1 "Listen to me, you who follow after righteousness,

you who seek Yahweh.

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 Yahweh has comforted Zion.

He has comforted all her waste places,

and has made her wilderness like Eden,

and her desert like the garden of Yahweh.

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 Yahweh!

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 Yahweh 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 Yahweh 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 Yahweh your God, who stirs up the sea

so that its waves roar.

Yahweh 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 Yahweh’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 Yahweh’s wrath,

the rebuke of your God.

21 Therefore now hear this, you afflicted,

and drunken, but not with wine:

22 Your Lord Yahweh,

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."

1 Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD; look unto the rock [from which] ye are hewn and to the hole of the pit [from which] ye are dug.

2 Look unto Abraham your father and unto Sarah [that] bore you; for I called him alone and blessed him and multiplied him.

3 For the LORD shall surely comfort Zion; he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of singing.

4 Hearken unto me, my people, and give ear unto me, O my nation: for the law shall proceed from me, and I will uncover my judgment for a light of the peoples.

5 My righteousness [is] near; my saving health is gone forth, and my arms shall judge the people; the isles shall wait upon me; and on my arm shall they place their hope.

6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath; for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and those that dwell therein shall perish in like manner; but my saving health shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall never perish.

7 Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; do not fear the reproach of men, neither be afraid of their revilings.

8 For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool: but my righteousness shall be for ever, and my saving health from age to age.

9 Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, in ages past. [Art] thou not he who cut off the proud [one], and he who smote the dragon?

10 [Art] thou not he who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep; he who turned the depths of the sea into a way, that the redeemed might pass over?

11 Therefore the ransomed of the LORD shall return and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy [shall be] upon their head; they shall obtain gladness and joy; [and] sorrow and mourning shall flee away.

12 I, [even] I, [am] he that comforts you. Who [art] thou that thou should be afraid of man that is mortal and of the son of man [which] shall be counted as stubble?

13 And thou hast already forgotten the LORD thy maker that has stretched forth the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth and hast feared continually every day the fury of the oppressor when he was ready to destroy. But, where [is] the fury of the oppressor?

14 The prisoner is anxious that he may be loosed and that he should not die in the pit nor that his bread should fail.

15 And I [am] the LORD thy God that divides the sea and the waves roar; I am thy God; the LORD of the hosts [is] his name.

16 That has placed my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee with the shadow of my hand, that thou may plant the heavens and lay the foundations of the earth and say unto Zion, Thou [art] my people.

17 Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of the LORD the cup of his fury; thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling [and] wrung [them] out.

18 [There is] no one to guide her among all the sons [whom] she has brought forth; neither [is there any] that takes her by the hand of all the sons [that] she has brought up.

19 These two [things] are come unto thee; who shall be sorry for thee? desolation, and destruction, and the famine, and the sword. Who shall comfort thee?

20 Thy sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets as a wild bull in a net: they are full of the fury of the LORD, the rebuke of thy God.

21 Therefore now hear this, thou afflicted and drunken, but not with wine:

22 Thus has thy Lord said, I AM thy God who pleads the cause of his people; Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, [even] the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again:

23 But I will put it into the hand of those that afflict thee, which have said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over: and thou hast laid thy body as the ground and as the street to those that went over.: