Isaiah 51 - 55 - Legacy Standard Bible

Isaiah 51 - 55

Yahweh’s Righteousness Is Forever

“Listen to Me, you who pursue righteousness,

Who seek Yahweh:

Look to the rock from which you were hewn

And to the quarry from which you were dug.

Look to Abraham your father

And to Sarah who brought you forth through labor pains;

When he was but one I called him,

Then I blessed him and multiplied him.”

Indeed, Yahweh will comfort Zion;

He will comfort all her waste places.

And her wilderness He will make like Eden,

And her desert like the garden of Yahweh;

Joy and gladness will be found in her,

Thanksgiving and sound of a melody.

“Pay attention to Me, O My people,

And give ear to Me, O My nation;

For a law will go forth from Me,

And I will set My justice for a light of the peoples.

My righteousness is near, My salvation has gone forth,

And My arms will judge the peoples;

The coastlands will hope in Me,

And for My arm they will wait expectantly.

Lift up 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 in like manner;

But My salvation will be forever,

And My righteousness will not be dismayed.

Listen to Me, you who know righteousness,

A people in whose heart is My law;

Do not fear the reproach of man,

Nor be dismayed at their revilings.

For the moth will eat them like a garment,

And the grub will eat them like wool.

But My righteousness will be forever,

And My salvation to all generations.”

Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of Yahweh;

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

Was it not You who chopped Rahab in pieces,

Who pierced the dragon?

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?

So the ransomed of Yahweh will return

And come with joyful shouting to Zion,

And everlasting gladness will be on their heads.

They will obtain joy and gladness,

And sorrow and sighing will flee away.

“I, even I, am He who comforts you.

Who are you that you are afraid of man who dies

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

That you have forgotten Yahweh your Maker,

Who stretched out the heavens

And laid the foundations of the earth,

That you tremble in dread continually all day long because of the wrath of the one who brings distress,

As he makes ready to bring ruin?

But where is the wrath of the one who brings distress?

14 The one in chains will soon be set free and will not die in the pit, nor will his bread be lacking. 15 For I am Yahweh your God, who stirs up the sea, and its waves roar—Yahweh of hosts is His name. 16 I have put My words in your mouth and have covered you with the shadow of My hand, to establish the heavens, to found the earth, and to say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’” 17

Awaken yourself! Awaken yourself! Arise, O Jerusalem,

You who have drunk from the hand of Yahweh the cup of His wrath;

The chalice of reeling you have drained to the dregs.

There is none to guide her among all the sons she has borne,

Nor is there one to take hold of her by the hand among all the sons she has reared.

These two things have befallen you;

Who will console you?

The devastation and destruction, famine and sword;

How shall I comfort you?

Your sons have fainted;

They lie helpless at the head of every street,

Like an antelope in a net,

Full of the wrath of Yahweh,

The rebuke of your God.

Therefore, now, listen to this, you afflicted,

Who are drunk, but not with wine:

Thus says your Lord, Yahweh, even your God

Who contends for His people,

“Behold, I have taken out of your hand the cup of reeling,

The chalice of My wrath;

You will never drink it again.

I will set it into the hand of those who cause you grief,

Who have said to you, ‘Lie down that we may walk over you.’

You have even set your back down like the ground

And like the street for those who walk over it.”

Hope for Captive Zion

Awake, awake,

Clothe yourself in your strength, O Zion;

Clothe yourself in your glorious garments,

O Jerusalem, the holy city;

For the uncircumcised and the unclean

Will no longer come into you.

Shake yourself from the dust, rise up,

O captive Jerusalem;

Loose yourself from the chains around your neck,

O captive daughter of Zion.

3 For thus says Yahweh, “You were sold for nothing, and you will be redeemed without money.” 4 For thus says Lord Yahweh, “My people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there; then the Assyrian oppressed them without cause. 5 So now, what do I have here,” declares Yahweh, “since My people have been taken away for nothing?” Yahweh declares, “Those who rule over them howl, and My name is continually blasphemed all day long. 6 Therefore My people shall know My name; therefore in that day I am the one who is speaking, ‘Here I am.’” 7

How lovely on the mountains

Are the feet of him who proclaims good news,

Who announces peace

And proclaims good news of good things,

Who announces salvation,

And says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”

The voice of Your watchmen! They lift up their voices;

They shout joyfully together;

For they will see with their own eyes

When Yahweh returns to Zion.

Break forth, shout joyfully together,

You waste places of Jerusalem;

For Yahweh has comforted His people;

He has redeemed Jerusalem.

Yahweh has bared His holy arm

In the sight of all the nations,

That all the ends of the earth may see

The salvation of our God.

Depart, depart, go out from there,

Touch nothing unclean;

Go out of the midst of her, purify yourselves,

You who carry the vessels of Yahweh.

But you will not go out in haste,

Nor will you go as those who flee;

For Yahweh will go before you,

And the God of Israel will be your rear guard.

The Exalted Servant

Behold, My Servant will prosper;

He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted.

Just as many were appalled at you, My people,

So His appearance was marred more than any man

And His form more than the sons of men.

Thus He will sprinkle many nations,

Kings will shut their mouths on account of Him;

For what had not been told them they will see,

And what they had not heard they will understand.

The Suffering Servant

Who has believed our report?

And to whom has the arm of Yahweh been revealed?

For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot,

And like a root out of parched ground;

He has no stately form or majesty

That we should look upon Him,

Nor appearance that we should desire Him.

He was despised and forsaken of men,

A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;

And like one from whom men hide their face

He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

Surely our griefs He Himself bore,

And our sorrows He carried;

Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,

Smitten of God, and afflicted.

But He was pierced through for our transgressions,

He was crushed for our iniquities;

The chastening for our peace fell upon Him,

And by His wounds we are healed.

All of us like sheep have gone astray,

Each of us has turned to his own way;

But Yahweh has caused the iniquity of us all

To fall on Him.

He was oppressed and He was afflicted,

Yet He did not open His mouth;

Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,

And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,

So He did not open His mouth.

By oppression and judgment He was taken away;

And as for His generation, who considered

That He was cut off out of the land of the living,

That for the transgression of my people, striking was due to Him?

So His grave was assigned with wicked men,

Yet He was with a rich man in His death,

Because He had done no violence,

Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.

But Yahweh was pleased

To crush Him, putting Him to grief;

If You would place His soul as a guilt offering,

He will see His seed,

He will prolong His days,

And the good pleasure of Yahweh will succeed in His hand.

As a result of the anguish of His soul,

He will see it and be satisfied;

By His knowledge the Righteous One,

My Servant, will justify the many,

As He will bear their iniquities.

Therefore, I will divide for Him a portion with the many,

And He will divide the spoil with the strong;

Because He poured out His soul to death,

And was numbered with the transgressors;

Yet He Himself bore the sin of many,

And interceded for the transgressors.

The Inheritance of the Slaves of Yahweh

“Shout for joy, O barren woman, who has not given birth;

Break forth into joyful shouting and cry aloud, you who have not been in labor;

For more numerous are the sons of the desolate one

Than the sons of the married woman,” says Yahweh.

“Enlarge the place of your tent;

Stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, do not hold back;

Lengthen your cords

And strengthen your pegs.

For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left.

And your seed will possess nations

And will resettle the desolate cities.

“Do not be afraid, for you will not be put to shame;

And do not feel dishonored, for you will not be humiliated;

But you will forget the shame of your virginity,

And the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more.

For your husband is your Maker,

Whose name is Yahweh of hosts;

And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel,

Who is called the God of all the earth.

For Yahweh has called you,

Like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit,

Even like a wife of one’s youth when she is rejected,”

Says your God.

“For a brief moment I forsook you,

But with great compassion I will gather you.

In a flood of fury

I hid My face from you for a moment,

But with everlasting lovingkindness I will have compassion on you,”

Says Yahweh your Redeemer.

“For this is like the days of Noah to Me,

When I swore that the waters of Noah

Would not overflow the earth again;

So I have sworn that I will not be furious with you

Nor will I rebuke you.

For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake,

But My lovingkindness will not be removed from you,

And My covenant of peace will not be shaken,”

Says Yahweh who has compassion on you.

“O afflicted one, storm‑tossed, and not comforted,

Behold, I will lay your stones in antimony,

And your foundations I will set in sapphires.

Moreover, I will make your battlements of rubies,

And your gates of crystal,

And your entire wall of precious stones.

All your sons will be taught of Yahweh;

And the peace of your sons will be great.

In righteousness you will be established;

You will be far from oppression, for you will not fear,

And from terror, for it will not come near you.

If anyone fiercely attacks you it will not be from Me.

Whoever attacks you will fall because of you.

Behold, I Myself have created the craftsman who blows the fire of coals

And brings out a weapon for its work;

And I have created the bringer of ruin to wreak destruction.

No weapon that is formed against you will succeed;

And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn.

This is the inheritance of the slaves of Yahweh,

And their righteousness is from Me,” declares Yahweh.

Seek Yahweh While He May Be Found

“Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters;

And you who have no money come, buy and eat.

Come, buy wine and milk

Without money and without cost.

Why do you spend money for what is not bread,

And your wages for what does not satisfy?

Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,

And delight your soul in richness.

Incline your ear and come to Me.

Listen, that your soul may live;

And I will cut an everlasting covenant with you,

According to the faithful lovingkindnesses of David.

Behold, I have given him as a witness to the peoples,

A ruler and commander for the peoples.

Behold, you will call a nation you do not know,

And a nation which knows you not will run to you,

Because of Yahweh your God, even the Holy One of Israel;

For He has adorned you with beautiful glory.”

Seek Yahweh while He may be found;

Call upon Him while He is near.

Let the wicked forsake his way

And the unrighteous man his thoughts;

And let him return to Yahweh,

And He will have compassion on him,

And to our God,

For He will abundantly pardon.

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

Nor are your ways My ways,” declares Yahweh.

“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

So are My ways higher than your ways

And My thoughts than your thoughts.

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,

And do not return there without watering the earth

And making it bear and sprout,

And giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth;

It will not return to Me empty,

Without accomplishing what pleases Me,

And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.

For you will go out with gladness

And be led forth with peace;

The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you,

And all the trees of the field will clap their hands.

Instead of the thorn bush the cypress will come up,

And instead of the nettle the myrtle will come up,

And it will be to Yahweh for His renown,

For an everlasting sign which will not be cut off.”