Previous Chapter Full Page Full Page Next Chapter

Isaiah 51 :: New American Standard Bible 2020 (NASB20)

Israel Exhorted

(cf. Gen 12:1–3 )
Isa 51:1

“Listen to Me, you who pursue righteousness,

Who seek the LORD:

Look to the rock from which you were cut,

And to the [fn]quarry from which you were dug.

Isa 51:2

“Look to Abraham your father

And to Sarah who gave birth to you in pain;

When he was only one I called him,

Then I blessed him and multiplied him.”

Isa 51:3

Indeed, the LORD will comfort Zion;

He will comfort all her ruins.

And He will make her wilderness like Eden,

And her desert like the garden of the LORD.

Joy and gladness will be found in her,

Thanksgiving and the sound of a melody.

Isa 51:4

“Pay attention to Me, My people,

And listen to Me, My [fn]nation;

For a law will go out from Me,

And I will bring My justice as a light of the peoples.

Isa 51:5

“My righteousness is near, My salvation has gone forth,

And My arms will judge the peoples;

The coastlands will wait for Me,

And they will wait expectantly for My arm.

Isa 51:6

“Raise your eyes to the sky,

Then look to the earth beneath;

For the sky will vanish like smoke,

And the earth will wear out like a garment

And its inhabitants will die [fn]in the same way.

But My salvation will be forever,

And My righteousness will not fail.

Isa 51:7

“Listen to Me, you who know righteousness,

A people in whose heart is My Law;

Do not fear the taunting of [fn]people,

Nor be terrified of their abuses.

Isa 51:8

“For the moth will eat them like a garment;

Yes, the moth will eat them like wool.

But My righteousness will be forever,

And My salvation to all generations.”

Isa 51:9

Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD;

Awake as in the days of old, the generations of long ago.

Was it not You who cut [fn]Rahab in pieces,

Who pierced the dragon?

Isa 51:10

Was it not You who dried up the sea,

The waters of the great deep;

Who made the depths of the sea a pathway

For the redeemed to cross over?

Isa 51:11

And the redeemed of the LORD will return

And come to Zion with joyful shouting,

And everlasting joy will be on their heads.

They will obtain gladness and joy,

And sorrow and sighing will flee away.

Isa 51:12

“I, I Myself, am He who comforts you.

Who are you that you are afraid of [fn]mortal man,

And of a son of man who is made like grass,

Isa 51:13

That you have forgotten the LORD your Maker,

Who stretched out the heavens

And laid the foundations of the earth,

That you fear continually all day long because of the fury of the oppressor,

As he makes ready to destroy?

And where is the rage of the oppressor?

Isa 51:14

“The [fn]exile will soon be set free, and will not die in the [fn]dungeon, nor will his bread be lacking.

Isa 51:15“For I am the LORD your God, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar (the LORD of armies is His name).
Isa 51:16“And I have put My words in your mouth and have covered you with the shadow of My hand, to [fn]establish the heavens, to found the earth, and to say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’”
Isa 51:17

Pull yourself up! Pull yourself up! Arise, Jerusalem!

You who have drunk from the LORD’S hand the cup of His anger;

The [fn]chalice of staggering you have drunk to the dregs.

Isa 51:18

There is no one to guide her among all the sons to whom she has given birth,

Nor is there anyone to take her by the hand among all the sons she has raised.

Isa 51:19

These two things have happened to you;

Who will mourn for you?

The devastation and destruction, famine and sword;

How shall I comfort you?

Isa 51:20

Your sons have fainted,

They lie helpless at the head of every street,

Like an antelope in a net,

Full of the wrath of the LORD,

The rebuke of your God.

Isa 51:21

Therefore, listen to this, you afflicted,

Who are drunk, but not with wine:

Isa 51:22

This is what your Lord, the LORD, your God

Who contends for His people says:

“Behold, I have taken from your hand the cup of staggering,

The [fn]chalice of My anger;

You will never drink it again.

Isa 51:23

“I will put it into the hand of your tormentors,

Who have said to [fn]you, ‘Lie down so that we may walk over you.

You have also made your back like the ground,

And like the street for those who walk over it.

NASB20 Footnotes
Lit excavation of a pit
Or people
Another reading is like gnats
Or mankind
I.e., a sea monster, not to be confused with Rahab in Joshua 2
Lit man who dies
Lit one in chains
Lit pit
Lit plant
Lit bowl of the cup of reeling
Lit bowl of the cup of
Lit your soul
Translation Copyright Logo

New American Standard Bible 2020
Copyright (c) 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995, 2020
by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif.
All rights reserved
https://www.lockman.org/new-american-standard-bible-nasb/

The "NASB," "NAS," "New American Standard Bible," and "New American Standard" trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by The Lockman Foundation. Use of these trademarks requires the permission of The Lockman Foundation.

For Permission To Quote visit http://www.lockman.org

For more information on this translation, see the NASB20 Preface.

Isaiah Chapter 51 — Additional Translations: