1 Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek Jehovah : look unto the rock whence ye were hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye were digged.
2 Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you ; for when he was but one I called him, and I blessed him, and made him many.
3 For Jehovah hath comforted Zion ; he hath comforted all her waste places, and hath made her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of Jehovah ; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.
4 Attend unto me, O my people ; and give ear unto me, O my nation : for a law shall go forth from me, and I will establish my justice for a light of the peoples.
5 My righteousness 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.
6 Lift 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 righteousness shall not be abolished.
7 Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law ; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye dismayed at their revilings.
8 For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool ; but my righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation unto all generations.
9 Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of Jehovah ; awake, as in the days of old, the generations of ancient times. Is it not thou that didst cut Rahab in pieces, that didst pierce the monster ?
10 Is it not thou that driedst up the sea, the waters of the great deep ; that madest the depths of the sea a way for the redeemed to pass over ?
11 And the ransomed of Jehovah 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.
12 I, 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 ;
13 and hast forgotten Jehovah 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, when he maketh ready to destroy ? and where is the fury of the oppressor ?
14 The captive exile shall speedily be loosed ; and he shall not die and go down into the pit, neither shall his bread fail.
15 For I am Jehovah thy God, who stirreth up the sea, so that the waves thereof roar : Jehovah of hosts is his name.
16 And 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.
17 Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, that hast drunk at the hand of Jehovah the cup of his wrath ; thou hast drunken the bowl of the cup of staggering, and drained it.
18 There is none to guide her among all the sons whom she hath brought forth ; neither is there any that taketh her by the hand among all the sons that she hath brought up.
19 These two things are befallen thee, who shall bemoan thee ? desolation and destruction, and the famine and the sword ; how shall I comfort thee ?
20 Thy sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets, as an antelope in a net ; they are full of the wrath of Jehovah, the rebuke of thy God.
21 Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunken, but not with wine :
22 Thus saith thy Lord Jehovah, and thy God that pleadeth the cause of his people, Behold, I have taken out of thy hand the cup of staggering, even the bowl of the cup of my wrath ; thou shalt no more drink it again :
23 and 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.