ISAIAH 51 [†]  d “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness,

you who seek the LORD:

look to the rock from which you were hewn,

and to the quarry from which you were dug.

2 Look to Abraham your father

and to Sarah who bore you;

for  e he was but one when I called him,

that I might bless him and multiply him.

3 For the LORD  f comforts Zion;

he comforts all her waste places

and makes her wilderness like  g Eden,

her desert like  h the garden of the LORD;

 i joy and gladness will be found in her,

thanksgiving and the voice of song.

4[†]  j “Give attention to me, my people,

and give ear to me, my nation;

 k for a law [1] will go out from me,

and I will set my justice for a light to the peoples.

5  l My righteousness draws near,

my salvation has gone out,

and my arms will judge the peoples;

 m the coastlands hope for me,

and for my arm they wait.

6  n Lift up your eyes to the heavens,

and look at the earth beneath;

 o for the heavens vanish like smoke,

the earth will wear out like a garment,

and they who dwell in it will die in like manner; [2]

 p but my salvation will be forever,

and my righteousness will never be dismayed.

7[†]  q “Listen to me, you who know righteousness,

the people  r in whose heart is my law;

 s fear not the reproach of man,

nor be dismayed at their revilings.

8  t For the moth will eat them up like a garment,

and the worm will eat them like wool;

 p but my righteousness will be forever,

and my salvation to all generations.”

9[†]  u Awake, awake,  v put on strength,

O  w arm of the LORD;

awake,  x as in days of old,

the generations of long ago.

Was it not you who cut  y Rahab in pieces,

who pierced  z the dragon?

10[^][†]  a Was it not you who dried up the sea,

the waters of the great deep,

who made the depths of the sea a way

for the redeemed to pass over?

11[^][†]  b And the ransomed of the LORD shall return

and come to Zion with singing;

everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;

they shall obtain gladness and joy,

and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

12[†] “I, I am he  c who comforts you;

who are you that you are afraid of  d man who dies,

of the son of man who is made  e like grass,

13 and have forgotten the LORD, your Maker,

 f who stretched out the heavens

and  g laid the foundations of the earth,

and you fear continually all the day

because of the wrath of  h the oppressor,

when he sets himself to destroy?

And where is the wrath of  h the oppressor?

14[†]  i He who is bowed down shall speedily be released;

he shall not die and go down  j to the pit,

neither shall his bread be lacking.

15[†] I am the LORD your God,

 k who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—

the LORD of hosts is his name.

16  l And I have put my words in your mouth

 m and covered you in the shadow of my hand,

 n establishing [3] the heavens

and  o laying the foundations of the earth,

and saying to Zion, ‘You are my people.’”

17[^][†]  p Wake yourself, wake yourself,

stand up, O Jerusalem,

 q you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD

the cup of his wrath,

who have drunk to the dregs

the bowl,  r the cup of staggering.

18[†]  s There is none to guide her

among all the sons she has borne;

there is none to take her by the hand

among all the sons she has brought up.

19  t These two things have happened to you—

who will console you?—

devastation and destruction, famine and sword;

who will comfort you? [4]

20  u Your sons have fainted;

they lie at the head of every street

like an  v antelope  w in a net;

they are full of the wrath of the LORD,

the rebuke of your God.

21[†]  x Therefore hear this, you who are afflicted,

who are drunk, but not with wine:

22 Thus says your Lord, the LORD,

your God  y who pleads the cause of his people:

“Behold, I have taken from your hand  r the cup of staggering;

the bowl of my wrath you shall drink no more;

23  z and I will put it into the hand of your tormentors,

 a who have said to you,

‘Bow down, that we may pass over’;

and  b you have made your back like the ground

and like the street for them to pass over.”