when he makes plans to destroy?

Where is the anger of the oppressor?38

51:14 The one who suffers39 will soon be released;

he will not die in prison,40

he will not go hungry.41

51:15 I am the Lord your God,

who churns up the sea so that its waves surge.

The Lord who commands armies is his name!