Salvation for Zion

51 “Listen to Me, you who pursue righteousness,

you who seek the LORD:

Look to the rock from which you were cut,

and to the quarry from which you were hewn.

2 Look to Abraham your father,

and to Sarah who gave you birth.

When I called him, he was but one;

then I blessed him and multiplied him.

3 For the LORD will comfort Zion

and will look with compassion on all her ruins;

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 melodious song.

4 Pay attention to Me, My people,

and listen to Me, My nation;

for a law will go out from Me,

and My justice will become a light to the nations;

I will bring it about quickly.

5 My righteousness draws near,

My salvation is on the way,

and My arms will bring justice to the nations.

The islands [fn] will look for Me

and wait in hope for My arm.

6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens,

and look at the earth below;

for the heavens will vanish like smoke,

the earth will wear out like a garment,

and its people will die like gnats.

But My salvation will last forever,

and My righteousness will never fail.

7 Listen to Me, you who know what is right,

you people with My law in your hearts:

Do not fear the scorn of men;

do not be broken by their insults.

8 For the moth will devour them like a garment,

and the worm will eat them like wool.

But My righteousness will last forever,

My salvation through all generations.”

9 Awake, awake,

put on strength, O arm of the LORD.

Wake up as in days past,

as in generations of old.

Was it not You who cut Rahab to pieces,

who pierced through the dragon?

10 Was it not You who dried up the sea,

the waters of the great deep,

who made a road in the depths of the sea

for the redeemed to cross over?

11 So the redeemed of the LORD will return

and enter Zion with singing,

crowned with everlasting joy.

Gladness and joy will overtake them,

and sorrow and sighing will flee.

12 “I, even I, am He who comforts you.

Why should you be afraid of mortal man,

of a son of man who withers like grass?

13 But you have forgotten the LORD, your Maker,

who stretched out the heavens

and laid the foundations of the earth.

You live in terror all day long

because of the fury of the oppressor

who is bent on destruction.

But where is the fury of the oppressor?

14 The captive will soon be freed;

he will not die in the dungeon,

and his bread will not be lacking.

15 For I am the LORD your God

who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—

the LORD of Hosts is His name.

16 I have put My words in your mouth,

and covered you with the shadow of My hand,

to establish [fn] the heavens, to found the earth,

and to say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’ ”