Isaiah 51

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.

1Listen to me, you who try hard to do what is right. Listen, you who look for the LORD. Look at the rock you were cut from. Look at the pit you were dug out of.

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

2Look at Abraham, the father of your family long ago. Look at Sarah, who gave birth to your family. When I called Abraham, he was only one man. Then I blessed him and gave him many children.

3For 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.

3The LORD will comfort Zion, his city. He will care about all her broken, empty places. He will make her dry land like Eden, the LORD's own garden. People there will be glad. They will sing thank-you songs.

4Hearken 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.

4Listen to me, my people. Pay attention to me, my nation. A teaching will go out from me. My fair way of judging will be a light for all the nations.

5My 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.

5The right thing I will do is close. My rescue is on the way. My arms will judge the nations fairly. Faraway lands by the sea will watch for me. They will trust my strong arm.

6Lift 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.

6Look up at the heavens. Look at the earth below. The heavens will fade away like smoke. The earth will wear out like old clothes. The people living there will die too. But my rescue lasts forever. My right ways will never end.

7Hearken 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.

7Listen to me, you who know what is right. My teaching is in your hearts. Do not be afraid when people make fun of you. Do not let their mean words break you.

8For 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.

8Moths will eat those people, the way moths eat clothes. Worms will eat them like wool. But my right ways last forever. My rescue lasts for all time.

9Awake, 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?

9Wake up, wake up! Be strong, arm of the LORD. Wake up like you did long, long ago. Were you not the one who cut Rahab to pieces? Did you not stab the big sea monster?

NoteRahab here is a poem name for a huge sea monster. It is not the woman named Rahab in the book of Joshua.

10Art 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?

10Were you not the one who dried up the sea? You dried up the deep waters. You made a road through the middle of the sea. Then the people you saved walked across.

11Therefore 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.

11So the people the LORD saved will come home. They will come to Zion singing. Joy that never ends will be theirs. They will be glad and happy. Sadness and crying will run away.

12I, 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;

12I, yes I, am the one who comforts you. So why are you afraid of a man who will die? Why fear a person who dries up like grass?

13And 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?

13You have forgotten the LORD who made you. He spread out the heavens. He set the earth in place. All day long you are scared of the angry man who hurts you. You act as if he can destroy you. But where is his anger now?

14The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed, and that he should not die in the pit, nor that his bread should fail.

14The prisoner will soon be set free. He will not die down in the deep prison. He will not run out of bread.

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

15I am the LORD your God. I stir up the sea so its waves roar. My name is the LORD of Hosts, the LORD who leads great armies.

16And 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.

16I have put my words in your mouth. I have covered you with the shadow of my hand to keep you safe. I set the heavens in place. I laid the ground of the earth. And I say to Zion, "You are my people."

17Awake, 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.

17Wake up, wake up! Stand up, Jerusalem. You drank the cup of the LORD's anger from his hand. You drank every last drop. It made you wobble like a drunk person.

NoteIn the Bible, drinking a cup from God's hand is a picture. It means going through hard punishment.

18There 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.

18She gave birth to many sons, but not one can lead her. She raised many sons, but not one takes her hand.

19These 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?

19Two pairs of troubles have come to you. Your land is ruined and broken. There is hunger and war. Who will feel sad for you? Who can comfort you?

20Thy 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.

20Your sons have fallen down, too weak to stand. They lie at the top of every street. They are like a wild animal caught in a net. They are full of the LORD's anger and his scolding.

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

21So listen now, you hurting city. You wobble like a drunk person, but not from wine.

22Thus 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:

22Your Lord the LORD says this. He is your God, and he speaks up for his people. "Look, I have taken the cup out of your hand. That cup made you wobble. It held my anger. You will never drink it again."

23But 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.

23I will put that cup into the hands of the people who hurt you. They said to you, "Lie down so we can walk over you." And you laid your back down like the ground. You were like a street they walked on.