Isaiah 51 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.
Listen to me, you who pursue what is right, you who seek Yahweh: Look to the you were carved from, to the quarry where you were cut.
Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who gave you birth. He was just one when I called him, but I and multiply.
Yes — Yahweh will Zion, comfort all her ruins. He will make her wasteland like Eden, her desert like Yahweh's own garden. Joy and celebration will be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of music.
Pay attention to me, my people, my nation, listen closely: A will go out from me, and my will become a light for the peoples.
My is close, my deliverance has gone out, and my arms will bring justice to the peoples. The wait for me, and they put their hope in my strength.
Lift your eyes to the sky, then look down at the earth beneath: The sky will dissolve like smoke, the earth will wear out like old clothes, and everyone on it will die like gnats — but my will last forever, and my rescue will never be broken.
Listen to me, you who know what is right, people who carry my in your hearts: Don't be afraid of human scorn, don't be shattered by their insults.
Moths will eat them like fabric, worms will devour them like wool — but my rescue will last forever, my deliverance through every generation.
Wake up, wake up! Clothe yourself in power, arm of Yahweh! Wake up like in the ancient days, like generations long ago! Wasn't it you who cut to pieces, who pierced the
Wasn't it you who dried up the sea, the waters of the deep? Who made the ocean floor a road for the rescued to walk across?
The people Yahweh has will return. They will come into singing, wearing an everlasting crown of joy on their heads. Gladness and joy will catch up to them, and grief and groaning will run away.
I — I am the one who comforts you. Who are you to be afraid of a mortal who will die, of a human being who fades like grass?
You have forgotten Yahweh who made you, who out the sky and laid the foundations of the earth. You live in constant terror all day long because of the oppressor's fury, as though he were about to destroy you. But where is the oppressor's fury now?
The one bent over in chains will soon be set free. They will not die in the pit, and their bread will not run out.
I am your God, who stirs up the sea so its waves roar — Yahweh of is his name.
I have put my words in your mouth and covered you in the of my — I, who set the sky in place, who laid the earth's foundations, and who says to Zion, 'You are my people.'
Wake up, wake up! Get on your feet, Jerusalem — you who drank from Yahweh's hand the of anger, who drained the of staggering down to the dregs.
Of all the children she bore, there is no one to guide her. Of all the children she raised, there is no one to take her by the hand.
Two disasters have fallen on you — who will grieve with you? Ruin and destruction, famine and war — who will comfort you?
Your children have collapsed, lying at the corner of every street like an antelope caught in a net, full of Yahweh's anger, the rebuke of your God.
So listen to this, you who are suffering, you who are drunk — but not from wine.
This is what says, your God who for people: Look — I am taking from hand the cup of staggering. You will never have to drink from the goblet of my anger again.
I will put it into the hands of those who tormented you, the ones who said to you, 'Lie down so we can walk over you' — and you made your back like the ground, like a street for them to walk on.