Isa 51 | ESV | STEP | Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness , you who seek the Lord : look to the rock from which you were hewn , and to the quarry from which you were dug .

1 ^a“Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness,
you who seek the Lord:
look to the rock from which you were hewn,
and to the quarry from which you were dug.
2 Look to Abraham your father
and to Sarah who bore you;
for ^bhe was but one when I called him,
that I might bless him and multiply him.
3 For the Lord ^ccomforts Zion;
he comforts all her waste places
and makes her wilderness like ^dEden,
her desert like ^ethe garden of the Lord;
^fjoy and gladness will be found in her,
thanksgiving and the voice of song.
4 ^g“Give attention to me, my people,
and give ear to me, my nation;
^hfor a law ^{▼▼Or for teaching; also verse 7} will go out from me,
and I will set my justice for a light to the peoples.
5 ^jMy righteousness draws near,
my salvation has gone out,
and my arms will judge the peoples;
^kthe coastlands hope for me,
and for my arm they wait.
6 ^lLift up your eyes to the heavens,
and look at the earth beneath;
^mfor the heavens vanish like smoke,
the earth will wear out like a garment,
and they who dwell in it will die in like manner; ^{▼▼Or will die like gnats}
^obut my salvation will be forever,
and my righteousness will never be dismayed.
7 ^p“Listen to me, you who know righteousness,
the people ^qin whose heart is my law;
^rfear not the reproach of man,
nor be dismayed at their revilings.
8 ^sFor the moth will eat them up like a garment,
and the worm will eat them like wool,
^tbut my righteousness will be forever,
and my salvation to all generations.”
9 ^uAwake, awake, ^vput on strength,
O ^warm of the Lord;
awake, ^xas in days of old,
the generations of long ago.
Was it not you who cut ^yRahab in pieces,
who pierced ^zthe dragon?
10 ^aaWas it not you who dried up the sea,
the waters of the great deep,
who made the depths of the sea a way
for the redeemed to pass over?
11 ^abAnd the ransomed of the Lord shall return
and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
they shall obtain gladness and joy,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
12 “I, I am he ^acwho comforts you;
who are you that you are afraid of ^adman who dies,
of the son of man who is made ^aelike grass,
13 and have forgotten the Lord, your Maker,
^afwho stretched out the heavens
and ^aglaid the foundations of the earth,
and you fear continually all the day
because of the wrath of ^ahthe oppressor,
when he sets himself to destroy?
And where is the wrath of ^aithe oppressor?
14 ^ajHe who is bowed down shall speedily be released;
he shall not die and go down ^akto the pit,
neither shall his bread be lacking.
15 I am the Lord your God,
^alwho stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—
the Lord of hosts is his name.
16 ^amAnd I have put my words in your mouth
^anand covered you in the shadow of my hand,
^aoestablishing ^{▼▼Or planting} the heavens
and ^aqlaying the foundations of the earth,
and saying to Zion, ‘You are my people.’”
17 ^arWake yourself, wake yourself,
stand up, O Jerusalem,
^asyou who have drunk from the hand of the Lord
the cup of his wrath,
who have drunk to the dregs
the bowl, ^atthe cup of staggering.
18 ^auThere is none to guide her
among all the sons she has borne;
there is none to take her by the hand
among all the sons she has brought up.
19 ^avThese two things have happened to you—
who will console you?—
devastation and destruction, famine and sword;
who will comfort you? ^{▼▼Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Masoretic Text how shall I comfort you}
20 ^axYour sons have fainted;
they lie at the head of every street
like an ^ayantelope ^azin a net;
they are full of the wrath of the Lord,
the rebuke of your God.
21 ^baTherefore hear this, you who are afflicted,
who are drunk, but not with wine:
22 Thus says your Lord, the Lord,
your God ^bbwho pleads the cause of his people:
“Behold, I have taken from your hand ^bcthe cup of staggering;
the bowl of my wrath you shall drink no more;
23 ^bdand I will put it into the hand of your tormentors,
^bewho have said to you,
‘Bow down, that we may pass over’;
and ^bfyou have made your back like the ground
and like the street for them to pass over.”