51:7 Listen to me, you who know what is right,
you people who are aware of my law! 1
Don’t be afraid of the insults of men;
don’t be discouraged because of their abuse!
51:8 For a moth will eat away at them like clothes;
a clothes moth will devour them like wool.
But the vindication I provide 2 will be permanent;
the deliverance I give will last.”
51:9 Wake up! Wake up!
Clothe yourself with strength, O arm of the Lord! 3
Wake up as in former times, as in antiquity!
Did you not smash 4 the Proud One? 5
Did you not 6 wound the sea monster? 7
51:10 Did you not dry up the sea,
the waters of the great deep?
Did you not make 8 a path through the depths of the sea,
so those delivered from bondage 9 could cross over?
51:11 Those whom the Lord has ransomed will return;
they will enter Zion with a happy shout.
Unending joy will crown them, 10
happiness and joy will overwhelm 11 them;
grief and suffering will disappear. 12
51:12 “I, I am the one who consoles you. 13
Why are you afraid of mortal men,
of mere human beings who are as short-lived as grass? 14
51:13 Why do you forget 15 the Lord, who made you,
who stretched out the sky 16
and founded the earth?
Why do you constantly tremble all day long 17
at the anger of the oppressor,
when he makes plans to destroy?
Where is the anger of the oppressor? 18
51:14 The one who suffers 19 will soon be released;
he will not die in prison, 20
he will not go hungry. 21
51:15 I am the Lord your God,
who churns up the sea so that its waves surge.
The Lord who commands armies is his name!
51:16 I commission you 22 as my spokesman; 23
I cover you with the palm of my hand, 24
to establish 25 the sky and to found the earth,
to say to Zion, ‘You are my people.’” 26