Isaiah 51-55
Lexham English Bible
Yahweh Comforts Zion
51 “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness,
who seek Yahweh.
Look to the rock from which you were hewn,
and to the excavation of the pit from which you were quarried.
2 Look to Abraham your father,
and to Sarah; she brought you forth.
For I called him alone,[a]
but[b] I blessed him and made him numerous.”
3 For Yahweh will comfort Zion;
he will comfort all its sites of ruins.
And he will make[c] its wilderness like Eden,
and its desert like the garden of Yahweh.
Joy and gladness will be found in it,
thanksgiving and the sound[d] of song.
4 “Listen attentively to me, my people,
and my nation, listen to me!
For a teaching will go out from me,
and I will cause my justice to rest for a light to the peoples.
5 My righteousness is near; my salvation has gone out,
and my arms will judge the peoples.
The coastlands wait for me,
and for my arm they wait.
6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens
and look to the earth beneath,
for the heavens will be torn to pieces like smoke,
and the earth will be worn out like a garment,
and those who inhabit her will die like gnats.
But[e] my salvation will be forever,
and my righteousness will not be broken to pieces.
7 Listen to me, you who know righteousness,
people who have my teaching in their heart;
you must not fear the reproach of men,
or be terrified because of their abuse.
8 For a moth will eat them like garments;
a moth will devour[f] them like wool,
but[g] my righteousness will be forever,
and my salvation for generation after generation.[h]”
9 Awake! Awake; put on strength, O arm of Yahweh!
Awake as in days of long ago,
the generations of a long time back!
Are you not the one who cut Rahab in pieces,
the one who pierced the sea-dragon?
10 Are you not the one who dried up the sea,
the waters of the great deep,
the one who made[i] the depths of the sea a way
for those who are redeemed to cross over?
11 So[j] the redeemed ones of Yahweh shall return,
and they shall come to Zion with singing,
and everlasting joy shall be on their heads.[k]
Joy and gladness shall appear;[l]
sorrow and sighing shall flee away!
12 “I, I am he who comforts you;
who are you that[m] you are afraid of man? He dies!
And of the son of humankind? He is sacrificed[n] as grass!
13 And you have forgotten Yahweh, your maker,
who stretched out the heavens,
and founded the earth.
And you tremble continually, all day,
because of the wrath of the oppressor
when he takes aim[o] to destroy.
But[p] where is the wrath of the oppressor?
14 The fettered one shall make haste to be freed.
And he shall not die in[q] the pit,
and he shall not lack his bread.
15 For[r] I am Yahweh, your God,
who stirs up[s] the sea, so that[t] its waves roar;
Yahweh of hosts is his name.
16 And I have put my words in your mouth,
and I have covered you in the shadow of my hand,
to plant the heavens
and to found the earth,
saying to Zion, ‘You are my people.’”
17 Rouse yourself! Rouse yourself!
Stand up, Jerusalem, who have drunk from the hand of Yahweh the cup of his wrath;
you have drunk the goblet, the cup of staggering;
you have drained it out.
18 There is no one who guides her among[u] all the children she has borne,
and there is no one who grasps her by the hand among[v] all the children she raised.
19 Two things here have happened to you—who will show sympathy[w] for you?—
devastation and destruction, famine and sword—who will comfort you?
20 Your children have fainted;
they lie at the head of all the streets, like an antelope in[x] a snare,
those who are full of the wrath of Yahweh,
the rebuke of your God.
21 Therefore hear now this afflicted one
and drunken one but[y] not from wine.
22 Thus says your Lord, Yahweh,
and your God pleads the cause of his people:
“Look! I have taken from your hand the cup of staggering.
You shall not continue[z] to drink the goblet, the cup of my wrath, any longer.
23 And I will put it in the hand of your tormenters,
who have said to you,[aa] ‘Bow down that[ab] we may pass[ac] over you!’
And you have made[ad] your back like the ground,
and like the street for those who pass[ae] over you.”
Yahweh Redeems Zion
52 Awake! Awake; put on your strength, Zion!
Put on the garments of your beauty, Jerusalem, holy city![af]
For the uncircumcised and the unclean shall not continue to[ag] enter you any longer.
2 Shake yourself free from the dust! Rise up; sit, Jerusalem!
Free yourselves from the bonds of your neck, captive daughter of Zion!
3 For thus says Yahweh:
“You were sold for nothing,
and you shall be redeemed without money.”
4 For thus says the Lord Yahweh:
“My people went down to Egypt in the beginning, to dwell as aliens there, and Assyria oppressed him without cause.[ah] 5 And now what do I have here?”declares[ai] Yahweh, “for my people is taken without cause. Its rulers howl,” declares[aj] Yahweh—“and my name is reviled continually, all day. 6 Therefore my people shall know my name, therefore in that day, that I am the one who speaks. Here am I.”[ak]
7 How delightful on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news,
who announces peace, who brings good news, who announces salvation,
who says to Zion, “Your God reigns as a king.”
8 The voices[al] of your watchmen! They lift up their voices;[am]
together they sing for joy;
for they clearly[an] see Yahweh’s return to Zion.
9 Break forth,
sing for joy together, ruins of Jerusalem,
for Yahweh has comforted his people;
he has redeemed Jerusalem.
10 Yahweh has bared his holy arm[ao] to the eyes of all the nations,
and all the ends[ap] of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.
11 Depart, depart, go out from there! You must not touch any unclean thing.
Go out from the midst of it, keep clean, you who carry the vessels of Yahweh.
12 For you shall not go out in haste,
and you shall not go in flight,
for Yahweh is going before you,
and your rear guard is the God of Israel.
The Servant’s Suffering and Exaltation
13 Look, my servant shall achieve success;
he shall be exalted,
and he shall be lifted up,
and he shall be very high.
14 Just as many were appalled at you—
such was his appearance beyond human disfigurement,
and his form beyond the sons of mankind—
15 so he shall sprinkle many nations;
because of him, kings shall shut their mouths.[aq]
For they shall see what has not been told them,
and they shall consider with full attention what they have not heard.
53 Who has believed our message,
and to whom has the arm of Yahweh been revealed?
2 For[ar] he went[as] up like a shoot before him,
and like a root from dry ground.
He had no form and no majesty that[at] we should see him,
and no appearance that[au] we should take pleasure in him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of suffering, and acquainted with[av] sickness,
and like one from whom others hide their faces,[aw] he was despised,
and we did not hold him in high regard.
4 However, he was the one who lifted up our sicknesses,
and he carried our pain,
yet[ax] we ourselves assumed him stricken,
struck down by God and afflicted.
5 But[ay] he was pierced[az] because of our transgressions,
crushed because of our iniquities;
the chastisement for[ba] our peace[bb] was upon him,
and by his wounds[bc] we were healed.[bd]
6 All of us have wandered about like sheep;
we each have turned to his own way;
and Yahweh let fall on him
the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet[be] he did not open his mouth;
he was brought like a lamb to the slaughter,
and like a sheep is dumb before its shearers,
so[bf] he did not open his mouth.
8 He was taken by restraint of justice,
and who concerned himself with his generation?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
he received a blow because of the transgression of my people.
9 He made[bg] his grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet[bh] Yahweh was pleased to crush him;
he made him sick.[bi]
If she[bj] places[bk] his life a guilt offering,[bl]
he will see offspring.
He will prolong days,
and the will of Yahweh will succeed in his hand.
11 From the trouble of his life[bm] he will see;[bn]
he will be satisfied.
In his knowledge, the righteous one, my servant, shall declare many righteous,[bo]
and he is the one who will bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore, I will divide to him a portion among the many,[bp]
and with the strong ones he will divide bounty,
because[bq] he poured his life out to death
and was counted with the transgressors;
and[br] he was the one who bore the sin of many
and will intercede for the transgressors.
The Fertile Wife of Yahweh
54 “Sing for joy, barren woman; who has not borne!
Burst forth into rejoicing and rejoice, she who has not been in labor!
For the children of the desolate woman are more than the children of the married woman,” says Yahweh.
2 “Enlarge the site of your tent,
and let them stretch out the tent curtains of your dwelling place.
You must not spare; make your tent cords long
and strengthen your pegs,
3 for you will spread out to the right and to the left.
And your descendants[bs] will be heir to the nations,
and they will inhabit desolate towns.
4 You must not fear, for you will not be ashamed,
and you must not be confounded, for you will not feel abashed,
for you will forget the shame of your youth,
and you will no longer remember the disgrace of your widowhood.
5 For your husband[bt] is your maker,[bu] his name is Yahweh of hosts;
and your redeemer is the holy one of Israel, he is called the God of all of the earth.
6 For Yahweh has called you like a wife forsaken and hurt of spirit,
like[bv] the wife of childhood when she is rejected, says your God.
7 I abandoned you for a short[bw] moment,
but[bx] I will gather you with great compassion.
8 I hid my face from you for a moment, in the flowing of anger,
but[by] I will have compassion on you with everlasting faithfulness” says your redeemer, Yahweh.
9 “For this is like the waters of Noah to me,
when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again pass[bz] over the earth,
so I swore that I would not be[ca] angry at you and rebuke you.
10 For the mountains may depart,
and the hills may sway,
but[cb] my faithfulness shall not depart from you,
and my covenant of peace shall not sway,”
says Yahweh, who has compassion on you,
11 “O afflicted one, driven away, who is not consoled.
Look! I am about to set your stones in hard mortar,
and I will lay your foundation with sapphires.
12 And I will make[cc] your battlements of ruby,
and your gates of stones of beryl,
and all your wall of precious stones.
13 And all your children shall be pupils of Yahweh,
and the peace of your children shall be great.
14 In righteousness you shall be established.
Be far from oppression, for you shall not fear,
and from terror, for it shall not come near you.
15 If indeed one attacks, it is not from me;
whoever attacks you shall fall because of you.
16 Look! I myself have created the craftsman who blows[cd] the fire of coals,
and who produces[ce] a weapon for his work;
also[cf] I myself have created the destroyer to destroy.
17 Every weapon formed against you shall not succeed,
and you shall declare guilty every tongue that rises against you for judgment.
This is the inheritance of the servants of Yahweh,
and their legal right[cg] from me,”
declares[ch] Yahweh.
Invitation to True Rewards
55 “Ho! Everyone thirsty, come to the waters!
And whoever has no money, come, buy and eat,
and come, buy without money,
wine and milk without price!
2 Why do you weigh out money for what is not food,
and your labor for what cannot satisfy?[ci]
Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good,
and let your soul take pleasure in rich[cj] food.
3 Extend your ear, and come to me!
Listen so that[ck] your soul may live,
and I will make[cl] an everlasting covenant with[cm] you,
the enduring proofs of the mercies shown to[cn] David.
4 Look! I made[co] him a witness to the peoples,
a leader and a commander for the peoples.
5 Look! You shall call a nation that you do not know,
and a nation that does not know you shall run to you,
because of Yahweh your God,
and the holy one of Israel, for he has glorified you.”
6 Seek Yahweh while he lets himself be found;[cp]
call him while he is[cq] near.
7 Let the wicked forsake his way,
and the man of sin his thoughts.
And let him return to Yahweh, that[cr] he may take pity on him,
and to our God, for he will forgive manifold.[cs]
8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
and your ways are not my ways,”
declares[ct] Yahweh.
9 “For as the heavens are higher[cu] than the earth,
so my ways are higher[cv] than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 For just as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
and they do not return there
except they have watered the earth thoroughly
and cause it to bring forth and sprout,
and give seed to the sower
and bread to the eater,
11 so shall be my word that goes out from my mouth.
It shall not return to me without success,
but shall accomplish[cw] what I desire
and be successful in the thing for which I sent it.
12 For you shall go out in joy,
and you shall be led in peace.
The mountains and the hills shall break forth before you, rejoicing
and all the trees of the field shall clap hands.[cx]
13 Instead of the thorn bush, the juniper shall go up;
instead of the brier, the myrtle shall go up,
and it shall serve as a memorial to Yahweh,
for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 51:2 Literally “one”
- Isaiah 51:2 Or “and”
- Isaiah 51:3 Literally “put”
- Isaiah 51:3 Literally “voice”
- Isaiah 51:6 Or “And”
- Isaiah 51:8 Or “eat”
- Isaiah 51:8 Or “and”
- Isaiah 51:8 Literally “generation of generations”
- Isaiah 51:10 Literally “placed”
- Isaiah 51:11 Or “And”
- Isaiah 51:11 Hebrew “head”
- Isaiah 51:11 Literally “reach”
- Isaiah 51:12 Or “and”
- Isaiah 51:12 Literally “given”
- Isaiah 51:13 Literally “sets up”
- Isaiah 51:13 Or “And”
- Isaiah 51:14 Or “to”
- Isaiah 51:15 Or “And”
- Isaiah 51:15 Or “stirring up”
- Isaiah 51:15 Or “and”
- Isaiah 51:18 Or “from”
- Isaiah 51:18 Or “from”
- Isaiah 51:19 Literally “wander”
- Isaiah 51:20 Or “of”
- Isaiah 51:21 Or “and”
- Isaiah 51:22 Literally “do again”
- Isaiah 51:23 Literally “your inner self”
- Isaiah 51:23 Or “and”
- Isaiah 51:23 Or “stride”
- Isaiah 51:23 Literally “placed”
- Isaiah 51:23 Or “stride”
- Isaiah 52:1 Literally “city of the holiness”
- Isaiah 52:1 Literally “do again he shall”
- Isaiah 52:4 Literally “in nothing”
- Isaiah 52:5 Literally “declaration of”
- Isaiah 52:5 Literally “declaration of”
- Isaiah 52:6 Literally “Look at me”
- Isaiah 52:8 Hebrew “voice”
- Isaiah 52:8 Hebrew “voice”
- Isaiah 52:8 Literally “eye in eye “
- Isaiah 52:10 Literally “the arm of his holiness”
- Isaiah 52:10 Hebrew “end”
- Isaiah 52:15 Hebrew “mouth”
- Isaiah 53:2 Or “And”
- Isaiah 53:2 Or “grew”
- Isaiah 53:2 Or “and”
- Isaiah 53:2 Or “and”
- Isaiah 53:3 Or “knowledgeable of”
- Isaiah 53:3 Literally “hiding of face from him”
- Isaiah 53:4 Or “and”
- Isaiah 53:5 Or “And”
- Isaiah 53:5 Or “wounded”
- Isaiah 53:5 Or “of”
- Isaiah 53:5 Or “healing”
- Isaiah 53:5 Hebrew “wound”
- Isaiah 53:5 Literally “it was healed for us”
- Isaiah 53:7 Or “and”
- Isaiah 53:7 Or “and”
- Isaiah 53:9 Or “gave”
- Isaiah 53:10 Or “And”
- Isaiah 53:10 Literally “he made sick”
- Isaiah 53:10 Or “you”
- Isaiah 53:10 Or “makes”
- Isaiah 53:10 Or “compensation”
- Isaiah 53:11 Or “soul”
- Isaiah 53:11 Dead Sea Scrolls add “light”
- Isaiah 53:11 Or “right”
- Isaiah 53:12 Or “great”
- Isaiah 53:12 Literally “Instead of that”
- Isaiah 53:12 Or “yet”
- Isaiah 54:3 Hebrew “descendant”
- Isaiah 54:5 The Hebrew is plural
- Isaiah 54:5 The Hebrew is plural
- Isaiah 54:6 Or “and”
- Isaiah 54:7 Literally “in a small”
- Isaiah 54:7 Or “and”
- Isaiah 54:8 Or “and”
- Isaiah 54:9 Literally “from the passing over of the waters of Noah again”
- Isaiah 54:9 Literally “from being “
- Isaiah 54:10 Or “and”
- Isaiah 54:12 Literally “place”
- Isaiah 54:16 Or “blowing”
- Isaiah 54:16 Or “producing”
- Isaiah 54:16 Or “and”
- Isaiah 54:17 Literally “justice”
- Isaiah 54:17 Literally “declaration of”
- Isaiah 55:2 Literally “what is not for satiation”
- Isaiah 55:2 Literally “fatty”
- Isaiah 55:3 Or “and”
- Isaiah 55:3 Literally “cut”
- Isaiah 55:3 or “for”
- Isaiah 55:3 Literally “mercy of”
- Isaiah 55:4 Or “gave”
- Isaiah 55:6 Literally “in his letting himself be found”
- Isaiah 55:6 Literally “in his being”
- Isaiah 55:7 Or “and”
- Isaiah 55:7 Literally “make numerous to”
- Isaiah 55:8 Literally “declaration of”
- Isaiah 55:9 Literally “high”
- Isaiah 55:9 Literally “high”
- Isaiah 55:11 Or “do”
- Isaiah 55:12 Hebrew “hand”
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