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 * .
2. Look * unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare * you: for I called * him alone, and blessed * him, 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.
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.
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 * .
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 * .
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.
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.
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?
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 * ?
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 * .
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;
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 * ?
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 * .
15. But I am the LORD thy God, that divided * the sea, whose waves roared * : The LORD of hosts is his name.
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.
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 * .
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 * .
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?
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.
21. Therefore hear * now this, thou afflicted, and drunken * , 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 * :
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 * .
