CHAPTER 51

1 Hearken to me, ye that follow righteousness, Ye that seek Jehovah; Look ye to the rock of your hewing, And to the hole of the pit whence ye were digged.

2 Look ye to Abraham your father; And to Sarah, who bore you; For I called him alone, And blessed And multiplied him.

3 Surely Jehovah will comfort Zion; He will comfort all her desolations; And he will make her desert like a place of delights, And her wilderness like the garden of Jehovah: Gladness And joy shall be found in her; Confession And the voice of a song.

4 Attend to me, my people; And listen to me, my nation; For the law shall go forth from me; And I will reveal my judgment for a light of the peoples.

5 My righteousness is near; My salvation hath gone forth; And my arms shall judge the peoples: For me shall the islands wait, And in my arm shall they hope.

6 Lift up your eyes toward heaven, And look upon the earth beneath; For the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, And the earth shall wax old like a garment, And its inhabitants shall perish in the same manner; But my salvation shall endure for ever. And my righteousness shall not perish.

7 Hearken to me, ye that know righteousness; A people in whose heart is my law. Fear ye not the reproach of men, And be not discouraged by their slander.

8 For the moth shall consume them like a garment; The worm shall consume them like wool; But my righteousness shall continually endure, And my salvation for ever And ever.

9 Awake, O arm of Jehovah! Awake, be clothed with strength! Awake as in ancient days, As in generations long ago past. Art thou not that arm which crushed the proud one, Which slew the dragon?

10 Art thou not that arm which dried up the sea, The water of the vast gulf; Which turned the depth of the sea into a path, For the passage of the redeemed?

11 Therefore the redeemed by Jehovah shall return; They shall come to Zion with a song; And everlasting joy shall be upon their head; They shall obtain gladness And joy, And sorrow And groaning shall flee away.

12 I, I am he that comforteth you. Who art thou that thou shouldst be afraid of man that shall die, Of the son of man, that shall be accounted grass?

13 And hast forgotten Jehovah thy Maker, Who stretched out the heavens, And founded the earth; And hast dreaded continually every day The rage of the destroyer, When he prepareth to lay waste? And where is the rage of the destroyer?

14 The exile hasteneth to be loosed, That he may not die in a pit, And that his bread may not fail.

15 And I am Jehovah thy God, Who divide the sea, And its waves shall roar; Jehovah of hosts is his name.

16 And I have put my words in thy mouth; And in the shadow of my hand have I protected thee; That I may plant the heavens And found the earth; That I may say to Zion, Thou art my people.

17 Awake, awake, O Jerusalem! Arise, thou who hast drunk from the hand of Jehovah the cup of his fury; Pressing out, thou hast drunk the dregs of the cup of distress. ²³⁶²³⁶     Or, Of trembling.

18 Of all the sons whom she bore, There is no one to guide her; Of all the sons whom she brought up, There is no one to take her by the hand.

19 These two things have happened to thee; Who shall bewail thee? Desolation And destruction, And the famine And the sword; Who shall comfort thee?

20 Thy sons have fainted; They lay down at the head of all the streets, As a wild bull in a net, Full of the indignation of Jehovah, Of the rebuke of thy God.

21 Therefore now hear this, thou afflicted, And drunken, but not with wine

22 Thus saith thy Lord, Jehovah, And thy God, the avenger of his people; Behold! I have taken out of thy hand The cup of affliction ²³⁷²³⁷     Or, Of trembling. The dregs of the cup of my fury; Thou shalt not drink of it any more.

23 And I will put it into the hand of thy oppressors, Who said to thy soul, Bow down, And we shall pass over; And thou didst lay thy body as the ground, And as the street to them that pass over.