Remember Where You Came From
Listen closely, you who are chasing after what’s right: Remember the rock you were carved from, the quarry where you were dug out.
Look back to Abraham, your ancestor, and to Sarah who gave birth to you. When I called him, he was alone. But I blessed him and multiplied his family.
The Lord will comfort Zion. He’ll restore all her ruined places. He’ll turn her wasteland into Eden, her desert into the Lord’s garden. You’ll find joy and celebration there, thanksgiving and music everywhere.
God’s Justice Will Shine
Listen closely, my people. Pay attention, my nation. I’m giving you my law, and my justice will shine as a light for all people.
My justice is coming soon. My rescue is already on its way, and my power will bring justice to the nations. Distant lands are waiting for me. They’re putting their trust in my strength.
Look up at the sky. Look down at the earth beneath your feet. The heavens will vanish like smoke. The earth will wear out like old clothes, and everyone living on it will die just the same. But my rescue will last forever. My justice will never fade.
Don’t Fear Those Who Mock You
Listen closely, you who know what’s right, you whose hearts carry my law: Don’t be afraid when people insult you. Don’t let their mockery shake you.
Moths will eat them up like clothing. Worms will devour them like wool. But my justice will last forever, my rescue from one generation to the next.
Wake Up, Lord!
Wake up! Wake up! Show your strength, mighty arm of the Lord! Rise up like you did in the ancient days. Weren’t you the one who cut down Rahab and pierced the dragon?
Weren’t you the one who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep? Didn’t you make a road through the ocean floor so the rescued could cross over?
So the Lord’s rescued people will return. They’ll come singing into Zion with everlasting joy and holiness resting on them. They’ll find gladness and celebration. Sorrow and grief will run away.
Why Fear Mortals?
I am the one who comforts you. So why are you afraid of mortal men who will die, of human beings who are no more lasting than grass?
You’ve forgotten the Lord who made you, who stretched out the heavens and laid the earth’s foundations. You’ve been living in constant fear of your oppressor’s rage, as if he were ready to destroy you any moment. But where is that oppressor’s fury now?
The imprisoned exile is rushing to be set free, so he won’t die in that pit, so his food won’t run out.
But I am the Lord your God, whose waves roar. The Lord of Hosts—that’s my name.
I’ve put my words in your mouth. I’ve covered you with the shadow of my hand so I could stretch out new heavens and lay the earth’s foundations, and say to Zion: “Look, you are my people.”
Jerusalem’s Cup of Suffering
Wake up! Wake up! Stand up, Jerusalem! You’ve drunk from the Lord’s hand the cup of his fury. You’ve drained the cup of trembling down to the dregs.
Of all the sons she gave birth to, none are left to guide her. Of all the sons she raised, none are there to take her hand.
These two things have happened to you—who can feel sorry enough for you? Devastation and destruction, famine and the sword. Who can comfort you?
Your sons have collapsed—all except these two. They’re lying at the corner of every street like a wild bull caught in a net. They’re filled with the Lord’s fury, with your God’s rebuke.
So hear this now, you who are suffering, you who are drunk but not from wine.
This is what your Lord says—the Lord, your God who defends his people: “Look, I’ve taken the cup of trembling out of your hand, the dregs of my fury. You’ll never have to drink from it again.
Instead, I’ll put it in the hands of those who tormented you, who said to you: ‘Bow down so we can walk over you.’ And you made your back like the ground, like a street for them to walk on.“
Rise Up and Be Free
Wake up! Wake up! Put on your strength, Zion! Put on your beautiful clothes, Jerusalem, holy city! From now on, the unclean and unholy will never enter you again.
Shake the dust off yourself. Get up and sit in your place of honor, Jerusalem. Break free from the chains around your neck, captive daughter of Zion.