Israel Exhorted
1 “Listen to Me, you who pursue righteousness (right standing with God),
Who seekandinquire of the Lord:
Look to the rock from which you were cut
And to the excavation of the quarry from which you were dug.
2 “Look to Abraham your father
And to Sarah who gave birth to you in pain;
For I called him whenhe was butone,
Then I blessed him and made him many.”
3 For the Lordwill comfort Zion [in her captivity];
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 voice of a melody.
4 “Listen carefully to Me [says the Lord], O My people,
And hear Me, O My nation;
For a [divine] law will go forth from Me,
And I will quicklyestablishMy justice as a light to the peoples.
5 “My righteousness (justice) is near, My salvation has gone forth,
And My arms will judge the peoples;
The islandsandcoastlands will wait for Me,
And they will wait with hopeandconfident expectation for My arm.
6 “Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
Then look to the earth beneath;
For the heavens will be torn to piecesandvanish like smoke,
And the earth will wear out like a garment
And its inhabitants will die in like manner.
But My salvation will be forever,
And My righteousness (justice) [and faithfully fulfilled promise] will not be broken.
7 “Listen to Me, you who know righteousness (right standing with God),
The people in whose heart is My lawandinstruction;
Do not fear the reproachandtaunting of man,
Nor be distressed at their reviling.
8 “For the moth will eat them like a garment,
And the worm will eat them like wool.
But My righteousnessandjustice [faithfully promised] will exist forever,
And My salvation to all generations.”
9 Awake, awake, put on strengthandmight, O arm of the Lord;
Awake as in the ancient days, as in the generations of long ago.
Was it not You who cut Rahab (Egypt) in pieces,
Who pierced the dragon [of Egypt]?
10 Was it not You who dried up the [Red] Sea,
The waters of the great deep,
Who made the depths of the sea a pathway
For the redeemed to cross over?
11 So the redeemed of the Lordwill return
And come with joyful shouting to Zion;
Everlasting joy will be on their heads.
They will obtain gladness and joy,
And sorrow and sighing will flee away.
12 “I, even I, am He who comforts you.
Who are you that you are afraid of man who dies
And of a son of man who is made [as destructible] as grass,
13 That you have forgotten the Lordyour Maker,
Who stretched out the heavens
And laid the foundations of the earth,
That you continually tremble with fear all day long because of the rage of the oppressor,
As he takes aim to destroy?
And where is the rage of the oppressor?
14 The [captive] exile will soon be set free, and will not die in the dungeon, nor will his food be lacking.
15 For I am the Lordyour God, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar–the Lordof hosts is His name.
16 I have put My words in your mouth and have covered you with the shadow of My hand, toestablish the [renewed] heavens and lay the foundations of the [renewed] earth, and to say to Zion (Jerusalem), ‘You are My people.’”
17 Wake yourself up! Wake yourself up! Stand up, O Jerusalem,
You who have drunk at the hand of the Lordthe cup of His wrath,
You who have drunk the cup of staggeringandintoxication to the dregs [leaving only sediment].
18 There is no one to guide her among all the sons she has borne,
Nor is there anyone to take her by the hand among all the sons she has reared.
19 These twotragedieshave befallen you;
Who will show sympathy for youandmourn with you?
The desolation and destruction [on the land and city], famine and sword [on the inhabitants];
How shall I comfort you?
20 Your sons have fainted;
They liehelplessat the head of every street,
Like an antelope in a net,
Full [from drinking] of the wrath of the Lord,
The rebuke of your God.
21 Therefore, now hear this, you who are afflicted,
Who are drunk, but not with wine [but overwhelmed by the wrath of God].
22 So says your Lord, the Lord,who isalso your God
Who pleads the cause of His people,
“Listen carefully, I have taken from your hand the cup of staggeringandintoxication,
The cup of My wrath;
You shall never drink it again.
23 “I will put it into the hands of your tormentors,
Who have said to you, ‘Lie down so that we may walk over you.’
You have even made your back like the ground
And like the street for those who walk over it.”