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Isaiah 51 from Scroll 1Q Isaiaha

“Listen to me, you who follow after righteousness,

you who seek Yahweh:

look to the rock you were cut from,

and to the quarry you were dug from.

Look to Abraham your father,

and to Sarah who bore you;

for when he was but one I called him,

and I blessed him made him fruitful,

and made him many.

For Yahweh has comforted Zion.

He has comforted all her waste places,

and has made her wilderness like Eden,

and her desert like the garden of Yahweh.

Joy and gladness will be found therein,

thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.

Sorrow and sighing will flee away.

 

“Listen to me, my people;

and hear me, my nation:

for a law will go out from me,

and I will establish my justice for a light to the peoples.

My righteousness is near.

My salvation has gone out,

and my arms will judge the peoples.

The islands will wait for me,

and they will trust my his arm.

Lift up your eyes to the heavens,

and look on the earth beneath;

for the heavens will vanish away like smoke,

and the earth will wear out like a garment;

And see who created these things;

and its inhabitants will die in the same way:

but my salvation will be forever,

and my righteousness will not be abolished.

 

“Listen to me, you who know righteousness,

the people in whose heart is my law:

Don’t fear the reproach of men,

and don’t be dismayed at their insults.

8 For 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.”

 

Awake, awake, put on strength, arm of Yahweh!

Awake, as in the days of old,

the generations of ancient times.

Isn’t it you who cut Rahab in pieces,

who pierced the monster?

10 Isn’t it you who dried up the sea,

the waters of the great deep;

who made in the depths of the sea a way for the redeemed to pass over?

11 Those ransomed dispersed by Yahweh will return,

and come with singing to Zion;

and everlasting joy shall be on their heads.

They will obtain gladness and joy.

Sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

 

12 I, even I, am he who comforts you.

Who are you, that you are afraid of man who shall die,

and of the son of man who will be made as grass?

13 Have you forgotten Yahweh your Maker,

who stretched out the heavens,

and laid the foundations of the earth?

Do you live in fear continually all day because of the fury of the oppressor,

when he prepares to destroy?

Where is the fury of the oppressor?

14 The captive exile will speedily be freed;

and he will not die and go down into the pit,

and his bread will not fail.

15 For I am Yahweh your God, who stirs up the sea,

so that its waves roar:

Yahweh of Armies is his name.

16 I have put my words in your mouth,

and have covered you in the shadow of my hand,

that I may plant the heavens,

and lay the foundations of the earth,

and tell Zion, ‘You are my people.’ ”

 

17 Awake, awake!

Stand up, Jerusalem,

you who have drunk from Yahweh’s hand the cup of his wrath.

You have drunken the bowl of the cup of staggering,

and drained it.

18 There is no one to guide her you among all the sons to whom she has given birth;

and there is no one who takes her by the hand among all the sons who she has brought up.

19 These two things have happened to you

who will grieve with you?—

desolation and destruction,

and famine and the sword.

How can I comfort you?

20 Your sons have fainted.

They lie at the head of all the streets,

like an antelope in a net.

They are full of the Yahweh’s wrath,

the rebuke of your God.

 

21 Therefore now hear this, you afflicted,

and drunken, but not with wine:

22 Thus says your Lord Yahweh,

And your God who pleads the cause of his people,

“Behold, I have taken out of your hand the cup of staggering,

even the bowl of the cup of my wrath.

You will not drink it any more:

23 and I will put it into the hand of those who afflict you and oppress you,

who have said to your soul, ‘Bow down, that we may walk over you;’

and you have laid your back as the ground,

like a street to those who walk over.”

 

Isaiah 51 from Scroll 1Q Isaiahb

“Listen to me, you who follow after righteousness,

you who seek Yahweh:

look to upon the rock you were cut from,

and to upon the quarry you were dug from.

Look to Abraham your father,

and to Sarah who bore you;

for when he was but one I called him,

and I blessed him,

and made him many.

For Yahweh has comforted Zion.

He has comforted all her waste places,

and has made her wilderness like Eden,

and her desert like the garden of Yahweh.

Joy and gladness will be found therein,

thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.

 

“Listen to me, my people;

and hear me, my nation:

for a law will go out from me,

and I will establish my justice for a light to the peoples.

My righteousness is near.

My salvation has gone out,

and my arms will judge the peoples.

The islands will wait for me,

and they will trust my arm.

6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens,

and look on the earth beneath;

for the heavens will vanish away like smoke,

and the earth will wear out like a garment;

and its inhabitants will die in the same way:

but my salvation will be forever,

and my righteousness will not be abolished.

 

“Listen to me, you who know righteousness,

the people in whose heart is my law:

Don’t fear the reproach of men,

and don’t be dismayed at their insults.

8 For 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.”

 

Awake, awake, put on strength, arm of Yahweh!

Awake, as in the days of old,

the generations of ancient times.

Isn’t it you who cut Rahab in pieces,

who pierced the monster?

10 Isn’t it 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?

 

Isaiah 51 from Scroll 4Q56 Isaiahb

1 “Listen to me, you who follow after righteousness,

you who seek Yahweh:

look to the rock you were cut from,

and to the quarry you were dug from.

2 Look to Abraham your father,

and to Sarah who bore you;

for when he was but one I called him,

and I blessed him,

and made him many.

[..]

14 The captive exile will speedily be freed;

and he will not die and go down into the pit,

and his bread will not fail.

[..]

16 I have put my words in your mouth,

and have covered you in the shadow of my hand,

that I may plant the heavens,

and lay the foundations of the earth,

and tell Zion, ‘You are my people.’ ”

 

Isaiah 51 from Scroll 4Q57 Isaiahc

8 For 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.”

 

Awake, awake, put on strength, arm of Yahweh!

Awake, as in the days of old,

the generations of ancient times.

Isn’t it you who cut Rahab in pieces,

who pierced the monster?

10 Isn’t it 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?

11 Those ransomed by Yahweh will return,

and come with singing to Zion;

and everlasting joy shall be[1] on their heads.

They will obtain gladness and joy.

Sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

 

12 I, even I, am he who comforts you.

Who are you, that you are afraid of man who shall die,

and of the son of man who will be made as grass?

13 Have you forgotten Yahweh your Maker,

who stretched out the heavens,

and laid the foundations of the earth?

Do you live in fear continually all day because of the fury of the oppressor,

when he prepares to destroy?

Where is the fury of the oppressor?

14 The captive exile will speedily be freed;

and he will not die and go down into the pit,

and his bread will not fail.

15 For I am Yahweh your God, who stirs up,I will strike, stirring up the sea,

so that its waves roar: [2]

Yahweh of Armies is his name.

16 I have put my words in your mouth,

and have covered you in the shadow of my hand,

that I may plant the heavens,

and lay the foundations of the earth,

and tell Zion, You are my people.’ ”

 

17 Awake, awake!

Stand up, Jerusalem,

you who have drunk from Yahweh’s hand the cup of his wrath.

You have drunken the bowl of the cup of staggering,

and drained it.

 



[1] The words “shall be” are implicit in the MT but explicit in the scroll.

[2] Spacing indicates that the scroll has more words than these in the middle of this verse.

How to read these pages:

      The translation to the left is based on the World English Bible. Words in regular black font are words in the scrolls matching the traditional text for that passage.

      Words in italics cannot be seen in the scroll, since the scroll is fragmentary. These words are supplied for readability by the World English Bible translation.

      Words present in the scroll but with some letters unreadable or missing are in blue like this: blue. One Hebrew word often is translated into multiple English words, and when this occurs, all the English words are in blue.

      Words present in the scroll but with spelling differences that do not affect the meaning are in green like this: green. This is common in Hebrew.

      If the scroll is different from the traditional text, words in the traditional text that are missing from the text of the scroll are marked through in red like this: strike-through.

      If the scroll is different from the traditional text, words in the scroll that are not in the traditional text are underlined in red like this: new words.