51:1 Hearken to me, ye that follow after
righteousness, and seek the Lord: look to the solid rock, which ye have
hewn, and to the hole of the pit which ye have dug.
51:2 Look to Abraam your father, and to Sarrha that bore you: for he was
alone when I called him, and blessed him, and loved him, and multiplied him.
51:3 And now I will comfort thee, O Sion: and I have comforted all her
desert places; and I will make her desert places as a garden, and her
western places as the garden of the Lord; they shall find in her gladness
and exultation, thanksgiving and the voice of praise.
51:4 Hear me, hear me, my people; and ye kings, hearken to me: for a law
shall proceed from me, and my judgment [shall be] for a light of the
nations.
51:5 My righteousness speedily draws nigh, and my salvation shall go forth
as light, and on mine arm shall the Gentiles trust: the isles shall wait for
me, and on mine arm shall they trust.
51:6 Lift up your eyes to the sky, and look on the earth beneath: for the
sky was darkened like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and
the inhabitants shall die in like manner: but my righteousness shall not
fail.
51:7 Hear me, ye that know judgment, the people in whose heart is my law:
fear not the reproach of men, and be not overcome by their contempt.
51:8 For as a garment will be devoured by time, and as wool will be devoured
by a moth, [so shall they be consumed]; but my righteousness shall be for
ever, and my salvation for all generations.
51:9 Awake, awake, O Jerusalem, and put on the strength of thine arm; awake
as in the early time, as the ancient generation.
51:10 Art thou not it that dried the sea, the water, [even] the abundance of
the deep; that made the depths of the sea a way of passage for the delivered
and redeemed?
51:11 for by [the help of] the Lord they shall return, and come to Sion with
joy and everlasting exultation, for praise and joy shall come upon their
head: pain, and grief, and groaning, have fled away.
51:12 I, [even] I, am he that comforts thee: consider who thou art, that
thou wast afraid of mortal man, and of the son of man, who are withered as
grass.
51:13 And thou hast forgotten God who made thee, who made the sky and
founded the earth; and thou wert continually afraid because of the wrath of
him that afflicted thee: for [whereas] he counseled to take thee away, yet
now where is the wrath of him that afflicted thee?
51:14 For in thy deliverance he shall not halt, nor tarry;
51:15 for I am thy God, that troubles the sea, and causes the waves thereof
to roar: the Lord of hosts is my name.
51:16 I will put my words into thy mouth, and I will shelter thee under the
shadow of mine hand, with which I fixed the sky, and founded the earth: and
[the Lord] shall say to Sion, Thou art my people.
51:17 Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, that hast drunk at the hand of
the Lord the cup of his fury: for thou hast drunk out and drained the cup of
calamity, the cup of wrath:
51:18 and there was none to comfort thee of all the children whom thou
borest; and there was none to take hold of thine hand, not even of all the
children whom thou has reared.
51:19 Wherefore these things are against thee; who shall sympathize with
thee in thy grief? downfall, and destruction, famine, and sword: who shall
comfort thee?
51:20 Thy sons are the perplexed ones, that sleep at the top of every street
as a half-boiled beet; they that are full of the anger of the Lord, caused
to faint by the Lord God.
51:21 Therefore hear, thou afflicted one, and drunken, [but] not with wine;
51:22 thus saith the Lord God that judges his people, Behold, I have taken
out of thine hand the cup of calamity, the cup of my wrath; and thou shalt
not drink it any more.
51:23 And I will give it into the hands of them that injured thee, and them
that afflicted thee; who said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may pass over:
and thou didst level thy body with the ground to them passing by without. |
51:1 Hearken to me, ye that follow after
righteousness, ye that seek the LORD: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn,
and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged.
51:2 Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I
called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him.
51:3 For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places;
and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of
the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the
voice of melody.
51:4 Hearken unto me, my people; and give ear unto me, O my nation: for a
law shall proceed from me, and I will make my judgment to rest for a light
of the people.
51:5 My righteousness is near; my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms
shall judge the people; the isles shall wait upon me, and on mine arm shall
they trust.
51:6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for
the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a
garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my
salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.
51:7 Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart
is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their
revilings.
51:8 For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat
them like wool: but my righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation
from generation to generation.
51:9 Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the
ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab,
and wounded the dragon?
51:10 Art thou not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great
deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass
over?
51:11 Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall return, and come with singing
unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain
gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.
51:12 I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou
shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which
shall be made as grass;
51:13 And forgettest the LORD thy maker, that hath stretched forth the
heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and hast feared continually
every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to
destroy? and where is the fury of the oppressor?
51:14 The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed, and that he should
not die in the pit, nor that his bread should fail.
51:15 But I am the LORD thy God, that divided the sea, whose waves roared:
The LORD of hosts is his name.
51:16 And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the
shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations
of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people.
51:17 Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of
the LORD the cup of his fury; thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup of
trembling, and wrung them out.
51:18 There is none to guide her among all the sons whom she hath brought
forth; neither is there any that taketh her by the hand of all the sons that
she hath brought up.
51:19 These two things are come unto thee; who shall be sorry for thee?
desolation, and destruction, and the famine, and the sword: by whom shall I
comfort thee?
51:20 Thy sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets, as a
wild bull in a net: they are full of the fury of the LORD, the rebuke of thy
God.
51:21 Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunken, but not with
wine:
51:22 Thus saith thy Lord the LORD, and thy God that pleadeth the cause of
his people, Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling,
even the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again:
51:23 But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee; which have
said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over: and thou hast laid thy body
as the ground, and as the street, to them that went over. |