ao:eng_webu
Isaiah 51
1“Listen to me, you who follow after , you who seek the LORD. Look to the rock you were cut from, and to the quarry you were dug from.
2Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who bore you; for when he was but one I called him, I blessed him, and made him many.
3For the LORD has comforted Zion. He has comforted all her waste places, and has made her like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in them, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.
4“Listen to me, my people; and hear me, my nation, for a law will go out from me, and I will establish my justice for a light to the peoples.
5My is near. My has gone out, and my arms will judge the peoples. The islands will wait for me, and they will trust my arm.
6Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth beneath; for the heavens will vanish away like smoke, and the earth will wear out like a garment. Its inhabitants will die in the same way, but my will be forever, and my will not be abolished.
7“Listen to me, you who know , the people in whose heart is my law. Don’t fear the reproach of men, and don’t be dismayed at their insults.
8For the moth will eat them up like a garment, and the worm will eat them like wool; but my will be forever, and my to all generations.”
9Awake, awake, put on strength, arm of the LORD! Awake, as in the days of old, the generations of ancient times. Isn’t it you who cut Rahab in pieces, who pierced the monster?
10Isn’t it you who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep; who made the depths of the sea a way for the to pass over?
11Those ransomed by the LORD will return, and come with singing to Zion. joy shall be on their heads. They will obtain gladness and joy. Sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
12“I, even I, am he who comforts you. Who are you, that you are afraid of man who shall die, and of the who will be made as grass?
13Have you forgotten the LORD your Maker, who stretched out the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth? Do you live in fear continually all day because of the fury of the oppressor, when he prepares to destroy? Where is the fury of the oppressor?
14The captive exile will speedily be freed. He will not die and go down into the pit. His bread won’t fail.
15For I am the LORD your God, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar. the LORD of Armies is his name.
16I have put my words in your mouth and have covered you in the shadow of my hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and tell Zion, ‘You are my people.’”
17Awake, awake! Stand up, Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the LORD’s hand the cup of his wrath. You have drunken the bowl of the cup of staggering, and drained it.
18There is no one to guide her among all the sons to whom she has given birth; and there is no one who takes her by the hand among all the sons whom she has brought up.
19These two things have happened to you— who will grieve with you?— desolation and destruction, and famine and the sword. How can I comfort you?
20Your sons have fainted. They lie at the head of all the streets, like an antelope in a net. They are full of the LORD’s wrath, the rebuke of your God.
21Therefore now hear this, you afflicted, and drunken, but not with wine:
22Your Lord GOD, your God who pleads the cause of his people, says, “Behold, I have taken out of your hand the cup of staggering, even the bowl of the cup of my wrath. You will not drink it any more.
23I will put it into the hand of those who afflict you, who have said to your soul, ‘Bow down, that we may walk over you;’ and you have laid your back as the ground, like a street to those who walk over.”
Slow reading
Read Isaiah 51 three times
Guided passes through short verse groups: read it whole, watch the words, then pray it back. Phrases to stop on along the way, with deeper explanation held back until you have read the verses yourself.
Ask about this chapter
Have a question about Isaiah 51?
Ask anything about this chapter. Every answer names the verses it rests on and links straight to them, highlighted in the reader.
Study together
Questions on Isaiah 51
Every comment is tied to a place in the text: a verse, a span of verses, or one section of the study. Ask what you do not understand, and answer others from Scripture.
Sign in to ask a question or answer one. Reading always stays open to everyone.
Questions this passage answers
Who is God?
God is the one living Creator who made everything and depends on nothing, and Scripture answers this question mainly by telling us his character rather than by defining his substance. When God described himself to Moses he said he is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abundant in loving kindness and truth, and yet will by no means clear the guilty. The New Testament adds that this God is finally known in Jesus Christ, who has made him known.
Can the Bible be trusted?
Scripture claims to be true and invites examination rather than avoiding it. It says God's word is truth and that it stands when everything else fades, and the New Testament writers appeal to eyewitnesses, named places and public events rather than to private experience. Trust in Scripture is finally trust in the God who speaks in it, and the clearest reason a Christian gives for that trust is that Jesus treated these writings as God's own word.
What is sin?
Scripture defines sin as lawlessness, as falling short of God's glory, and as failing to do the good we know we should do. It is not only a list of bad actions but a condition of the heart that produces them, and it is first against God rather than only against people. Scripture also says all have sinned, that its wage is death, and that God is faithful to forgive those who confess.
What does the Bible say about fear?
Scripture never tells a frightened person that fear is imaginary. It says do not be afraid hundreds of times, and almost always attaches a reason rather than a technique: I am with you, I have redeemed you, you are of more value than sparrows. It also distinguishes the fear that must go from the fear of the Lord, which is commanded and which shrinks every smaller fear.