Isaiah 51 - Easy To Read Version

¹ “Some of you people try hard to live good lives. You go to the Lord for help. Listen to me. You should look at Abraham your father. He is the rock you were cut from.

² Abraham is your father, and you should look at him. You should look at Sarah—the woman that gave birth to you. Abraham was alone when I called him. Then I blessed him, and he began a great family. Many, many people came from him.”

³ \{In the same way,\} the Lord will bless Zion. {\cf2\super [417]} The Lord will feel sorry for her and her people, and he will do a great thing for her. The Lord will change the desert. The desert will become a garden like the garden of Eden. That land was empty, but it will become like the Lord’s Garden. People there will be very, very happy. People there will show their joy. They will sing songs about thanks and victory.

⁴ “My people, listen to me!\par My decisions will be like lights\par showing people how to live.\par

⁵ I will soon show I am fair.\par I will soon save you.\par I will use my power and judge all nations.\par All the faraway places are waiting for me.\par They wait for my power to help them.\par

⁶ Look up to the heavens!\par Look around you at the earth below!\par The skies will disappear\par like clouds of smoke.\par The earth will become\par like worthless old clothes.\par The people on earth will die,\par but my Salvation will continue forever.\par My goodness will never end.\par

⁷ You people that understand goodness\par should listen to me.\par You people that follow my teachings\par should hear the things I say.\par Don’t be afraid of evil people.\par Don’t be afraid of the bad things\par that they say to you.\par

⁸ Why? Because they will be like\par old clothes.\par Moths will eat them.\par They will be like wool.\par Worms will eat them.\par But my goodness will continue forever.\par My salvation will continue\par forever and ever.”\par

⁹ Arm (power) of the Lord, wake up!\par Wake up! Be strong!\par Use your strength\par like you did a long time ago,\par like you have from ancient times.\par You are the power that defeated Rahab.\par You defeated the Dragon. {\cf2\super [418]} \par

¹⁰ You caused the sea to become dry!\par You dried the waters of the great deep!\par You made the deepest parts of the sea\par into a road.\par Your people crossed over that road\par and were saved.\par

¹¹ The Lord will save his people.\par They will return to Zion {\cf2\super [419]} with joy.\par They will be very, very happy.\par Their happiness will be like\par a crown on their heads forever.\par They will be singing with joy.\par All sadness will be gone far away.\par

¹² The Lord says,\par “I am the One who comforts you.\par So why should you be afraid of people?\par They are only people that live and die.\par They are only humans—\par they die the same as grass.”\par

¹³ The Lord made you.\par With his power he made the earth!\par And with his power he spread the skies\par over the earth!\par But you forget him and his power.\par So you are always afraid of angry men\par that hurt you.\par Those men planned to destroy you.\par But where are they now?\par \{They are all gone\}!\par

¹⁴ People in prison will soon be made free.\par Those people will not die and rot in prison.\par Those people will have enough food.\par

¹⁵ “I, the Lord, am your God.\par I stir up the sea and make the waves.”\par (The Lord All-Powerful is his name.)\par

¹⁶ \{“My servant,\} I will give you the words I want you to say. And I will cover you with my hands and protect you. I will use you to make the new heaven and earth. I will use you to tell Israel, ‘You are my people.’”

¹⁷ Wake up! Wake up!\par Jerusalem, get up!\par The Lord was very angry at you.\par So you were punished.\par \{This punishment was like\} a cup of poison you had to drink.\par And you drank it.\par

¹⁸ Jerusalem had many people, but none of those people became leaders for her. None of the children she raised became guides to lead her.

¹⁹ Troubles came to Jerusalem in groups of two; stealing and rationing food, great hunger and fighting.

²⁰ Your people became weak. They fell on the ground and lay there. Those people were lying on every street corner. They were like animals caught in a net. They were punished from the Lord’s anger until they could not accept any more punishment. When God said he would give them more punishment, they became very weak.

²¹ Listen to me, poor Jerusalem. You are \{weak like\} a drunk person, but you are not drunk from wine. \{You are weak from that “cup of poison.”\}

²² Your God and Master, the Lord, will fight for his people. He says to you, “Look, I am taking this ‘cup of poison’ (punishment) away from you. I am taking my anger away from you. You will not be punished by my anger any more.

²³ I will now use my anger to punish the people that hurt you. Those people tried to kill you. They told you, ‘Bow down before us, and we will walk on you!’ They forced you to bow down before them. And then they walked on your back like dirt. You were like a road for them to walk on.”