Isaiah 51

 ¹ “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness 
   and who seek the LORD: 
Look to the rock from which you were cut 
   and to the quarry from which you were hewn; 
² look to Abraham, your father, 
   and to Sarah, who gave you birth. 
When I called him he was but one, 
   and I blessed him and made him many. 
³ The LORD will surely comfort Zion 
   and will look with compassion on all her ruins; 
he will make her deserts like Eden, 
   her wastelands like the garden of the LORD. 
Joy and gladness will be found in her, 
   thanksgiving and the sound of singing.

 ⁴ “Listen to me, my people; 
   hear me, my nation: 
The law will go out from me; 
   my justice will become a light to the nations. 
⁵ My righteousness draws near speedily, 
   my salvation is on the way, 
   and my arm will bring justice to the nations. 
The islands will look to me 
   and wait in hope for my arm. 
⁶ Lift up your eyes to the heavens, 
   look at the earth beneath; 
the heavens will vanish like smoke, 
   the earth will wear out like a garment 
   and its inhabitants die like flies. 
But my salvation will last forever, 
   my righteousness will never fail.

 ⁷ “Hear me, you who know what is right, 
   you people who have my law in your hearts: 
Do not fear the reproach of men 
   or be terrified by their insults. 
⁸ For the moth will eat them up like a garment; 
   the worm will devour them like wool. 
But my righteousness will last forever, 
   my salvation through all generations.”

 ⁹ Awake, awake! Clothe yourself with strength, 
   O arm of the LORD; 
awake, as in days gone by, 
   as in generations of old. 
Was it not you who cut Rahab to pieces, 
   who pierced that monster through? 
¹⁰ Was it not you who dried up the sea, 
   the waters of the great deep, 
who made a road in the depths of the sea 
   so that the redeemed might cross over? 
¹¹ The ransomed of the LORD will return. 
   They will enter Zion with singing; 
   everlasting joy will crown their heads. 
Gladness and joy will overtake them, 
   and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

 ¹² “I am the one who strengthens you. 
   Why should you fear mortals, 
   the sons of men, who are but grass, 
¹³ that you forget the LORD your Maker, 
   who stretched out the heavens 
   and laid the foundations of the earth, 
why should you live in constant fear 
   because of the wrath of the oppressor, 
   who is bent on destruction? 
For where is the wrath of the oppressor? 
 ¹⁴ The cowering prisoners will soon be set free; 
they will not die in their dungeon, 
   nor will they lack bread. 
¹⁵ For I am the LORD your God, 
   who churns up the sea so that its waves roar— 
   the LORD Almighty is his name. 
¹⁶ I have put my words in your mouth 
   and covered you with the shadow of my hand— 
I who set the heavens in place, 
   who laid the foundations of the earth, 
   and who say to Zion, ‘You are my people.’”