旧约 - 以赛亚书(Isaiah)第51章

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.
Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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?
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.
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;
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?
The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed, and that he should not die in the pit, nor that his bread should fail.
But I am the LORD thy God, that divided the sea, whose waves roared: The LORD of hosts is his name.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunken, but not with wine:
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:
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.
以赛亚书第五十一章   赛 51:1-2> 按人口比例,基督徒的数目实在不多,你可会感到力小孤独? 

  51:1-2 被存留的那些忠心的人也许会感到孤独,因为他们人数太少。但神用他们祖先亚伯拉罕和撒拉的故事提醒他们,那是他们的传统。亚伯拉罕当初只是一个人,是他的信心使他有了许多后裔。如果所存留的那些忠心者持守信心,就有更多的人要从他们而出。同样,我们基督徒哪怕为数很少,只要持守信心,那么,想一想神将会通过我们做什么! 

  赛 51:7> 你有没有因信仰受到过辱骂、嘲笑?你怎样应对? 

  51:7 以赛亚鼓励那些遵循神的律法的人,并在他们因着自己的信仰面临责备或辱骂的时候,给了他们希望。我们不用害怕人们对我们信仰的辱骂,因为神同我们在一起,真理终将得胜。如果人们因你信神而取笑你,请记住他们不是针对你本人而是针对神。神会对付他们。你应该专注在爱和顺从神上面。 

  赛 51:9-10> 拉哈伯是古代近东神话中的海怪── 

  51:9-10 “拉哈伯”是对埃及的一种轻蔑的称呼(参 30:7 注释)。神在建立以色列的时候行了许多神迹。叫海水枯干也许是其中最令人兴奋的一个神迹(参出第 14 章)。我们的神就是那位在深海铺路的神。祂的方法可能会改变,但祂的爱和看顾却不变。 

  赛 51:12-16> 有人会伤害到我,因此我很怕,很怕…… 

  51:12-16 神的百姓害怕巴比伦,但神不怕。他们有理由害怕,因为巴比伦会伤害他们。但百姓们实实在在应该明白神的能力要比巴比伦的大得多。巴比伦总是掳掠邻国,而神总有能力将他们释放。人们将自己的爱和怕放错了位置。耶路撒冷应害怕神的能力并感激神的怜悯。 

  赛 51:17-52:10> 荒凉、毁灭、饥荒、刀兵,耶路撒冷都要经历,然而……