Isaiah 51
51
The Lord Comforts Zion
1“Listen to Me, #(Rom. 9:30–32)you who follow after righteousness,
You who seek the Lord:
Look to the rock from which you were hewn,
And to the hole of the pit from which you were dug.
2#Rom. 4:1–3; Heb. 11:11Look to Abraham your father,
And to Sarah who bore you;
#Gen. 12:1For I called him alone,
And #Gen. 24:35; Deut. 1:10; Ezek. 33:24blessed him and increased him.”
3For the Lord will #Is. 40:1; 52:9; Ps. 102:13comfort Zion,
He will comfort all her waste places;
He will make her wilderness like Eden,
And her desert #Gen. 13:10; Joel 2:3like the garden of the Lord;
Joy and gladness will be found in it,
Thanksgiving and the voice of melody.
4“Listen to Me, My people;
And give ear to Me, O My nation:
#Is. 2:3For law will proceed from Me,
And I will make My justice rest
#Is. 42:6As a light of the peoples.
5#Is. 46:13My righteousness is near,
My salvation has gone forth,
#Ps. 67:4And My arms will judge the peoples;
#Is. 60:9The coastlands will wait upon Me,
And #(Rom. 1:16)on My arm they will trust.
6#Is. 40:26Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
And look on the earth beneath.
For #Ps. 102:25, 26; Is. 13:13; 34:4; Matt. 24:35; Heb. 1:10–12; 2 Pet. 3:10the heavens will vanish away like smoke,
#Is. 24:19, 20; 50:9; Heb. 1:10–12The earth will grow old like a garment,
And those who dwell in it will die in like manner;
But My salvation will be #Is. 45:17forever,
And My righteousness will not be abolished.
7“Listen to Me, you who know righteousness,
You people #Ps. 37:31; Jer. 31:33; (Heb. 10:16)in whose heart is My law:
#Is. 25:8; 54:4; (Matt. 5:11, 12; 10:28; Acts 5:41)Do not fear the reproach of men,
Nor be afraid of their insults.
8For #Is. 50:9the moth will eat them up like a garment,
And the worm will eat them like wool;
But My righteousness will be forever,
And My salvation from generation to generation.”
9#Ps. 44:23Awake, awake, #Ps. 93:1put on strength,
O arm of the Lord!
Awake #Ps. 44:1as in the ancient days,
In the generations of old.
#Job 26:12; Ps. 89:10; Is. 30:7Are You not the arm that cut #Ps. 87:4Rahab apart,
And wounded the #Ps. 74:13; Is. 27:1serpent?
10Are You not the One who #Ex. 14:21; Is. 63:11–13dried up the sea,
The waters of the great deep;
That made the depths of the sea a road
For the redeemed to cross over?
11So #Is. 35:10; Jer. 31:11, 12the ransomed of the Lord shall return,
And come to Zion with singing,
With everlasting joy on their heads.
They shall obtain joy and gladness;
Sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
12“I, even I, am He #2 Cor. 1:3who comforts you.
Who are you that you should be afraid
#Ps. 118:6; Is. 2:22Of a man who will die,
And of the son of a man who will be made #Is. 40:6, 7; James 1:10; 1 Pet. 1:24like grass?
13And #Deut. 6:12; 8:11; Is. 17:10; Jer. 2:32you forget the Lord your Maker,
#Ps. 104:2Who stretched out the heavens
And laid the foundations of the earth;
You have feared continually every day
Because of the fury of the oppressor,
When he has prepared to destroy.
#Job 20:7And where is the fury of the oppressor?
14The captive exile hastens, that he may be loosed,
#Zech. 9:11That he should not die in the pit,
And that his bread should not fail.
15But I am the Lord your God,
Who #Job 26:12divided the sea whose waves roared—
The Lord of hosts is His name.
16And #Deut. 18:18; Is. 59:21; John 3:34I have put My words in your mouth;
#Ex. 33:22; Is. 49:2I have covered you with the shadow of My hand,
#Is. 65:17That I may plant the heavens,
Lay the foundations of the earth,
And say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’ ”
God’s Fury Removed
17#Is. 52:1Awake, awake!
Stand up, O Jerusalem,
You who #Job 21:20; Is. 29:9; Jer. 25:15; Rev. 14:10; 16:19have drunk at the hand of the Lord
The cup of His fury;
You have drunk the dregs of the cup of trembling,
And drained it out.
18There is no one to guide her
Among all the sons she has brought forth;
Nor is there any who takes her by the hand
Among all the sons she has brought up.
19#Is. 47:9These two things have come to you;
Who will be sorry for you?—
Desolation and destruction, famine and sword—
#Amos 7:2By whom will I comfort you?
20#Lam. 2:11Your sons have fainted,
They lie at the head of all the streets,
Like an antelope in a net;
They are full of the fury of the Lord,
The rebuke of your God.
21Therefore please hear this, you afflicted,
And drunk #Lam. 3:15but not with wine.
22Thus says your Lord,
The Lord and your God,
Who #Is. 3:12, 13; 49:25; Jer. 50:34pleads the cause of His people:
“See, I have taken out of your hand
The cup of trembling,
The dregs of the cup of My fury;
You shall no longer drink it.
23#Is. 14:2; Jer. 25:17, 26–28; Zech. 12:2But I will put it into the hand of those who afflict you,
Who have said to you,
‘Lie down, that we may walk over you.’
And you have laid your body like the ground,
And as the street, for those who walk over.”
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Isaiah 51: NKJV
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
