Isaiah 51:1–8, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Isaiah 51:1–8
Those Pursuing Righteousness Remember Abraham and Enduring Salvation
Look to the rock from which you were cut
People who pursue righteousness and seek the Lord are told to look at Abraham and Sarah: one was called, and the family became many. Comfort for Zion follows: waste places will bloom; joy and thanksgiving will rise. Instruction goes out to peoples; the coastlands wait. Heavens vanish like smoke, but salvation will be forever. Do not fear human reproach; moth and worm get the last word on the slanderers, not on God's deliverance.
A small ancestral beginning is medicine for a shrunken community. Forever-salvation is set against fading cosmos so that mockery cannot set the horizon. This is not a prosperity promise, not instant bloom, and not a claim that one modern return finishes the comfort.
Why Abraham and Sarah here? Because the story started in impossibility once already. A warranted life is to keep seeking righteousness when the congregation looks like a quarry chip, and to let lasting salvation outlast both insult and our demand for quick scenery change.
How this should shape us
Keep seeking righteousness when the community looks like a quarry chip. Let lasting salvation outlast both insult and your demand for instant bloom.
Teach it back
Explain Isaiah 51:1–8 in your own words. Name its place in Isaiah, one source-controlled observation, one uncertainty, one enduring truth, and one harmful use the passage does not authorize.
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Go deeper
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Research trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Isaiah 51:1–8, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology at the exact unit, without treating morphology as apparatus, lexicon, composition history, or interpretation.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Isa.xml, OSIS 51:1–8 with Hebrew/KJV versification difference checked
Supports: Verse-level controls for Hebrew, syntax, poetry, older KJV language, chronology, names, textual issues, and material translation alternatives.
Official NET Isaiah PDF, translator, study, and textual notes attached to Isaiah 51:1–8 in the complete 205-page book PDF
Supports: Babylonian-exile and Persian horizons, new exodus, Cyrus, servant figures, Daughter Zion, nations, suffering, and transition to plural servants.
Yale Bible Study, Second Isaiah course, Servant and Bride guide on Isaiah 49:1-52:12; applied to Isaiah 51:1–8
Supports: Whole-book historical, literary, theological, ethical, and reception synthesis across Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, and postexilic horizons.
Enter the Bible Isaiah course, Outline Book 2C, Themes, and Bible in the World; applied to Isaiah 51:1–8
Sources for This Section
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Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Isaiah 51:1–8, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Isaiah
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology at the exact unit, without treating morphology as apparatus, lexicon, composition history, or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Isa.xml, OSIS 51:1–8 with Hebrew/KJV versification difference checked
Open the fixed Hebrew Isaiah file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible Notes: Isaiah
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2016; current official PDF
Supports: Verse-level controls for Hebrew, syntax, poetry, older KJV language, chronology, names, textual issues, and material translation alternatives.
Exact location: Official NET Isaiah PDF, translator, study, and textual notes attached to Isaiah 51:1–8 in the complete 205-page book PDF
Open the official NET Isaiah PDF ↗open university study guide series
Second Isaiah study-guide course
Robert R. Wilson and Stephen L. Cook
Yale Bible Study, 2019; current public course
Supports: Babylonian-exile and Persian horizons, new exodus, Cyrus, servant figures, Daughter Zion, nations, suffering, and transition to plural servants.
Exact location: Yale Bible Study, Second Isaiah course, Servant and Bride guide on Isaiah 49:1-52:12; applied to Isaiah 51:1–8
Open the Yale Second Isaiah course ↗modern scholarly book course
Isaiah course: summary, outline, background, introductory issues, themes, and reception
Fred Gaiser; revised by Michael Chan
Enter the Bible, Luther Seminary, revised August 2024
Supports: Whole-book historical, literary, theological, ethical, and reception synthesis across Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, and postexilic horizons.
Exact location: Enter the Bible Isaiah course, Outline Book 2C, Themes, and Bible in the World; applied to Isaiah 51:1–8
Open the Enter the Bible Isaiah course ↗