Isaiah 51:1-16

“Listen to Me, you who pursue righteousness (right standing with God), Who seek and inquire of the LORD: Look to the rock from which you were cut And to the excavation of the quarry from which you were dug. “Look to Abraham your father And to Sarah who gave birth to you in pain; For I called him when he was but one, Then I blessed him and made him many.” For the LORD will comfort Zion [in her captivity]; He will comfort all her ruins. And He will make her wilderness like Eden, And her desert like the garden of the LORD; Joy and gladness will be found in her, Thanksgiving and the voice of a melody. ¶“Listen carefully to Me [says the LORD], O My people, And hear Me, O My nation; For a [divine] law will go forth from Me, And I will quickly establish My justice as a light to the peoples. “My righteousness (justice) is near, My salvation has gone forth, And My arms will judge the peoples; The islands and coastlands will wait for Me, And they will wait with hope and confident expectation for My arm. “Lift up your eyes to the heavens, Then look to the earth beneath; For the heavens will be torn to pieces and vanish like smoke, And the earth will wear out like a garment And its inhabitants will die in like manner. But My salvation will be forever, And My righteousness (justice) [and faithfully fulfilled promise] will not be broken. [Matt 24:35; Heb 1:11; 2 Pet 3:10] “Listen to Me, you who know righteousness (right standing with God), The people in whose heart is My law and instruction; Do not fear the reproach and taunting of man, Nor be distressed at their reviling. “For the moth will eat them like a garment, And the worm will eat them like wool. But My righteousness and justice [faithfully promised] will exist forever, And My salvation to all generations.” ¶Awake, awake, put on strength and might, O arm of the LORD; Awake as in the ancient days, as in the generations of long ago. Was it not You who cut Rahab (Egypt) in pieces, Who pierced the dragon [of Egypt]? [Is 30:7] Was it not You who dried up the [Red] Sea, The waters of the great deep, Who made the depths of the sea a pathway For the redeemed to cross over? So the redeemed of the LORD will return And come with joyful shouting to Zion; Everlasting joy will be on their heads. They will obtain gladness and joy, And sorrow and sighing will flee away. [Rev 7:17; 21:1, 4] ¶“I, even I, am He who comforts you. Who are you that you are afraid of man who dies And of a son of man who is made [as destructible] as grass, That you have forgotten the LORD your Maker, Who stretched out the heavens And laid the foundations of the earth, That you continually tremble with fear all day long because of the rage of the oppressor, As he takes aim to destroy? And where is the rage of the oppressor? The [captive] exile will soon be set free, and will not die in the dungeon, nor will his food be lacking. For I am the LORD your God, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—the LORD of hosts is His name. I have put My words in your mouth and have covered you with the shadow of My hand, to establish the [renewed] heavens and lay the foundations of the [renewed] earth, and to say to Zion (Jerusalem), ‘You are My people.’ ” [Is 65:17; 66:22; Rev 21:1]