Words of Comfort to Zion

51¹ "Listen to me, all who hope for deliverance- all who seek the Lord ! Consider the rock from which you were cut, the quarry from which you were mined. ² Yes, think about Abraham, your ancestor, and Sarah, who gave birth to your nation. Abraham was only one man when I called him. But when I blessed him, he became a great nation." ³ The Lord will comfort Israel again and have pity on her ruins. Her desert will blossom like Eden, her barren wilderness like the garden of the Lord . Joy and gladness will be found there. Songs of thanksgiving will fill the air.

⁴ "Listen to me, my people. Hear me, Israel, for my law will be proclaimed, and my justice will become a light to the nations. ⁵ My mercy and justice are coming soon. My salvation is on the way. My strong arm will bring justice to the nations. All distant lands will look to me and wait in hope for my powerful arm. ⁶ Look up to the skies above, and gaze down on the earth below. For the skies will disappear like smoke, and the earth will wear out like a piece of clothing. The people of the earth will die like flies, but my salvation lasts forever. My righteous rule will never end! ⁷ "Listen to me, you who know right from wrong, you who cherish my law in your hearts. Do not be afraid of people's scorn, nor fear their insults. ⁸ For the moth will devour them as it devours clothing. The worm will eat at them as it eats wool. But my righteousness will last forever. My salvation will continue from generation to generation."

⁹ Wake up, wake up, O Lord ! Clothe yourself with strength! Flex your mighty right arm! Rouse yourself as in the days of old when you slew Egypt, the dragon of the Nile. ¹⁰ Are you not the same today, the one who dried up the sea, making a path of escape through the depths so that your people could cross over? ¹¹ Those who have been ransomed by the Lord will return. They will enter Jerusalem singing, crowned with everlasting joy. Sorrow and mourning will disappear, and they will be filled with joy and gladness. ¹² "I, yes I, am the one who comforts you. So why are you afraid of mere humans, who wither like the grass and disappear? ¹³ Yet you have forgotten the Lord, your Creator, the one who stretched out the sky like a canopy and laid the foundations of the earth. Will you remain in constant dread of human oppressors? Will you continue to fear the anger of your enemies? Where is their fury and anger now? It is gone! ¹⁴ Soon all you captives will be released! Imprisonment, starvation, and death will not be your fate! ¹⁵ For I am the Lord your God, who stirs up the sea, causing its waves to roar. My name is the Lord of Heaven's Armies. ¹⁶ And I have put my words in your mouth and hidden you safely in my hand. I stretched out the sky like a canopy and laid the foundations of the earth. I am the one who says to Israel, 'You are my people!'"

¹⁷ Wake up, wake up, O Jerusalem! You have drunk the cup of the Lord 's fury. You have drunk the cup of terror, tipping out its last drops. ¹⁸ Not one of your children is left alive to take your hand and guide you. ¹⁹ These two calamities have fallen on you: desolation and destruction, famine and war. And who is left to sympathize with you? Who is left to comfort you? ²⁰ For your children have fainted and lie in the streets, helpless as antelopes caught in a net. The Lord has poured out his fury; God has rebuked them. ²¹ But now listen to this, you afflicted ones who sit in a drunken stupor, though not from drinking wine. ²² This is what the Sovereign Lord, your God and Defender, says: "See, I have taken the terrible cup from your hands. You will drink no more of my fury. ²³ Instead, I will hand that cup to your tormentors, those who said, 'We will trample you into the dust and walk on your backs.'"

The LORD's Judgment on Judah and Jerusalem

3¹ The Lord, the Lord of Heaven's Armies, will take away from Jerusalem and Judah everything they depend on: every bit of bread and every drop of water, ² all their heroes and soldiers, judges and prophets, fortune-tellers and elders, ³ army officers and high officials, advisers, skilled sorcerers, and astrologers. ⁴ I will make boys their leaders, and toddlers their rulers. ⁵ People will oppress each other- man against man, neighbor against neighbor. Young people will insult their elders, and vulgar people will sneer at the honorable. ⁶ In those days a man will say to his brother, "Since you have a coat, you be our leader! Take charge of this heap of ruins!" ⁷ But he will reply, "No! I can't help. I don't have any extra food or clothes. Don't put me in charge!" ⁸ For Jerusalem will stumble, and Judah will fall, because they speak out against the Lord and refuse to obey him. They provoke him to his face.

⁹ The very look on their faces gives them away. They display their sin like the people of Sodom and don't even try to hide it. They are doomed! They have brought destruction upon themselves. ¹⁰ Tell the godly that all will be well for them. They will enjoy the rich reward they have earned! ¹¹ But the wicked are doomed, for they will get exactly what they deserve. ¹² Childish leaders oppress my people, and women rule over them. O my people, your leaders mislead you; they send you down the wrong road. ¹³ The Lord takes his place in court and presents his case against his people. ¹⁴ The Lord comes forward to pronounce judgment on the elders and rulers of his people: "You have ruined Israel, my vineyard. Your houses are filled with things stolen from the poor. ¹⁵ How dare you crush my people, grinding the faces of the poor into the dust?" demands the Lord, the Lord of Heaven's Armies.

Judgment on the Daughters of Zion

¹⁶ The Lord says, "Beautiful Zion is haughty: craning her elegant neck, flirting with her eyes, walking with dainty steps, tinkling her ankle bracelets. ¹⁷ So the Lord will send scabs on her head; the Lord will make beautiful Zion bald." ¹⁸ On that day of judgment the Lord will strip away everything that makes her beautiful: ornaments, headbands, crescent necklaces, ¹⁹ earrings, bracelets, and veils; ²⁰ scarves, ankle bracelets, sashes, perfumes, and charms; ²¹ rings, jewels, ²² party clothes, gowns, capes, and purses; ²³ mirrors, fine linen garments, head ornaments, and shawls. ²⁴ Instead of smelling of sweet perfume, she will stink. She will wear a rope for a sash, and her elegant hair will fall out. She will wear rough burlap instead of rich robes. Shame will replace her beauty. ²⁵ The men of the city will be killed with the sword, and her warriors will die in battle. ²⁶ The gates of Zion will weep and mourn. The city will be like a ravaged woman, huddled on the ground.