Isaiah 51:5-15

5 My righteousness is near. My salvation is on the way. I will bring justice to people. The coastlands put their hope in me, and they wait eagerly for me.

6 Look at the sky. Look at the earth below. The sky will vanish like smoke. The earth will wear out like clothing, and those who live there will die like flies. But my salvation will last forever, and my righteousness will never fail.

7 Listen to me, you people who know righteousness, you people who have my teachings in your hearts. Don't be afraid of being insulted by people. Don't be discouraged by their ridicule.

8 Moths will eat them like clothing. Worms will devour them like wool. But my righteousness will last forever, and my salvation will last throughout every generation.

9 Wake up! Wake up! Clothe yourself with strength, O LORD! Wake up as you did in days long past, as in generations long ago. Didn't you cut Rahab into pieces and stab the serpent?

10 Didn't you dry up the sea, the water of the great ocean? You made a road in the depths of the sea so that the people reclaimed [by the LORD] might pass through it.

11 The people ransomed by the LORD will return. They will come to Zion singing with joy. Everlasting happiness will be on their heads [as a crown]. They will be glad and joyful. They will have no sorrow or grief.

12 I alone am the one who comforts you. Why, then, are you afraid of mortals, who must die, of humans, who are like grass?

13 Why have you forgotten the LORD, your Creator? He stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth. Why should you live in constant fear of the fury of those who oppress you, of those who are ready to destroy you? Where is the fury of those who oppress you?

14 Chained prisoners will be set free. They will not die in prison. They will not go without food.

15 I am the LORD your God who stirs up the sea and makes its waves roar. My name is the LORD of Armies.

Isaiah 51:5-15 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 51

This chapter gives the church and people of God reason to expect comfortable times and certain salvation, though they had many enemies. They are directed to look to Abraham and Sarah, signified by the rock and hole of the pit, and observe how he was called alone, blessed and increased; which should be improved as an argument to strengthen their faith, that God could and would bless and increase his church, though in a low estate, and bring it into a flourishing one, Isa 51:1-3. They are assured of the publication of the Gospel, expressed by the law, doctrine, and judgment of the Lord; by which means the righteousness and salvation of Christ should be brought nigh to them, as the object of their trust and confidence, Isa 51:4,5, and also of the perpetuity of his righteousness and salvation, when the heavens, and the earth, and the inhabitants of it, should decay, even their revilers and persecutors, and therefore they need not fear their reproaches and revilings, Isa 51:6-8, upon which follows a prayer of faith, that the Lord would exert his power as in former times, when he destroyed the Egyptians, and dried up the Red sea for Israel to pass through, the ransomed of the Lord; from whence it might be concluded, that the redeemed of the Lord would be brought into a very comfortable condition again, Isa 51:9-11 wherefore they had no reason to be afraid of men, since the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth, would deliver, comfort, and establish them, of which he assured them by his prophet, Isa 51:12-16, and though Jerusalem and her sons were, or would be, in a very distressed condition, through the sword and famine, which is described, Isa 51:17-20, yet they should be delivered out of it, and their persecutors should be brought into the same, Isa 51:21-23.