The Holy Bible

Everlasting Salvation for Zion

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 gave birth to you. When I called him, he was but one,
and I blessed him and made him many.”

3 For the Lord will comfort Zion;
He will comfort all her waste places; 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 melody of songs.

4 “Listen to Me, My people;
hear Me, My nation:

The law will come from Me,
and My justice for a light to the nations. 5 My righteousness draws near rapidly,
My salvation is on the way, and My arms will bring justice to the peoples. The coastlands will look to Me,
and wait in hope for My arm. 6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
look at the earth beneath; for the heavens will vanish like smoke,
and the earth will wear out like a garment, and those who live on it will die in like manner. But My salvation will last forever,
and My righteousness will never fail.

7 “Listen to Me, you who know righteousness,
you people who have My law in your heart:

Do not fear the reproach of people,
or be shattered by their insults. 8 For the moth will eat them up like a garment,
and the worm will devour them like wool. But My righteousness will last forever,
and My salvation through all generations.”

9 Awake, awake! Put on strength,
O arm of the Lord! Awake, as in days of old,
as in generations of old. Was it not You who cut Rahab in pieces,
who pierced that sea monster? 10 Was it not You who dried up the sea,
the waters of the great deep; who made the depths of the sea a road,
for the redeemed to cross over?

12 “I, even I, am He who comforts you.
Who are you that you fear man who dies, the sons of men, who fade away like grass? 13 You forget the Lord your Maker,
who stretched out the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth. You are in constant fear every day
because of the fury of the oppressor, who has set himself to destroy. But where is the fury of the oppressor?

14 “The prisoner will soon be set free;
he will not die and go down to the Pit, nor will he lack bread. 15 For I am the Lord your God
who churns up the sea so its waves roar— the Lord of Hosts is His name. 16 I have put My words in your mouth,
and covered you in the shadow of My hand— I who have planted the heavens,
who laid the foundations of the earth, and who says to Zion, ‘You are My people’.”

The Cup of the Lord’s Wrath

17 Awake, awake!
Rise up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the Lord
the cup of His fury, you who have drained the goblet to its dregs—
the cup that makes men stagger. 18 There is no one to guide her
among all the sons that she has borne; there is no one who takes her by the hand
among all the sons she has raised. 19 These two things have befallen you;
who will grieve for you?— devastation and destruction, famine and sword—
who will comfort you? 20 Your children have fainted;
they lie at the head of every street, like an antelope caught in a net. They are filled with the wrath of the Lord,
and the rebuke of your God.

21 Therefore listen to this, you afflicted one,
made drunk, but not with wine. 22 This is what your Lord says—
the Lord your God, who defends the cause of His people: “Behold, I have taken from your hand
the cup of staggering, the dregs of the goblet of My fury;
you will never drink it again. 23 I will put it into the hand of your tormenters,
who said to you, ‘Fall down, that we may walk over you’. You made your back like the ground,
and like a street to be walked over.”