1Herren siger: „Hør efter, I, som søger Herren og ønsker at gøre hans vilje. Tænk på det stenbrud, I stammer fra—den klippegrund, I blev hugget løs fra.2Tænk på jeres forfar Abraham og på Sara, jeres stammor. Abraham havde ingen børn, da jeg kaldte ham. Men jeg velsignede ham og gjorde ham til et stort folk.”3Herren vil velsigne det ødelagte Jerusalem og gøre ødemarken til en dejlig have. Der bliver fryd og glæde, lovsang og strengespil.4Herren siger: „Hør efter, mit folk, lyt til mig, for jeg vil undervise jer. Min retfærdighed bringer lys til folkeslagene.5Snart vil jeg befri jer, retfærdighedens sejr er nær. Jeg tager herredømmet over folkeslagene. Fjerne lande venter på, at jeg skal gribe ind.6Se op mod himlen. Se ud over jorden. Himlen skal engang forsvinde som røg, jorden skal slides op som et stykke tøj, og menneskene på den skal dø som fluer. Men den frelse, jeg bringer, gælder for evigt, min retfærdighed vil aldrig få ende.7Lyt til mig, I, som ved, hvad retfærdighed er, og som har min lov i jeres hjerter: Vær ikke bange for menneskers hån og spottende ord.8For de er som gamle klude, der ædes op af møl, som uld, der fortæres af insekter. Men min retfærdighed varer evigt, min frelse gælder fra slægt til slægt.”9Vågn op, Herre, og vis din magt. Rejs dig og ifør dig al din kraft som i ældgamle dage, da du fældede Egyptens uhyre og gennemborede Nilens drage.10Var det ikke dig, der skabte en vej gennem havet, som dit befriede folk kunne gå på?11Herrens befriede folk skal vende hjem. De går med jubel mod Zion. De fyldes med fryd og varig glæde. Lidelse og jammer er forbi.12Herren siger: „Jeg er den, der trøster jer. Hvorfor er I da så bange for dødelige mennesker, der visner som græsset og snart er borte?13Hvordan kan I glemme jeres Skaber, som udspændte himmelhvælvingen og grundlagde jorden. Hvorfor vil I stadig leve i frygt for jeres vrede undertrykkere?14Snart skal I befries fra jeres lænker. I skal ikke dø i fangenskabet, og I kommer ikke til at sulte.15Jeg er Herren, jeres Gud, den Almægtige. Jeg bestemmer over havets brusende bølger.16Jeg er den, der har lagt mine ord i din mund og holdt min beskyttende hånd over dig. Det var mig, som udspændte himmelhvælvingen og grundlagde jorden. Og jeg er den, som siger til Israel: Du er mit folk!”
Lidelsens bæger
17Vågn op, Jerusalem, rejs dig op! Du har drukket nok af Herrens vredes bæger. Du har tømt det til sidste dråbe.18Ingen af de sønner, du fødte, tog dig ved hånden og kom dig til hjælp.19Katastrofen ramte dig i dobbelt mål, og der var ingen til at trøste dig. Landet blev ødelagt af krigen, og folket sultede.20Dine børn lå hjælpeløse i gaderne, som antiloper fanget i en fælde. Det var Herrens vrede, som ramte dem.21Men hør nu efter, du, som ligger hjælpeløs og er segnet om, dog ikke på grund af vin.22Herren har omsorg for sit folk. Han siger: „Se, nu tager jeg lidelsens bæger ud af din hånd. Jeg vil ikke længere være vred på dig.23I stedet rækker jeg det til dine plageånder, som tvang dig til at lægge dig på maven i støvet, så de kunne trampe hen over dig.”
1“Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, you who seek the Lord: look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug. (Es 51,7)2Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you; for he was but one when I called him, that I might bless him and multiply him. (Ez 33,24)3For the Lord comforts Zion; he comforts all her waste places and makes her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song. (1.Mos 2,8; 1.Mos 13,10; Es 35,10; Es 40,1; Es 52,9; Ez 28,13; Ez 31,9; Joel 2,3)4“Give attention to me, my people, and give ear to me, my nation; for a law[1] will go out from me, and I will set my justice for a light to the peoples. (Salm 78,1; Es 2,3)5My righteousness draws near, my salvation has gone out, and my arms will judge the peoples; the coastlands hope for me, and for my arm they wait. (Es 11,11; Es 46,13)6Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth beneath; for the heavens vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and they who dwell in it will die in like manner;[2] but my salvation will be forever, and my righteousness will never be dismayed. (Salm 102,26; Salm 102,27; Es 40,26; Matt 24,25; 2.Pet 3,10; Åb 21,1)7“Listen to me, you who know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear not the reproach of man, nor be dismayed at their revilings. (Salm 37,31; Es 41,14; Es 51,1; Matt 10,28)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.” (Es 50,9; Es 51,6)9Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord; awake, as in days of old, the generations of long ago. Was it not you who cut Rahab in pieces, who pierced the dragon? (Salm 44,1; Salm 74,13; Salm 93,1; Es 27,1; Es 30,7; Es 40,10; Es 51,17; Es 52,1; Es 52,10; Es 53,1; Ez 29,3; Luk 1,51)10Was it not 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? (2.Mos 14,21; Salm 106,9; Es 43,16)11And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. (Es 35,10)12“I, I am he who comforts you; who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, of the son of man who is made like grass, (Salm 118,6; Es 40,1; Es 40,6; Es 66,13)13and have forgotten the Lord, your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, and you fear continually all the day because of the wrath of the oppressor, when he sets himself to destroy? And where is the wrath of the oppressor? (Es 14,4; Es 40,22; Es 48,13)14He who is bowed down shall speedily be released; he shall not die and go down to the pit, neither shall his bread be lacking. (Es 45,13; Zak 9,11)15I am the Lord your God, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the Lord of hosts is his name. (Jer 31,35)16And I have put my words in your mouth and covered you in the shadow of my hand, establishing[3] the heavens and laying the foundations of the earth, and saying to Zion, ‘You are my people.’” (Es 40,22; Es 48,13; Es 49,2; Es 50,4; Es 59,21)17Wake yourself, wake yourself, stand up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the Lord the cup of his wrath, who have drunk to the dregs the bowl, the cup of staggering. (Job 21,20; Salm 60,3; Es 51,9; Es 52,1; Jer 25,15; Zak 12,2; Matt 20,22; Matt 26,39; Matt 26,42; Mark 10,38; Mark 14,36; Luk 22,42; Joh 18,11)18There is none to guide her among all the sons she has borne; there is none to take her by the hand among all the sons she has brought up. (Salm 74,9; Jer 5,31)19These two things have happened to you— who will console you?— devastation and destruction, famine and sword; who will comfort you?[4] (Es 47,9)20Your sons have fainted; they lie at the head of every street like an antelope in a net; they are full of the wrath of the Lord, the rebuke of your God. (5.Mos 14,5; Salm 141,10; Klag 2,11)21Therefore hear this, you who are afflicted, who are drunk, but not with wine: (Es 54,11)22Thus says your Lord, the Lord, your God who pleads the cause of his people: “Behold, I have taken from your hand the cup of staggering; the bowl of my wrath you shall drink no more; (Es 49,25; Es 51,17; Jer 50,34)23and I will put it into the hand of your tormentors, who have said to you, ‘Bow down, that we may pass over’; and you have made your back like the ground and like the street for them to pass over.” (Es 47,6; Es 52,2; Jer 25,17; Jer 25,26; Jer 25,28)