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Wake up! Wake up! Clothe yourself with strength, O Lord!
Wake up as you did in days long past, as in generations long ago.
Didn’t you cut Rahab [a] into pieces and stab the serpent?
10 Didn’t you dry up the sea, the water of the great ocean?
You made a road in the depths of the sea
so that the people reclaimed ⌞by the Lord
might pass through it.
11 The people ransomed by the Lord will return.
They will come to Zion singing with joy.
Everlasting happiness will be on their heads ⌞as a crown⌟.
They will be glad and joyful.
They will have no sorrow or grief.

12 I alone am the one who comforts you.
Why, then, are you afraid of mortals, who must die,
of humans, who are like grass?
13 Why have you forgotten the Lord, your Creator?
He stretched out the heavens
and laid the foundations of the earth.
Why should you live in constant fear of the fury
of those who oppress you,
of those who are ready to destroy you?
Where is the fury of those who oppress you?
14 Chained prisoners will be set free.
They will not die in prison.
They will not go without food.
15 I am the Lord your God who stirs up the sea
and makes its waves roar.
My name is the Lord of Armies.
16 I put my words in your mouth
and sheltered you in the palm of my hand.
I stretched out the heavens,
laid the foundations of the earth,
and said to Zion, “You are my people.”

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Footnotes

  1. 51:9 Rahab   is the name of a demonic creature who opposes God.

Awake, awake,(A) arm(B) of the Lord,
    clothe yourself with strength!(C)
Awake, as in days gone by,
    as in generations of old.(D)
Was it not you who cut Rahab(E) to pieces,
    who pierced that monster(F) through?
10 Was it not you who dried up the sea,(G)
    the waters of the great deep,(H)
who made a road in the depths of the sea(I)
    so that the redeemed(J) might cross over?
11 Those the Lord has rescued(K) will return.
    They will enter Zion with singing;(L)
    everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy(M) will overtake them,
    and sorrow and sighing will flee away.(N)

12 “I, even I, am he who comforts(O) you.
    Who are you that you fear(P) mere mortals,(Q)
    human beings who are but grass,(R)
13 that you forget(S) the Lord your Maker,(T)
    who stretches out the heavens(U)
    and who lays the foundations of the earth,
that you live in constant terror(V) every day
    because of the wrath of the oppressor,
    who is bent on destruction?
For where is the wrath of the oppressor?(W)
14     The cowering prisoners will soon be set free;(X)
they will not die in their dungeon,
    nor will they lack bread.(Y)
15 For I am the Lord your God,
    who stirs up the sea(Z) so that its waves roar(AA)
    the Lord Almighty(AB) is his name.
16 I have put my words in your mouth(AC)
    and covered you with the shadow of my hand(AD)
I who set the heavens in place,
    who laid the foundations of the earth,(AE)
    and who say to Zion, ‘You are my people.(AF)’”

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