The Tanakh · JPS 1917 Translation

Isaiah 51

Jewish Publication Society 1917 · Nevi'im — the Prophets

Isaiah chapter 51 — part of the Nevi'im — the Prophets in the Jewish Bible. In the classic JPS 1917 translation it opens: “Hearken to Me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek HaShem; look unto the rock whence ye were hewn, and to the hole of the…” — the complete text of all 23 verses is below, free to read online.

1Hearken to Me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek HaShem; look unto the rock whence ye were hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye were digged.

2Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bore you; for when he was but one I called him, and I blessed him, and made him many.

3For HaShem hath comforted Zion; He hath comforted all her waste places, and hath made her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of HaShem; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.

4Attend unto Me, O My people, and give ear unto Me, O My nation; for instruction shall go forth from Me, and My right on a sudden for a light of the peoples.

5My favour is near, My salvation is gone forth, and Mine arms shall judge the peoples; the isles shall wait for Me, and on Mine arm shall they trust.

6Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath; for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner; but My salvation shall be for ever, and My favour shall not be abolished.

7Hearken unto Me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is My law; fear ye not the taunt of men, neither be ye dismayed at their revilings.

8For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool; but My favour shall be for ever, and My salvation unto all generations.

9Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of HaShem; awake, as in the days of old, the generations of ancient times. Art thou not it that hewed Rahab in pieces, that pierced the dragon?

10Art thou not it that dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep; that made the depths of the sea a way for the redeemed to pass over?

11And the ransomed of HaShem shall return, and come with singing unto Zion, and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

12I, even I, am He that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou art afraid of man that shall die, and of the son of man that shall be made as grass;

13And hast forgotten HaShem thy Maker, that stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and fearest continually all the day because of the fury of the oppressor, as he maketh ready to destroy? And where is the fury of the oppressor?

14He that is bent down shall speedily be loosed; and he shall not go down dying into the pit, neither shall his bread fail.

15For I am HaShem thy G-d, who stirreth up the sea, that the waves thereof roar; HaShem of hosts is His name.

16And I have put My words in thy mouth, and have covered thee in the shadow of My hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion: 'Thou art My people.'

17Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, that hast drunk at the hand of HaShem the cup of His fury; thou hast drunken the beaker, even the cup of staggering, and drained it.

18There is none to guide her among all the sons whom she hath brought forth; neither is there any that taketh her by the hand of all the sons that she hath brought up.

19These two things are befallen thee; who shall bemoan thee? desolation and destruction, and the famine and the sword; how shall I comfort thee?

20Thy sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets, as an antelope in a net; they are full of the fury of HaShem, the rebuke of thy G-d.

21Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunken, but not with wine;

22Thus saith thy L-rd HaShem, and thy G-d that pleadeth the cause of His people: behold, I have taken out of thy hand the cup of staggering; the beaker, even the cup of My fury, thou shalt no more drink it again;

23And I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee; that have said to thy soul: 'Bow down, that we may go over'; and thou hast laid thy back as the ground, and as the street, to them that go over.

23 verses · JPS 1917 (public domain)

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