Isa 51:1-11 | NET2full | STEP | “ Listen to me, you who pursue godliness , who seek the Lord . Look at the rock from which you were chiseled , at the quarry from which you were dug .

Isaiah 51:1-11

There is Hope for the Future

1 “Listen to me, you who pursue godliness, ^{▼▼tn Or “righteousness” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “justice”; NLT “hope for deliverance.”}
who seek the Lord.
Look at the rock from which you were chiseled,
at the quarry ^{▼▼tn Heb “the excavation of the hole.”} from which you were dug. ^{▼▼sn The “rock” and “quarry” refer here to Abraham and Sarah, the progenitors of the nation.}
2 Look at Abraham, your father,
and Sarah, who gave you birth. ^{▼▼sn Although Abraham and Sarah are distant ancestors of the people the prophet is addressing, they are spoken of as the immediate parents.}
When I summoned him, he was a lone individual, ^{▼▼tn Heb “one”; NLT “was alone”; TEV “was childless.”}
but I blessed him ^{▼▼tn “Bless” may here carry the sense of “endue with potency, reproductive power.” See Gen 1:28.} and gave him numerous descendants. ^{▼▼tn Heb “and I made him numerous.”}
3 Certainly the Lord will console Zion;
he will console all her ruins.
He will make her wilderness like Eden,
her arid rift valley like the garden of the Lord. ^{▼▼sn The rift valley (עֲרָבָה, ʿaravah) is known for its dry, desert-like conditions in the area of the Dead Sea and southward (although it also includes the Jordan Valley to the north). The wilderness (מִדְבָּר, midbar) is an area that receives less than twelve inches of rain per year and so can only support meager vegetation at best. The imagery here focuses on the transformation from arid and lifeless to watered and luxuriant.}
Happiness and joy will be restored to ^{▼▼tn Heb “found in” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).} her,
thanksgiving and the sound of music.
4 Pay attention to me, my people.
Listen to me, my people!
For ^{▼▼tn Or “certainly.”} I will issue a decree, ^{▼▼tn Heb “instruction [or “a law”] will go out from me.”}
I will make my justice a light to the nations. ^{▼▼tn Heb “and my justice for a light to the nations I will cause to rest.”}
5 I am ready to vindicate, ^{▼▼tn Heb “my righteousness [or “vindication”] is near.”}
I am ready to deliver, ^{▼▼tn Heb “my deliverance goes forth.”}
I will establish justice among the nations. ^{▼▼tn Heb “and my arms will judge [on behalf of] nations.”}
The coastlands ^{▼▼tn Or “islands” (NIV); TEV “Distant lands.”} wait patiently for me;
they wait in anticipation for the revelation of my power. ^{▼▼tn Heb “for my arm” (so NIV, NRSV).}
6 Look up at the sky.
Look at the earth below.
For the sky will dissipate ^{▼▼tn Heb “will be torn in pieces.” The perfect indicates the certitude of the event, from the Lord’s rhetorical perspective.} like smoke,
and the earth will wear out like clothes;
its residents will die like gnats.
But the deliverance I give ^{▼▼tn Heb “my deliverance.” The same Hebrew word can also be translated “salvation” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); cf. CEV “victory.”} is permanent;
the vindication I provide ^{▼▼tn Heb “my righteousness [or “vindication”].”} will not disappear. ^{▼▼tn Heb “will not be shattered [or “dismayed”].”}
7 Listen to me, you who know what is right,
you people who are aware of my law. ^{▼▼tn Heb “people (who have) my law in their heart.”}
Don’t be afraid of the insults of men;
don’t be discouraged because of their abuse.
8 For a moth will eat away at them like clothes;
a clothes moth will devour them like wool.
But the vindication I provide ^{▼▼tn Heb “my vindication”; many English versions “my righteousness”; NRSV, TEV “my deliverance”; CEV “my victory.”} will be permanent;
the deliverance I give will last.”
9 Wake up! Wake up!
Clothe yourself with strength, O arm of the Lord! ^{▼▼tn The arm of the Lord is a symbol of divine military power. Here it is personified and told to arouse itself from sleep and prepare for action.}
Wake up as in former times, as in antiquity.
Did you not smash ^{▼▼tn Heb “Are you not the one who smashed?” The feminine singular forms agree grammatically with the feminine noun “arm.” The Hebrew text hasהַמַּחְצֶבֶת (hammakhtsevet), from the verbal root חָצַב (khatsav, “hew, chop”). The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has, probably correctly, המחצת, from the verbal root מָחַץ (makhats, “smash”) which is used in Job 26:12 to describe God’s victory over “the Proud One.”} the Proud One? ^{▼▼tn This title (רַהַב, rahav, “proud one”) is sometimes translated as a proper name: “Rahab” (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV). It is used here of a symbolic sea monster, known elsewhere in the Bible and in Ugaritic myth as Leviathan. This sea creature symbolizes the forces of chaos that seek to destroy the created order. In the Bible “the Proud One” opposes God’s creative work, but is defeated (see Job 26:12; Ps 89:10). Here the title refers to Pharaoh’s Egyptian army that opposed Israel at the Red Sea (see v. 10, and note also Isa 30:7 and Ps 87:4, where the title is used of Egypt).}
Did you not ^{▼▼tn The words “did you not” are understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line). The rhetorical questions here and in v. 10 expect the answer, “Yes, you certainly did!”} wound the sea monster? ^{▼▼tn Hebrew תַּנִּין (tannin) is another name for the symbolic sea monster. See the note at 27:1. In this context the sea creature represents Egypt. See the note on the title “Proud One” earlier in this verse.}
10 Did you not dry up the sea,
the waters of the great deep?
Did you not make ^{▼▼tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “Are you not the one who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, who made…?”} a path through the depths of the sea,
so those delivered from bondage ^{▼▼tn Heb “the redeemed” (so ASV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); KJV “the ransomed.”} could cross over?
11 Those whom the Lord has ransomed will return;
they will enter Zion with a happy shout.
Unending joy will crown them, ^{▼▼tn Heb “[will be] on their head[s].” “Joy” may be likened here to a crown (cf. 2 Sam 1:10). The statement may also be an ironic twist on the idiom “earth/dust on the head” (cf. 2 Sam 1:2; 13:19; 15:32; Job 2:12), referring to a mourning practice.}
happiness and joy will overwhelm ^{▼▼tn Heb “overtake” (so NIV); NASB “they will obtain.”} them;
grief and suffering will disappear. ^{▼▼tn Heb “grief and groaning will flee.”}