The Lord’s Comfort for Zion
1 ver. 7"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 Ezek. 33:24he was but one when I called him,
that I might bless him and multiply him.
3 For the Lordch. 40:1;52:9comforts Zion;
he comforts all her waste places
and makes her wilderness like Gen. 2:8;Ezek. 28:13;31:9;Joel 2:3Eden,
her desert like Gen. 13:10the garden of the Lord;
ch. 35:10joy and gladness will be found in her,
thanksgiving and the voice of song.
4 Ps. 78:1"Give attention to me, my people,
and give ear to me, my nation;
ch. 2:3for a law51:4 Or for teaching; also verse 7 will go out from me,
and I will set my justice for a light to the peoples.
5 ch. 46:13My righteousness draws near,
my salvation has gone out,
and my arms will judge the peoples;
See ch. 11:11the coastlands hope for me,
and for my arm they wait.
6 ch. 40:26Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
and look at the earth beneath;
Ps. 102:26;[Matt. 24:25;2 Pet. 3:10;Rev. 21:1] for the heavens vanish like smoke,
the earth will wear out like a garment,
and they who dwell in it will die in like manner;51:6 Or will die like gnats
[Ps. 102:27,28]but my salvation will be forever,
and my righteousness will never be dismayed.
7 ver. 1"Listen to me, you who know righteousness,
the people Ps. 37:31in whose heart is my law;
ch. 41:14;Matt. 10:28fear not the reproach of man,
nor be dismayed at their revilings.
8 ch. 50:9For the moth will eat them up like a garment,
and the worm will eat them like wool,
[See ver. 6above]but my righteousness will be forever,
and my salvation to all generations."
9 ver. 17;ch. 52:1Awake, awake, [Ps. 93:1] put on strength,
O ch. 40:10;52:10;53:1;Luke 1:51arm of the Lord;
awake, Ps. 44:1as in days of old,
the generations of long ago.
Was it not you who cut ch. 30:7Rahab in pieces,
who pierced ch. 27:1;Ps. 74:13,14;Ezek. 29:3the dragon?
10 ch. 43:16;Ex. 14:21;Ps. 106:9Was 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 See ch. 35:10And 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 ch. 40:1;66:13who comforts you;
who are you that you are afraid of Ps. 118:6man who dies,
of the son of man who is made See ch. 40:6like grass,
13 and have forgotten the Lord, your Maker,
ch. 40:22who stretched out the heavens
and See ch. 48:13laid the foundations of the earth,
and you fear continually all the day
because of the wrath of ch. 14:4the oppressor,
when he sets himself to destroy?
And where is the wrath of ch. 14:4the oppressor?
14 ch. 45:13He who is bowed down shall speedily be released;
he shall not die and go down Zech. 9:11to the pit,
neither shall his bread be lacking.
15 I am the Lord your God,
Jer. 31:35who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—
the Lord of hosts is his name.
16 ch. 59:21;[ch. 50:4] And I have put my words in your mouth
ch. 49:2and covered you in the shadow of my hand,
ch. 40:22establishing51:16 Or planting the heavens
and See ch. 48:13laying the foundations of the earth,
and saying to Zion, ‘You are my people.’"
17 ver. 9;ch. 52:1Wake yourself, wake yourself,
stand up, O Jerusalem,
Job 21:20;Jer. 25:15;[Matt. 20:22;26:39,42;Mark 10:38;14:36;Luke 22:42;John 18:11] you who have drunk from the hand of the Lord
the cup of his wrath,
who have drunk to the dregs
the bowl, Ps. 60:3;Zech. 12:2the cup of staggering.
18 [Ps. 74:9;Jer. 5:31]There 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 ch. 47:9These two things have happened to you—
who will console you?—
devastation and destruction, famine and sword;
who will comfort you?51:19 Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Masoretic Text how shall I comfort you
20 Lam. 2:11,12Your sons have fainted;
they lie at the head of every street
like an Deut. 14:5antelope [Ps. 141:10]in a net;
they are full of the wrath of the Lord,
the rebuke of your God.
21 ch. 54:11Therefore hear this, you who are afflicted,
who are drunk, but not with wine:
22 Thus says your Lord, the Lord,
your God Jer. 50:34;[ch. 49:25] who pleads the cause of his people:
"Behold, I have taken from your hand [See ver. 17above]the cup of staggering;
the bowl of my wrath you shall drink no more;
23 Jer. 25:17,26,28and I will put it into the hand of your tormentors,
[ch. 47:6] who have said to you,
‘Bow down, that we may pass over’;
and [ch. 52:2]you have made your back like the ground
and like the street for them to pass over."