1Listen to me, you who pursue what is right, you who seek Yahweh: look to the rock from which you were cut, and to the quarry from which you were dug.
2Look to your father Abraham, and to Sarah who gave birth to you; for when he was only one person, I called him, blessed him, and made him many.
3For Yahweh has comforted Zion. He has comforted all her ruined places and has made her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of Yahweh. Joy and gladness will be found there, thanksgiving and the sound of singing.
4Listen to me, my people, and hear me, my nation: for a law will come from me, and I will establish my justice as a light for the nations.
5My righteousness is near. My salvation has gone out, and my power will judge the peoples. The islands will wait for me and will trust my power.
6Look up to the heavens, and look at the earth below; for the heavens will vanish like smoke, and the earth will wear out like a garment; and its inhabitants will die in the same way. But my salvation will last forever, and my righteousness will never end.
7Listen to me, you who know what is right, you people who have my law in your heart: Don't be afraid of insults from humans, and don't be discouraged by their taunts.
8For the moth will eat them up like a piece of clothing, and the worm will eat them like wool; but my goodness will last forever, and my salvation will be for all generations.
9Wake up, wake up! Use your strength, arm of Yahweh! Wake up, as you did in ancient times. Weren't you the one who cut Rahab into pieces, who stabbed the sea monster?
10Weren't you the one who dried up the sea, the waters of the deep ocean; who made a path through the deep sea for those who were saved to cross?
11Those rescued by Yahweh will return, coming to Zion with singing; and everlasting joy will be theirs. They will find happiness and joy. Sorrow and sighing will disappear.
12“I, indeed I, am the one who comforts you. Why are you afraid of humans who will die, and of people who will fade away like grass?
13Have you forgotten Yahweh your Maker, who stretched out the skies and laid the foundations of the earth? Do you live in constant fear all day because of the anger of your oppressor, as he prepares to destroy? Where is the anger of the oppressor now?
14The captive exile will soon be set free; he will not die and go down into the pit, and he will not lack food.
15For I am Yahweh your God, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar: Yahweh of Armies is his name.
16I have put my words in your mouth, and protected you with my hand, so that I may create new heavens, and lay new foundations for the earth, and tell Zion, ‘You are my people.’
17Wake up, wake up! Stand up, Jerusalem, you who have drunk the cup of Yahweh’s anger from his hand. You have drunk the bowl of the cup that makes you stumble, and drained it.
18There is no one to guide her among all the children she has given birth to; and no one to take her by the hand among all the children she has raised.
19These two things have happened to you — who will grieve with you? — desolation and destruction, and famine and the sword. How can I comfort you?
20Your children have fainted. They lie at the head of every street, like an antelope caught in a net. They are filled with Yahweh’s anger, the rebuke of your God.
21Therefore, hear this now, you who are suffering and intoxicated, but not with wine:
22Your Lord Yahweh, your God who champions his people, says this: “Look, I have taken the cup that makes you stumble from your hand, the bowl of my anger. You will not drink it anymore:
23and I will put it into the hands of those who oppressed you, who told you, ‘Bow down so we can walk over you;’ and you made your back like the ground, like a street for those who walked over.”