Isaiah 51
51
Committed to Seeking God
1-3“Listen to me, all you who are serious about right living
and committed to seeking God.
Ponder the rock from which you were cut,
the quarry from which you were dug.
Yes, ponder Abraham, your father,
and Sarah, who bore you.
Think of it! One solitary man when I called him,
but once I blessed him, he multiplied.
Likewise I, God, will comfort Zion,
comfort all her mounds of ruins.
I’ll transform her dead ground into Eden,
her moonscape into the garden of God,
A place filled with exuberance and laughter,
thankful voices and melodic songs.
4-6“Pay attention, my people.
Listen to me, nations.
Revelation flows from me.
My decisions light up the world.
My deliverance arrives on the run,
my salvation right on time.
I’ll bring justice to the peoples.
Even faraway islands will look to me
and take hope in my saving power.
Look up at the skies,
ponder the earth under your feet.
The skies will fade out like smoke,
the earth will wear out like work pants,
and the people will die off like flies.
But my salvation will last forever,
my setting-things-right will never be obsolete.
7-8“Listen now, you who know right from wrong,
you who hold my teaching inside you:
Pay no attention to insults, and when mocked
don’t let it get you down.
Those insults and mockeries are moth-eaten,
from brains that are termite-ridden,
But my setting-things-right lasts,
my salvation goes on and on and on.”
9-11Wake up, wake up, flex your muscles, God!
Wake up as in the old days, in the long ago.
Didn’t you once make mincemeat of Rahab,
dispatch the old chaos-dragon?
And didn’t you once dry up the sea,
the powerful waters of the deep,
And then made the bottom of the ocean a road
for the redeemed to walk across?
In the same way God’s ransomed will come back,
come back to Zion cheering, shouting,
Joy eternal wreathing their heads,
exuberant ecstasies transporting them—
and not a sign of moans or groans.
What Are You Afraid of—or Who?
12-16“I, I’m the One comforting you.
What are you afraid of—or who?
Some man or woman who’ll soon be dead?
Some poor wretch destined for dust?
You’ve forgotten me, God, who made you,
who unfurled the skies, who founded the earth.
And here you are, quaking like an aspen
before the tantrums of a tyrant
who thinks he can kick down the world.
But what will come of the tantrums?
The victims will be released before you know it.
They’re not going to die.
They’re not even going to go hungry.
For I am God, your very own God,
who stirs up the sea and whips up the waves,
named God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
I teach you how to talk, word by word,
and personally watch over you,
Even while I’m unfurling the skies,
setting earth on solid foundations,
and greeting Zion: ‘Welcome, my people!’”
17-20So wake up! Rub the sleep from your eyes!
Up on your feet, Jerusalem!
You’ve drunk the cup God handed you,
the strong drink of his anger.
You drank it down to the last drop,
staggered and collapsed, dead-drunk.
And nobody to help you home,
no one among your friends or children
to take you by the hand and put you in bed.
You’ve been hit with a double dose of trouble
—does anyone care?
Assault and battery, hunger and death
—will anyone comfort?
Your sons and daughters have passed out,
strewn in the streets like stunned rabbits,
Sleeping off the strong drink of God’s anger,
the rage of your God.
21-23Therefore listen, please,
you with your splitting headaches,
You who are nursing the hangovers
that didn’t come from drinking wine.
Your Master, your God, has something to say,
your God has taken up his people’s case:
“Look, I’ve taken back the drink that sent you reeling.
No more drinking from that jug of my anger!
I’ve passed it over to your abusers to drink, those who ordered you,
‘Down on the ground so we can walk all over you!’
And you had to do it. Flat on the ground,
you were the dirt under their feet.”
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Isaiah 51: MSG
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.
Isaiah 51
51
The LORD Will Save His People
1Listen to me, you people who pursue what is right and seek the Lord.
Look to the rock from which you were cut
and to the quarry from which you were dug.
2Look to Abraham, your ancestor,
and to Sarah, from whom you are descended.
When I called Abraham, he was childless.
I blessed him and gave him many descendants.
3So the Lord will comfort Zion.
He will comfort all those who live among its ruins.
He will make its desert like Eden.
He will make its wilderness like the garden of the Lord.
Joy and gladness will be found in it,
thanksgiving and the sound of singing.
4Pay attention to me, my people.
Open your ears to hear me, my nation.
My teachings will go out from me.
My justice will become a light for the people.
5My righteousness is near.
My salvation is on the way.
I will bring justice to people.
The coastlands put their hope in me,
and they wait eagerly for me.
6Look at the sky.
Look at the earth below.
The sky will vanish like smoke.
The earth will wear out like clothing,
and those who live there will die like flies.
But my salvation will last forever,
and my righteousness will never fail.
7Listen to me, you people who know righteousness,
you people who have my teachings in your hearts.
Don’t be afraid of being insulted by people.
Don’t be discouraged by their ridicule.
8Moths will eat them like clothing.
Worms will devour them like wool.
But my righteousness will last forever,
and my salvation will last throughout every generation.
9Wake 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 #51:9 Rahab is the name of a demonic creature who opposes God. into pieces and stab the serpent?
10Didn’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.
11The 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.
12I alone am the one who comforts you.
Why, then, are you afraid of mortals, who must die,
of humans, who are like grass?
13Why 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?
14Chained prisoners will be set free.
They will not die in prison.
They will not go without food.
15I am the Lord your God who stirs up the sea
and makes its waves roar.
My name is the Lord of Armies.
16I 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.”
Wake Up, Jerusalem
17Wake up! Wake up!
Stand up, Jerusalem!
You drank from the cup in the Lord’s hand.
That cup was filled with his anger.
You drank from the bowl, the cup that makes people stagger,
and you drained it!
18From all the children she gave birth to,
there was no one to guide her.
From all the children she raised,
there was no one to take her by the hand.
19Twice as many disasters have happened to you.
Who will feel sorry for you?
Violence, destruction, famine, and war have happened to you.
Who will comfort you?
20Your children have fainted.
They lie sleeping at every street corner.
They are like an antelope caught in a net.
They experience the anger of the Lord,
the fury of your God.
21Listen to this, you humble people
who are drunk but not from wine.
22The Lord your God defends his people.
This is what your master says:
I’m taking from your hand the cup that makes people stagger,
the bowl, the cup of my fury.
You will never drink from it again.
23I will put it in the hands of those who made you suffer.
They said to you, “Lie down so that we can walk over you.”
So you made your back like the ground
and like a street for them to cross.
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GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.