Section 136 of 17451:9–16Isaiah

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King James VersionIsaiah 51:9–16

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.

Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.

Scripture text: King James Version, Standardized 1769 text. Public domain in the United States.About this Bible text

Isaiah 51:9–16

The People Call the Arm to Awake and Receive an Answer

Awake, awake, arm of the Lord

The people shake the sleeping arm they remember: Rahab cut, dragon pierced, sea dried, redeemed ones crossing. They want the first victory again. God answers the fear underneath: you are afraid of a mortal who dies, a son of man who is grass, and you forget the Maker who stretched the heavens. I have put my words in your mouth; you are my people, Zion.

Mythic combat and exodus memory are allowed as prayer. God does not scold the cry 'wake up.' God relocates fear: the oppressor is grass; the word is planted. This unit does not authorize silencing grief, blaming sufferers, or demanding emotional compliance. Confession of fear is not a trick to erase what perpetrators did.

The dragon and the grass belong together. We need a God large enough for chaos, and a realism small enough for tyrants. A warranted life is to pray the old victories without freezing there, and to receive identity—'you are my people'—while still telling the truth about the wound.

How this should shape us

Pray the old victories without freezing there, and receive 'you are my people' without being talked out of the wound. Tyrants are grass; grief is still allowed.

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King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.

Isaiah 51:9–16, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Isaiah

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 51:9–16 with Hebrew/KJV versification difference checked

NET Bible Notes: Isaiah

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 51:9–16 in the complete 205-page book PDF

Second Isaiah study-guide course

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 51:9–16

Isaiah course: summary, outline, background, introductory issues, themes, and reception

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 51:9–16

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King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

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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.

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Exact location: Isaiah 51:9–16, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus

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Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Isaiah

Open Scriptures

Open Scriptures, release 2.2

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Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Isa.xml, OSIS 51:9–16 with Hebrew/KJV versification difference checked

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NET Bible Notes: Isaiah

Biblical Studies Press

Biblical Studies Press, 2016; current official PDF

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Exact location: Official NET Isaiah PDF, translator, study, and textual notes attached to Isaiah 51:9–16 in the complete 205-page book PDF

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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 51:9–16

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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 51:9–16

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