Yesaya 51:1-8

There is Hope for the Future

51:1 “Listen to me, you who pursue godliness, ¹ 

who seek the Lord!

Look at the rock from which you were chiseled,

at the quarry ²  from which you were dug! ³ 

51:2 Look at Abraham, your father,

and Sarah, who gave you birth. ⁴ 

When I summoned him, he was a lone individual, ⁵ 

but I blessed him ⁶  and gave him numerous descendants. ⁷ 

51:3 Certainly the Lord will console Zion;

he will console all her ruins.

He will make her wilderness like Eden,

her desert like the Garden of the Lord.

Happiness and joy will be restored to ⁸  her,

thanksgiving and the sound of music.

51:4 Pay attention to me, my people!

Listen to me, my people!

For ⁹  I will issue a decree, ¹⁰ 

I will make my justice a light to the nations. ¹¹ 

51:5 I am ready to vindicate, ¹² 

I am ready to deliver, ¹³ 

I will establish justice among the nations. ¹⁴ 

The coastlands ¹⁵  wait patiently for me;

they wait in anticipation for the revelation of my power. ¹⁶ 

51:6 Look up at the sky!

Look at the earth below!

For the sky will dissipate ¹⁷  like smoke,

and the earth will wear out like clothes;

its residents will die like gnats.

But the deliverance I give ¹⁸  is permanent;

the vindication I provide ¹⁹  will not disappear. ²⁰ 

51:7 Listen to me, you who know what is right,

you people who are aware of my law! ²¹ 

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 ²²  will be permanent;

the deliverance I give will last.”

[51:1]  ¹ tn Or “righteousness” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “justice”; NLT “hope for deliverance.”

[51:1]  ² tn Heb “the excavation of the hole.”

[51:1]  ³ sn The “rock” and “quarry” refer here to Abraham and Sarah, the progenitors of the nation.

[51:2]  ⁴ sn Although Abraham and Sarah are distant ancestors of the people the prophet is addressing, they are spoken of as the immediate parents.

[51:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “one”; NLT “was alone”; TEV “was childless.”

[51:2]  ⁶ tn “Bless” may here carry the sense of “endue with potency, reproductive power.” See Gen 1:28.

[51:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “and I made him numerous.”

[51:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “found in” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[51:4]  ⁹ tn Or “certainly.”

[51:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “instruction [or “a law”] will go out from me.”

[51:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and my justice for a light to the nations I will cause to rest.”

[51:5]  ¹² tn Heb “my righteousness [or “vindication”] is near.”

[51:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “my deliverance goes forth.”

[51:5]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and my arms will judge [on behalf of] nations.”

[51:5]  ¹⁵ tn Or “islands” (NIV); TEV “Distant lands.”

[51:5]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “for my arm” (so NIV, NRSV).

[51:6]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “will be torn in pieces.” The perfect indicates the certitude of the event, from the Lord’s rhetorical perspective.

[51:6]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “my deliverance.” The same Hebrew word can also be translated “salvation” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); cf. CEV “victory.”

[51:6]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “my righteousness [or “vindication”].”

[51:6]  ²⁰ tn Heb “will not be shattered [or “dismayed”].”

[51:7]  ²¹ tn Heb “people (who have) my law in their heart.”

[51:8]  ²² tn Heb “my vindication”; many English versions “my righteousness”; NRSV, TEV “my deliverance”; CEV “my victory.”