BibleService BibleService Read, Study & Search the Scriptures

Bible Study

Try an example:

WEB · Bible Study

Isaiah 51:1-23

← PreviousChapterNext →Read this passage
Isaiah 51:1 is part of this passage.
1“Listen to me, you who follow after righteousness, you who seek the LORD. Look to the rock you were cut from, and to the quarry you were dug from. 2Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who bore you; for when he was but one I called him, I blessed him, and made him many. 3For the LORD has comforted Zion. He has comforted all her waste places, and has made her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in them, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody. 4“Listen to me, my people; and hear me, my nation, for a law will go out from me, and I will establish my justice for a light to the peoples. 5My righteousness is near. My salvation has gone out, and my arms will judge the peoples. The islands will wait for me, and they will trust my arm. 6Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth beneath; for the heavens will vanish away like smoke, and the earth will wear out like a garment. Its inhabitants will die in the same way, but my salvation will be forever, and my righteousness will not be abolished. 7“Listen to me, you who know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law. Don’t fear the reproach of men, and don’t be dismayed at their insults. 8For the moth will eat them up like a garment, and the worm will eat them like wool; but my righteousness will be forever, and my salvation to all generations.” 9Awake, awake, put on strength, arm of the LORD! Awake, as in the days of old, the generations of ancient times. Isn’t it you who cut Rahab in pieces, who pierced the monster? 10Isn’t it you who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep; who made the depths of the sea a way for the redeemed to pass over? 11Those ransomed by the LORD will return, and come with singing to Zion. Everlasting joy shall be on their heads. They will obtain gladness and joy. Sorrow and sighing shall flee away. 12“I, even I, am he who comforts you. Who are you, that you are afraid of man who shall die, and of the son of man who will be made as grass? 13Have you forgotten the LORD your Maker, who stretched out the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth? Do you live in fear continually all day because of the fury of the oppressor, when he prepares to destroy? Where is the fury of the oppressor? 14The captive exile will speedily be freed. He will not die and go down into the pit. His bread won’t fail. 15For I am the LORD your God, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar. the LORD of Armies is his name. 16I have put my words in your mouth and have covered you in the shadow of my hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and tell Zion, ‘You are my people.’” 17Awake, awake! Stand up, Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the LORD’s hand the cup of his wrath. You have drunken the bowl of the cup of staggering, and drained it. 18There is no one to guide her among all the sons to whom she has given birth; and there is no one who takes her by the hand among all the sons whom she has brought up. 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 sons have fainted. They lie at the head of all the streets, like an antelope in a net. They are full of the LORD’s wrath, the rebuke of your God. 21Therefore now hear this, you afflicted, and drunken, but not with wine: 22Your Lord GOD, your God who pleads the cause of his people, says, “Behold, I have taken out of your hand the cup of staggering, even the bowl of the cup of my wrath. You will not drink it any more. 23I will put it into the hand of those who afflict you, who have said to your soul, ‘Bow down, that we may walk over you;’ and you have laid your back as the ground, like a street to those who walk over.”

Read more

Summary

This passage presents comfort and everlasting salvation and shows how the LORD addresses his people and the nations.

Interpretation

In Isaiah 51:1-23, Isaiah develops comfort and everlasting salvation. The unit's images and movement—especially listen, follow, righteousness—belong to a prophetic argument rather than detached religious sayings. Isaiah speaks to people facing political threat, moral failure, exile, or hope, asking readers to see ordinary events under the authority of the LORD. Its contrasts keep judgment and promise in view.

Theologically, this passage shows that the LORD is not one power among many. He judges pride and empty worship, yet preserves a remnant, gathers the scattered, and makes a future where covenant faithfulness can flourish. Its language may be poetic or shaped by a particular oracle, but its moral center is clear: trust in God must join justice, humility, and attentive obedience. Hope never excuses oppression, and judgment is never the whole story.

Within Isaiah's larger book, this unit participates in movement from rebellion through purification toward restoration. Read it alongside the prophet's insistence that God cares for the poor, foreigner, afflicted, and integrity of worship. Christian readers can hear it in continuity with God's saving work in Christ and the Spirit while respecting its historical setting and promise to Israel. Canonical fulfillment deepens the text; it does not erase its first hearers.

For readers today, the passage invites a response shaped by comfort and everlasting salvation. Bring fear, ambition, grief, or guilt into God's presence instead of hiding behind appearances. Practice justice and mercy, receive hope without demanding an easy timetable, and let God's future correct powers that claim to be ultimate. Isaiah forms a people who remain faithful because the LORD is faithful across generations.

The unit therefore calls for discernment rather than slogan-making. Read its warning with humility, its promise with patience, and its vision of God with reverence. Faithful response may mean confession, waiting, resistance to unjust power, or practical care for a neighbor. In every case, the passage directs attention away from self-made security toward the covenant Lord who judges truly and restores generously.

Context

Isaiah 51 belongs to the prophetic collection's treatment of comfort and everlasting salvation.

Zion remembers Abraham, awakens to God's arm, and exchanges fear for redemption.

The WEB wording is retained; prophetic poetry uses images, royal language, and covenant motifs that should be read in literary setting.

Audience

Readers seeking faithful hope, honest repentance, justice, and confidence in the LORD amid judgment and restoration.

Themes

  • comfort
  • faith
  • redemption

Related passages

Keywords

comfort · faith · redemption · listen · follow · righteousness · quarry