Isaiah 51:1-8

The Lord's Comfort for Zion

1 d "Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness,
you who seek the Lord:
look to the rock from which you were hewn,
and to the quarry from which you were dug.
 2 Look to Abraham your father
and to Sarah who bore you;
for e he was but one when I called him,
that I might bless him and multiply him.
 3 For the Lord f comforts Zion;
he comforts all her waste places
and makes her wilderness like g Eden,
her desert like h the garden of the Lord;
i joy and gladness will be found in her,
thanksgiving and the voice of song.

4 j "Give attention to me, my people,
and give ear to me, my nation;
k for a law 1 will go out from me,
and I will set my justice for a light to the peoples.
 5 l My righteousness draws near,
my salvation has gone out,
and my arms will judge the peoples;
m the coastlands hope for me,
and for my arm they wait.
 6 n Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
and look at the earth beneath;
o for the heavens vanish like smoke,
the earth will wear out like a garment,
and they who dwell in it will die in like manner; 2
p but my salvation will be forever,
and my righteousness will never be dismayed.

7 q "Listen to me, you who know righteousness,
the people r in whose heart is my law;
s fear not the reproach of man,
nor be dismayed at their revilings.
 8 t For the moth will eat them up like a garment,
and the worm will eat them like wool;
p but my righteousness will be forever,
and my salvation to all generations."

  1. Cross References
    Isaiah 51:7
    Listen to me, you who know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear not the reproach of man, nor be dismayed at their revilings.
  2. Cross References
    Ezekiel 33:24
    "Son of man, the inhabitants of these waste places in the land of Israel keep saying, 'Abraham was only one man, yet he got possession of the land; but we are many; the land is surely given us to possess.'
  3. Cross References
    Isaiah 40:1
    Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
    Isaiah 52:9
    Break forth together into singing, you waste places of Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted his people; he has redeemed Jerusalem.
  4. Cross References
    Genesis 2:8
    And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.
    Ezekiel 28:13
    You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle; and crafted in gold were your settings and your engravings. On the day that you were created they were prepared.
    Ezekiel 31:9
    I made it beautiful in the mass of its branches, and all the trees of Eden envied it, that were in the garden of God.
    Joel 2:3
    Fire devours before them, and behind them a flame burns. The land is like the garden of Eden before them, but behind them a desolate wilderness, and nothing escapes them.
  5. Cross References
    Genesis 13:10
    And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw that the Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, in the direction of Zoar. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)
  6. Cross References
    Isaiah 35:10
    And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
  7. Cross References
    Psalms 78:1
    Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth!
  8. Cross References
    Isaiah 2:3
    And many peoples shall come, and say: "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths." For out of Zion shall go the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
  9. Cross References
    Isaiah 46:13
    I bring near my righteousness; it is not far off, and my salvation will not delay; I will put salvation in Zion, for Israel my glory.
  10. Cross References
    Isaiah 11:11
    In that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that remains of his people, from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea.
  11. Cross References
    Isaiah 40:26
    Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name, by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power not one is missing.
  12. Cross References
    Psalms 102:26
    They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away.
    Matthew 24:25
    See, I have told you beforehand.
    2 Peter 3:10
    But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
    Revelation 21:1
    Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
  13. Cross References
    Psalms 102:27 - 28
    But you are the same, and your years have no end.
  14. Cross References
    Isaiah 51:1
    Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, you who seek the Lord : look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug.
  15. Cross References
    Psalms 37:31
    The law of his God is in his heart; his steps do not slip.
  16. Cross References
    Isaiah 41:14
    Fear not, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel! I am the one who helps you, declares the Lord ; your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
    Matthew 10:28
    And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
  17. Cross References
    Isaiah 50:9
    Behold, the Lord God helps me; who will declare me guilty? Behold, all of them will wear out like a garment; the moth will eat them up.
  18. Cross References
    Isaiah 51:6
    Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth beneath; for the heavens vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and they who dwell in it will die in like manner; but my salvation will be forever, and my righteousness will never be dismayed.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.