THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET
ISAIAH

Isaiah 51 ©

The Lord comforts His people, and exhorts them to faith and patience, v. 1, etc. Promising to deliver them, 4. And that speedily, 5. And that His salvation shall be constant and permanent, 6. But that men are corruptible and transitory, 8. A prayer of the afflicted saints for help and deliverance, 9. Which the Lord promises them, 11. Reproving likewise the weakness of their faith, 12. A description of the power of God, 15. To help them, 16. Taking the bitter cup away from them, 17, 22. And giving it to their enemies, 23.

1

HEARKEN1 to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD: look unto 2the rock whence ye are 3hewn, and to the hole of the pit 4whence ye are digged.

2

5Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for 6I called 7him alone, and blessed him, and increased him.

3

For the LORD shall comfort 8Zion: he will 9comfort all her waste places; and he will make 10her wilderness 11like Eden, and her desert 12like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found 13therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.

4

¶Hearken unto me, my people; and give ear unto me, O my nation: for 14a law shall proceed from me, and I will make my 15judgment 16to rest 17for a light of the people.

5

18My righteousness is near; 19my salvation 20is gone forth, and 21mine arms shall judge the people; 22the isles shall wait upon me, and 23on mine arm shall they trust.

6

Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for 24the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die 25in like manner: but 26my salvation shall be for ever, and 27my righteousness shall 28not be abolished.

7

¶Hearken unto me, ye that 29know 30righteousness, the people ina whose heart is 31my law; fearb ye not the reproach 32of men, neither be ye afraid of 33their revilings.

8

For thec moth shall eat them up like a garment, and 34the worm shall eat them 35like wool: but 36my righteousness shall be for ever, and 37my salvation 38from generation to generation.

9

39Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art 40thou not it that hath 41cut 42Rahab, and 43wounded 44the dragon?

10

Art thou not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep; thatd hath 45made the depths of the sea a way for 46the ransomed to pass over?

11

Therefore 47the redeemed of the LORD shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy 48shall be upon their head: they shall 49obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.

12

50I, even I, am he that comforteth 51you: 52who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of ae man that 53shall die, and of the son of man 54which shall be made as grass;

13

And forgettest the LORD 55thy maker, thatf hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and hast feared continually every day because of the fury 56of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? 57and where is the fury 58of the oppressor?

14

59The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed, and that he should not die 60in the pit, nor that 61his bread should fail.

15

But I am the LORD thy God, that 62divided the sea, whose waves roared: The LORD of hosts is his name.

16

And 63I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have 64covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, 65that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto 66Zion, Thou art my people.

17

67Awake,g awake, stand up, O 68Jerusalem, which hast 69drunk 70at the hand of the LORD 71the cup of his fury; thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup 72of trembling, and 73wrung them out.

18

There is none 74to guide her 75among all the sons whom 76she hath brought forth; neither is there any 77that taketh her by the hand of all the sons that she hath brought up.

19

78Theseh two things are come unto thee; 79who shall be sorry for thee? desolation, and destruction, and the famine, and the sword: 80by whom shall I comfort thee?

20

81Thyi sons 82have fainted, they lie 83at the head of all the streets, as 84a wild bull 85in a net: they are full 86of the fury of the LORD, 87the rebuke of thy God.

21

¶Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunken, but 88not with wine:

22

Thus saith thy Lord the LORD, and thy God 89that pleadeth the cause of his people, Behold, 90I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, even the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again:

23

But I will put it into the hand of them 91that afflict thee; 92which have said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over: and thou hast laid thy body as the ground, and as the street, to them that went over.