Isaiah, 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.

1. Listen to me, you who pursue justice, you who go in search of Yahweh. Look to the rock from which you were hewn, to the pit from which you were quarried.

2. Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah [that] bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him.

2. Look to Abraham, your father, and to Sarah, who gave you birth. He was alone when I called him; but I blessed and increased him.

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.

3. Truly Yahweh's compassion is for Zion, his mercy is upon all her ruins. He will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like Yahweh's garden. In her will be found joy and rejoicing, melody and song of praise and thanks-giving.

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.

4. Listen to me, you peoples, hear me, O nations. I am to give you my law, my justice will be a light to the nations.

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.

5. Suddenly my justice will appear, my salvation is on the way, and my arm will impose my rule. The islands also wait in hope for me, trusting in my arm.

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.

6. Lift up your eyes to the heavens and look upon the earth beneath. Like smoke, the heavens will vanish, and the earth wear out like a garment; its inhabitants will fall like flies. But my salvation will last forever, my justice will never fail.

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.

7. Hear me, you who know righteousness, you who have my law in your hearts: do not fear the reproach of men or be terrified by their mocking.

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.

8. For they will be like garments eaten by moths, like wool consumed by grubs. But my justice will last forever and my salvation for all generations.

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?

9. Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of Yahweh! Awake as in ancient days, in times of generations long ago. Was it not you who split Rahab in two and pierced the dragon through?

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?

10. Was it not you who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, to make a way on the seabed for the redeemed to pass over?

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.

11. The redeemed of Yahweh will return and come to Zion singing with joy, crowned with everlasting gladness, while sorrow and mourning flee away.

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;

12. I, yes I, am your comforter. How then can you be afraid of man who dies, of the son of man who fades like grass?

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?

13. Are you forgetting Yahweh who made you, who stretched forth the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth? Why live every day in constant fear of the fury of the oppressor, when he sets out to destroy you? And where is the fury of the oppressor?

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.

14. The captive exiles will soon be free; they will not die in a deep prison, nor will they want for food.

15. But I [am] the LORD thy God, that divided the sea, whose waves roared: The LORD of hosts [is] his name.

15. I am Yahweh, your God, the one who stirs the sea, making its waves roar. My name is Yahweh Sabaoth.

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.

16. I have put my words in your mouth as I stretched out the heavens; When I laid the foundations of the earth, I said to Zion: "You are my people, and I have shielded you in the shadow of my hand."

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.

17. Awake, awake! Arise, O Jerusalem, you who drank at the hand of Yahweh the cup of his fury, the cup which made you tremble, that you drank to the last drop!

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.

18. Among all the sons she bore, she has no one to guide her; among all the sons she reared, she has no one to take her by the hand.

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?

19. These double calamities have befallen you - ruin and destruction, famine and sword. Who is there to console you?

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.

20. Your sons were found helpless at the corner of every street, like wild bulls in a net. They had drunk to the full the fury of Yahweh, the wrath of your God.

21. Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunken, but not with wine:

21. Therefore hear this now, you afflicted one, you who are drunk but not with wine.

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:

22. Thus says your Lord Yahweh, your God, defender of your people's cause: See, I am taking out of your hand the cup of trembling; the cup of my anger - you will drink of it no more.

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.

23. But I will put it into the hands of your tormentors, those who ordered you to bow down, that they might trample on you, while you laid your body as a pavement, as a street for them to walk on.