WEB

Isaiah 51

Three times the chapter calls the listeners to attention — "Listen to me" in verses 1, 4, and 7 — first pointing back to Abraham and Sarah, the single couple from whom a nation grew, then forward to a salvation that will outlast the wearing-out of heaven and earth. The argument runs from one rock quarried into many to a justice meant for all peoples. Watch how the speakers trade places: the people cry "Awake, awake, arm of the LORD" (v9), reaching back to the cutting of Rahab and the dried-up sea; then God answers "I, even I, am he who comforts you" (v12). By the close the wakeup call turns back on Jerusalem herself, told to rise from the cup of staggering she has drained.

Chapter

Previous Next All books

Parallel reading:Off Español (LatAm)Português (Brasil)Português (Portugal)

Parallel reading

English + Español (LatAm)

Isaiah 51 (WEB)

1
“Listen to me, you who follow after righteousness, you who seek the LORD. Look to the rock you were cut from, and to the quarry you were dug from.
2
Look 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.
3
For the LORD has comforted Zion. He has comforted all her waste places, and has made her wilderness 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.
5
My righteousness is near. My salvation has gone out, and my arms will judge the peoples. The islands will wait for me, and they will trust my arm.
6
Lift 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 salvation will be forever, and my righteousness will not be abolished.
7
“Listen to me, you who know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law. Don’t fear the reproach of men, and don’t be dismayed at their insults.
8
For the moth will eat them up like a garment, and the worm will eat them like wool; but my righteousness will be forever, and my salvation to all generations.”
9
Awake, 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?
10
Isn’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 redeemed to pass over?
11
Those ransomed by the LORD will return, and come with singing to Zion. Everlasting 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 son of man who will be made as grass?
13
Have 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?
14
The captive exile will speedily be freed. He will not die and go down into the pit. His bread won’t fail.
15
For I am the LORD your God, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar. the LORD of Armies is his name.
16
I 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.’”
17
Awake, 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.
18
There 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.
19
These two things have happened to you— who will grieve with you?— desolation and destruction, and famine and the sword. How can I comfort you?
20
Your 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.
21
Therefore now hear this, you afflicted, and drunken, but not with wine:
22
Your 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.
23
I 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.”

Isaías 51 (RV1909)

1
OIDME, los que seguís justicia, los que buscáis á Jehová: mirad á la piedra de donde fuisteis cortados, y á la caverna de la fosa de donde fuisteis arrancados.
2
Mirad á Abraham vuestro padre, y á Sara que os parió; porque solo lo llamé, y bendíjelo, y multipliquélo.
3
Ciertamente consolará Jehová á Sión: consolará todas sus soledades, y tornará su desierto como paraíso, y su soledad como huerto de Jehová: hallarse ha en ella alegría y gozo, alabanza y voz de cantar.
4
Estad atentos á mí, pueblo mío, y oidme, nación mía; porque de mí saldrá la ley, y mi juicio descubriré para luz de pueblos.
5
Cercana está mi justicia, salido ha mi salud, y mis brazos juzgarán á los pueblos: á mí esperarán las islas, y en mi brazo pondrán su esperanza.
6
Alzad á los cielos vuestros ojos, y mirad abajo á la tierra: porque los cielos serán deshechos como humo, y la tierra se envejecerá como ropa de vestir, y de la misma manera perecerán sus moradores: mas mi salud será para siempre, mi justicia no perecerá.
7
Oidme, los que conocéis justicia, pueblo en cuyo corazón está mi ley. No temáis afrenta de hombre, ni desmayéis por sus denuestos.
8
Porque como á vestidura los comerá polilla, como á lana los comerá gusano; mas mi justicia permanecerá perpetuamente, y mi salud por siglos de siglos.
9
Despiértate, despiértate, vístete de fortaleza, oh brazo de Jehová; despiértate como en el tiempo antiguo, en los siglos pasados. ¿No eres tú el que cortó á Rahab, y el que hirió al dragón?
10
¿No eres tú el que secó la mar, las aguas del grande abismo; el que al profundo de la mar tornó en camino, para que pasasen los redimidos?
11
Cierto, tornarán los redimidos de Jehová, volverán á Sión cantando, y gozo perpetuo será sobre sus cabezas: poseerán gozo y alegría, y el dolor y el gemido huirán.
12
Yo, yo soy vuestro consolador. ¿Quién eres tú para que tengas temor del hombre, que es mortal, del hijo del hombre, que por heno será contado?
13
Y haste ya olvidado de Jehová tu Hacedor, que extendió los cielos y fundó la tierra; y todo el día temiste continuamente del furor del que aflige, cuando se disponía para destruir: mas ¿en dónde está el furor del que aflige?
14
El preso se da prisa para ser suelto, por no morir en la mazmorra, ni que le falte su pan.
15
Empero yo Jehová, que parto la mar, y suenan sus ondas, soy tu Dios, cuyo nombre es Jehová de los ejércitos.
16
Y en tu boca he puesto mis palabras, y con la sombra de mi mano te cubrí, para que plantase los cielos y fundase la tierra, y que dijese á Sión: Pueblo mío eres tú.
17
Despierta, despierta, levántate, oh Jerusalem, que bebiste de la mano de Jehová el cáliz de su furor; las heces del cáliz de aturdimiento bebiste, y chupaste.
18
De todos los hijos que parió, no hay quien la gobierne; ni quien la tome por su mano de todos los hijos que crió.
19
Estas dos cosas te han acaecido; ¿quién se dolerá de ti? asolamiento y quebrantamiento, hambre y espada. ¿Quién te consolará?
20
Tus hijos desmayaron, estuvieron tendidos en las encrucijadas de todos los caminos, como buey montaraz en la red, llenos del furor de Jehová, de la ira del Dios tuyo.
21
Oye pues ahora esto, miserable, ebria, y no de vino:
22
Así dijo tu Señor Jehová, y tu Dios, el cual pleitea por su pueblo: He aquí he quitado de tu mano el cáliz de aturdimiento, la hez del cáliz de mi furor; nunca más lo beberás:
23
Y ponerlo he en mano de tus angustiadores, que dijeron á tu alma: Encórvate, y pasaremos. Y tú pusiste tu cuerpo como tierra, y como camino, á los que pasan.

The cup that changes hands

The chapter's last movement (vv17-23) turns on a single image: a cup of wrath Jerusalem has drunk to the dregs, leaving her sons fainting in the streets like an antelope caught in a net. There is no one among all her children to take her by the hand.

The reversal is total — the same cup is lifted out of her hand and pressed into the hand of her tormentors, the ones who told her to lie down so they could walk over her back. The summons to "awake" is thus not a demand for effort but the announcement that the punishment is finished.

Context layers

Keep these closed by default and open them only when you want more context.

Share a small range via:

/en/web/isaiah/51/16-18

Or use the Passage link builder.

Keep reading in context

Isaiah overview

How Isaiah combines judgment, holiness, warning, comfort, and future hope on a large prophetic scale.

Question pages

Use a practical question page, then return to the chapter.

Waiting on God

Scripture treats waiting on God as active trust, not idle delay. From David's pit-deliverance in Psalm 40 to the farmer in James 5, these passages reframe the gap between promise and fulfillment.

Waiting on God (7 days)

A simple plan based on the topic: Waiting on God. Each day, read the texts and apply one practical takeaway.

Guides

Keep the next reading step concrete with a short guide.