Haftarah Torah Portion Shoftim
Isaiah 51: 1 - 52:12

Isaiah 51

1 Listen to me, you who look for righteousness, you who seek the Lord:
Look to the rock from which you were cut
    and to the quarry where you were dug.
2 Look to Abraham your ancestor,
    and to Sarah, who gave you birth.
They were alone when I called them, but I blessed them
    and made them many.
3 The Lord will comfort Zion;
    he will comfort all her ruins.
He will make her desert like Eden
    and her wilderness like the Lord’s garden.
Happiness and joy will be found in her—
    thanks and the sound of singing.

4 Pay attention to me, my people;
    listen to me, my nation,
        for teaching will go out from me,
        my justice, as a light to the nations.
5     I will quickly bring my victory.
My salvation is on its way,
    and my arm will judge the peoples.
    The coastlands hope for me;
    they wait for my judgment.
6 Look up to the heavens,
        and gaze at the earth beneath.
    The heavens will disappear like smoke,
    the earth will wear out like clothing,
    and its inhabitants will die like gnats.
But my salvation will endure forever,
    and my righteousness will be unbroken.
7 Listen to me, you who know what is right,
    people who carry my teaching in your heart:
    Don’t fear human scorn,
    and don’t be upset when they abuse you.

8 The moth will eat them as if they were clothing,
    and the worm will eat them like wool,
    but my righteousness is forever,
    and my salvation for all generations.

9 Awake, awake, put on strength,
    arm of the Lord.
Awake as in times past,
    generations long ago.
Aren’t you the one who crushed Rahab,
    who pierced the dragon?
10 Didn’t you dry up the sea,
    the waters of the great deep?
    And didn’t you make the redeemed a road to cross
    through the depths of the sea,
    a road for the redeemed to pass?
11 Then let those ransomed by the Lord return
    and come to Zion with singing
    and with everlasting joy upon their heads.
Let happiness and joy overwhelm them;
    let grief and groaning flee.

12 I, I am the one who comforts you.
Why should you fear humans who will die,
    mortals who are treated like grass?
13 You forgot the Lord your maker,
    the one who stretched out the heavens
    and founded the earth.
    You were continually afraid, all day long,
    on account of the oppressor’s wrath—
    a fear by which they intend to destroy you.
    Where now is the oppressor’s wrath?
14 The imprisoned ones will soon be released;
    they won’t die in the pit
    or even lack bread.
15 I am the Lord your God,
    who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—
    the Lord of heavenly forces is his name.
16 I put my words in your mouth
    and hid you in the shadow of my hand,
    stretching out the heavens, founding the earth,
    and saying to Zion, “You are my people.”

17 Wake yourself, wake yourself!
    Rise up, Jerusalem,
    who drank the cup of wrath from the Lord’s hand.
    You drank; you drained the goblet of reeling.
18     There’s no one to guide her among all the children she bore;
    there’s no one to take her by the hand among all the children she raised.
19 These two things have happened to you—
    Who will be sorry for you?—
        destruction and devastation,
        famine and sword—
    who will comfort you?
20 Your children passed out;
    they lay at the head of every street like antelope in a net,
    filled with the Lord’s wrath,
    with the rebuke of your God.

21 Therefore, hear this, suffering one,
    who is drunk, but not from wine.
22 The Lord, your Lord and your God,
    who contends for his people, says:
    Look, I have taken the cup of reeling,
    the goblet of my wrath, from your hand.
    You will no longer drink from it.
23 I will put it in the hand of your tormentors,
    who said to you,
    “Lie down so that we can walk on you.
    Make your back like the ground,
    like a street for those walking on it.”

Isaiah 52

1 Awake, awake,
    put on your strength, Zion!
    Put on your splendid clothing,
    Jerusalem, you holy city;
        for the uncircumcised and unclean
        will no longer come into you.
2 Shake the dust off yourself;
    rise up; sit enthroned, Jerusalem.
Loose the bonds from your neck,
    captive Daughter Zion!

3 The Lord proclaims:
You were sold for nothing,
    and you will be redeemed without money.
4 The Lord God proclaims:
Long ago my people went down
    to reside in Egypt.
    Moreover, Assyria has oppressed them without cause.
5 And now what have I here? says the Lord.
    My people are taken away for nothing.
Their rulers wail, says the Lord,
    and continually all day long my name is despised.
6 Therefore, my people will know my name on that day;
    I’m the one who promises it; I’m here.

7 How beautiful upon the mountains
    are the feet of a messenger
    who proclaims peace,
    who brings good news,
    who proclaims salvation,
    who says to Zion, “Your God rules!”
8 Listen! Your lookouts lift their voice;
    they sing out together!
    Right before their eyes they see the Lord returning to Zion.

9 Break into song together, you ruins of Jerusalem!
The Lord has comforted his people and has redeemed Jerusalem.
10 The Lord has bared his holy arm in view of all the nations;
all the ends of the earth have seen our God’s victory.

11 Depart! Depart! Go out from there!
    Unclean! Don’t touch!
    Get out of that place; purify yourselves,
    carriers of the Lord’s equipment!
12 You won’t go out in a rush,
    nor will you run away,
    because the one going before you is the Lord;
    your rear guard is the God of Israel.