1 Hearken 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.
2 Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him.
3 For 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.
4 Hearken 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.
5 My 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.
6 Lift 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.
7 Hearken 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.
8 For 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.
9 Awake, 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?
10 Art 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?
11 Therefore 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.
12 I, 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;
13 And 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?
14 The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed, and that he should not die in the pit, nor that his bread should fail.
15 But I am the Lord thy God, that divided the sea, whose waves roared: The Lord of hosts is his name.
16 And 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.
17 Awake, 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.
18 There 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.
19 These 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?
20 Thy 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.
21 Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunken, but not with wine:
22 Thus 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:
23 But 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.
<html><b>look at the rock whence you were hewn</b> from it. <b>and at the hole of the pit</b> Heb. מַקֶּבֶת. With which they penetrate (נוֹקְבִין) and hew the pits. <b>you were dug</b> with which you were dug. <b>you were dug</b> Heb. נֻקַּרְתֶּם, an expression similar to (Ex. 33.22) “The cleft (נִקְרַת) of the rock”; (Prov. 30:17) “The ravens of the brook shall pick it (יִקְּרוּהָ).” And who is the rock? He is Abraham your forefather. And who is the hole? She is Sarah who bore you. [תְּחוֹלֶלְכֶם means] ‘who bore you,’ an expression similar to (infra 66: 8) “For Zion experienced pangs (חָלָה) and also bore.”</html>
<html><b>who bore you</b> Heb. תְּחוֹלֶלְכֶם [lit. shall bear you.] <b>for when he was but one I called him</b> For he was one single person in the land of Canaan where I exiled him from his land and from his birthplace. I called him, meaning that I raised him and exalted him. An expression [similar to] (Num. 1:16) “Those called of (קְרִיאֵי) the congregation.” And just as he was a single person and I exalted him, so will I exalt you, who are singled out to Me.</html>
<html><b>and its wasteland</b> Heb. וְעַרְבָתָהּ. This too is an expression of a desert. Comp. (Jer. 2:6) “In a wasteland (עֲרָבָה) and a land of pits,” but the wasteland once had a settlement and it was destroyed. <b>thanksgiving</b> A voice of thanks.</html>
<html><b>When Torah shall emanate from Me</b> The words of the prophets are Torah, and the judgments shall eventually mean tranquility and rest for the peoples for whom I will turn a pure language to serve Me. <b>I will give [them] rest</b> Heb. אַרְגִּיעַ, I will give them rest.</html>
<html><b>shall chasten</b> Heb. יִשְׁפֹּטוּ, chasten, jostize in O.F.</html>
<html><b>the heavens shall vanish like smoke</b> The princes of the hosts of the heathens who are in heaven. <b>shall vanish</b> Heb. נִמְלָחוּ, shall rot away. Comp. (Jer. 38:12) “Rags and decayed clothing (בְּלוֹאֵי הַסְּחָבוֹת),” a decayed garment. Another explanation of נִמְלָחוּ is: shall be stirred. This is an expression similar to “the sailors of (מַלָּחֵי) the sea,” who stir the water with the oars that guide the ship. Comp. also (Ex. 30:35) “Stirred (מְמֻלָּח), pure, and holy.” <b>and the earth</b> the rulers of the earth. <b>and its inhabitants</b> the rest of the people. <b>and My salvation</b> for My people shall be forever. Another explanation is: [It refers] actually [to] the heavens and the earth, and this is its explanation: Raise your eyes and look at the heaven and at the earth, and see how strong and sturdy they are, yet they shall rot away, but My righteousness and My salvation shall be forever. Hence, My righteousness is sturdier and stronger than they.</html>
<html><b>the moth…the worm</b> They are species of worms.</html>
<html><b>Awaken, awaken</b> This is the prophet’s prayer. <b>Rahab</b> [lit. pride.] Egypt, about whom it is written (supra 30:7): “They are haughty (רַהַב), idlers.” <b>slew</b> Heb. מְחוֹלֶלֶת, an expression of slaying, related to חָלָל. <b>the sea monster</b> Pharaoh.</html>
<html><b>And the redeemed of the Lord shall return</b> This is an expression of prayer, and it is connected to “Awaken, awaken.”</html>
<html><b>who are you</b> the daughter of the righteous like you and full of merits, why should you fear man, whose end is to die?</html>
<html><b>And you forgot the Lord your Maker</b> and you did not rely on Him. <b>the oppressor</b> The rulers of the heathens (the nations of the world [Parshandatha, K’li Paz]) who subjugate you. <b>when he prepared</b> Prepared himself. <b>Now where is the wrath of the oppressor</b> Tomorrow comes and he is not here.</html>
<html><b>What must be poured out hastened to be opened</b> Heb. מִהַר צֹעֶה לְהִפָּתֵחַ. Even if his stools are hard, and he must be opened by walking in order to move the bowels in order that he not die by destruction, and once he hastens to open up, he requires much food, for, if his bread is lacking, even he will die.\ צֹעֶה An expression of a thing prepared to be poured, as he says concerning Moab, whom the prophet compared to wine (Jer. 48:11): “Who rests on his dregs and was not poured from vessel to vessel.” And he says there (v. 12), “And I will send pourers (צֹעִים) upon him and they shall pour him out (וְצֵעֻהוּ), and they shall empty his vessels.” [This is an illustration of the weakness of man. Consequently, there is no need to fear him.] Another explanation is: מִהַר צֹעֶה That enemy who oppresses you, who is now with girded loins, girded with strength, shall hasten to be opened up and to become weak. צֹעֶה Girded. Comp. (infra 63:1) “Girded (צֹעֶה) with the greatness of His strength.” <b>and he shall not die</b> i.e., the one delivered into his hand [shall not die] of destruction. But the first interpretation is a Midrash Aggadah in Pesikta Rabbathi (34:5).</html>
<html><b>Who wrinkles the sea</b> Heb. רֹגַע, an expression similar to (Job 7:5) “My skin was wrinkled (רָגַע) .” Froncir in O.F. [froncer in Modern French, to wrinkle, gather, pucker].</html>
<html><b>to plant the heavens</b> to preserve the people about whom it was said that they shall be as many as the stars of the heavens [from Jonathan]. <b>and to found the earth</b> And to found the congregation about whom it is said that they shall be as many as the dust of the earth [from Jonathan].</html>
<html><b>dregs</b> Heb. קֻבַּעַת. Jonathan renders: פַּיְלֵי, which is the name of a cup [phiala in Latin]. But it appears to me that קֻבַּעַת, these are the dregs fixed (קְבוּעִים) to the bottom of the vessel, and the word מָצִית, “you have drained,” indicates it, as it is said (Ps. 75:9): “…shall drain (יִמְצוּ) its dregs.” <b>weakness</b> Heb. תַּרְעֵלָה. That is a drink that clogs and weakens the strength of a person, like one bound, tied, and enwrapped. Comp. (Nahum 2:4) “And the cypress trees were enwrapped (הָרְעָלוּ).” Also (supra 3: 19), “And the bracelets and the veils (רְעָלוֹת),” which is an expression of enwrapping, and in Tractate Shabbath (6:6): “Median women (sic) may go out veiled (רְעוּלוֹת),” a kind of beautiful veil in which to enwrap oneself. תַּרְעֵלָה is entoumissant in O.F., (stiffening, weakening, paralyzing). <b>you have drained</b> Heb. מָצִית, egoutter in French, [to drain, exhaust].</html>
<html><b>These two things have befallen you</b> Twofold calamities, two by two. <b>[With] whom will I console you?</b> Whom will I bring to you to console you and to say that also that certain nation suffered in the same manner as you?</html>
<html><b>fainted</b> Heb. עֻלְּפוּ. An expression of faintness. Comp. (Amos 8:13) “The…virgins shall faint (תִּתְעַלַּפְנָה) from thirst.” Pasmer in O.F., (pamer in Modern French). <b>like a wild ox in a net</b> Abandoned like this wild ox that falls into a net. Comp. (Deut. 14:5) “And the wild ox (וּתְאוֹ) and the giraffe.”</html>
<html><b>and who is drunk but not from wine</b> Drunk from something else other than wine.</html>
<html><b>Who shall judge His people</b> Who shall judge the case of His people.</html>
<html><b>those who cause you to wander</b> Heb. מוֹגַיִךְ. Those who cause you to wander and those who cause you to move. Comp. (I Sam. 14:16) “And the multitude was wandering (נָמוֹג),” krosler in O.F. <b>Bend down and let us cross</b> on your back.</html>