Isaiah 51

Isaiah · Chapter 51

Isaiah 51:16

1Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged.2Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him.3For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.4Hearken unto me, my people; and give ear unto me, O my nation: for a law shall proceed from me, and I will make my judgment to rest for a light of the people.5My righteousness is near; my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms shall judge the people; the isles shall wait upon me, and on mine arm shall they trust.6Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.7Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings.8For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool: but my righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation from generation to generation.9Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon?10Art thou not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over?11Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.12I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass;13And forgettest the LORD thy maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and hast feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the oppressor?14The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed, and that he should not die in the pit, nor that his bread should fail.15But I am the LORD thy God, that divided the sea, whose waves roared: The LORD of hosts is his name.16And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people.17Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of the LORD the cup of his fury; thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling, and wrung them out.18There is none to guide her among all the sons whom she hath brought forth; neither is there any that taketh her by the hand of all the sons that she hath brought up.19These two things are come unto thee; who shall be sorry for thee? desolation, and destruction, and the famine, and the sword: by whom shall I comfort thee?20Thy sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets, as a wild bull in a net: they are full of the fury of the LORD, the rebuke of thy God.21Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunken, but not with wine:22Thus saith thy Lord the LORD, and thy God that pleadeth the cause of his people, Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, even the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again:23But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee; which have said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over: and thou hast laid thy body as the ground, and as the street, to them that went over.

King James Version (1769)

Other translations

VerseKJVBSBASV
16And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people.I have put My words in your mouth, and covered you with the shadow of My hand, to establish the heavens, to found the earth, and to say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’”And I have put my words in thy mouth, and have covered thee in the shadow of my hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people.

In context

Who is speaking and to whom, what is happening, when and where, and why it matters, each with its sources. Coming with the context cards.

Where

Locations from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Some ancient sites are uncertain.

Original Hebrew words

EnglishHebrewSay itStrong'sMeaning
and I have putוָאָשִׂ֤יםva-'a-SIMH7760HNo entry
words myדְּבָרַי֙de-va-RAIH1697G
word

דָּבָר (da.var) : word/speech/command 1) speech, word, speaking, thing 1a) speech 1b) saying, utterance 1c) word, words 1d) business, occupation, acts, matter, case, something, manner (by extension)

in mouth yourבְּפִ֔יךָbe-FI-khaH6310G
lip

פֶּה (peh) : lip/mouth peh 1) mouth 1a) mouth (of man) 1b) mouth (as organ of speech) 1c) mouth (of animals) 1d) mouth, opening, orifice (of a well, river, etc) 1e) extremity, end pim 2) a weight equal to one third of a shekel, occurs only in 1Sa 13:21

and with [the] shadow ofוּבְצֵ֥לu-ve-TZELH6738
shadow

צֵל (tsel) 1) shadow, shade 1a) shadow (on dial) 1b) shadow, shade (as protection) 1c) shadow (symbolic of transitoriness of life) Also means: tse.lel (צֵלֶל "shadow" H6752)

hand myיָדִ֖יya-DIH3027H
hand

יָד (yad) : hand/arm[anatomy] 1) hand 1a) hand (of man) 1b) strength, power (fig.) 1c) side (of land), part, portion (metaph.) (fig.) 1d) (various special, technical senses) 1d1) sign, monument 1d2) part, fractional part, share 1d3) time, repetition 1d4) axle-trees, axle 1d5) stays, support (for laver) 1d6) tenons (in tabernacle) 1d7) a phallus, a hand (meaning unsure) 1d8) wrists

I have covered youכִּסִּיתִ֑יךָki-si-TI-khaH3680
to cover

כָּסָה (ka.sah) 1) to cover, conceal, hide 1a) (Qal) conceal, covered (participle) 1b) (Niphal) to be covered 1c) (Piel) 1c1) to cover, clothe 1c2) to cover, conceal 1c3) to cover (for protection) 1c4) to cover over, spread over 1c5) to cover, overwhelm 1d) (Pual) 1d1) to be covered 1d2) to be clothed 1e) (Hithpael) to cover oneself, clothe oneself

to plantלִנְטֹ֤עַlin-TO-a'H5193
to plant

נָטַע (na.ta) 1) to plant, fasten, fix, establish 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to plant 1a2) to plant, establish (fig.) 1b) (Niphal) 1b1) to be planted 1b2) to be established (fig.)

[the] heavensשָׁמַ֙יִם֙sha-MA-yimH8064
heaven

שָׁמַיִם (sha.ma.yim) 1) heaven, heavens, sky 1a) visible heavens, sky 1a1) as abode of the stars 1a2) as the visible universe, the sky, atmosphere, etc 1b) Heaven (as the abode of God) Aramaic equivalent: sha.ma.yin (שָׁמַ֫יִן "heaven" H8065)

and to foundוְלִיסֹ֣דve-li-SODH3245
to found

יָסַד (ya.sad) 1) to found, fix, establish, lay foundation 1a) (Qal) to found, establish, begin 1b) (Niphal) 1b1) to fix or seat themselves close together, sit in conclave 1b2) to be founded 1c) (Piel) 1c1) to found 1c2) to establish, appoint, ordain 1d) (Pual) to be founded, be laid 1e) (Hophal) to be founded

[the] earthאָ֔רֶץ'A-retzH0776G
land: country/planet

אֶ֫רֶץ (e.rets) : country/field 1) land, earth 1a) earth 1a1) whole earth (as opposed to a part) 1a2) earth (as opposed to heaven) 1a3) earth (inhabitants) 1b) land 1b1) country, territory 1b2) district, region 1b3) tribal territory 1b4) piece of ground 1b5) land of Canaan, Israel 1b6) inhabitants of land 1b7) Sheol, land without return, (under) world 1b8) city (-state) 1c) ground, surface of the earth 1c1) ground 1c2) soil 1d) (in phrases) 1d1) people of the land 1d2) space or distance of country (in measurements of distance) 1d3) level or plain country 1d4) land of the living 1d5) end(s) of the earth …

and to sayוְלֵאמֹ֥רve-le-MORH0559
to say

אָמַר (a.mar) 1) to say, speak, utter 1a) (Qal) to say, to answer, to say in one's heart, to think, to command, to promise, to intend 1b) (Niphal) to be told, to be said, to be called 1c) (Hithpael) to boast, to act proudly 1d) (Hiphil) to avow, to avouch Aramaic equivalent: a.mar (אֲמַר "to say" H0560)

to Zionלְצִיּ֖וֹןle-tzi-YONH6726
Zion

צִיּוֹן (tsiy.yon) Zion = "parched place" another name for Jerusalem especially in the prophetic books Another name of ye.ru.sha.laim (יְרוּשָׁלִַ֫ם, יְרוּשְׁלֵם "Jerusalem" H3389)

[are] people myעַמִּי־'a-mi-H5971A
people

עַם (am) : people/nation 1) nation, people 1a) people, nation 1b) persons, members of one's people, compatriots, country-men

youאָֽתָּה׃ ס'A-tahH0859A
you

אַנְתָּה (an.tah) you, thou (second pers. sing.) Aramaic of at.tah (אַתָּ֫ה "you(m.s.)" H0859A)

Words and meanings from STEPBible data (Tyndale House, Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). The capitalized syllable is the stressed one.