Isaiah 52–53
put on your strength, Zion!
Put on your beautiful garments,m
Jerusalem, the holy city!n
For the uncircumcised and the unclean
will no longer enter you.o
2 Stand up, shake the dust off yourself!
Take your seat, Jerusalem.
Remove the bondsD from your neck,
captive Daughter Zion.”
3 For this is what the Lord says:
“You were sold for nothing,
and you will be redeemed without silver.”p
4 For this is what the Lord God says:
“At first my people went down to Egypt to reside there,q
then Assyria oppressed them without cause.E
this is the Lord’s declaration—
“that my people are taken away for nothing?
Its rulers wail”—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
“and my name is continually blasphemed all day long.a
6 Therefore my people will know my name;b
therefore they will know on that day
that I am he who says,
‘Here I am.’ ”
7 How beautiful on the mountains
are the feet of the herald,
who proclaims peace,
who brings news of good things,c
who proclaims salvation,
who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”d
8 The voices of your watchmene—
they lift up their voices,
shouting for joy together;
for every eye will see
when the Lord returns to Zion.
9 Be joyful, rejoice together,
you ruins of Jerusalem!f
For the Lord has comforted his people;g
he has redeemed Jerusalem.
10 The Lord has displayed his holy arm
in the sight of all the nations;h
all the ends of the earth will see
the salvation of our God.i
11 Leave, leave, go out from there!j
Do not touch anything unclean;
go out from her, purify yourselves,k
you who carry the vessels of the Lord.
12 For you will not leave in a hurry,l
and you will not have to take flight;
because the Lord is going before you,m
and the God of Israel is your rear guard.n
THE SERVANT’S SUFFERING AND EXALTATION
13 See, my servantA,o will be successful;B
he will be raised and lifted up and greatly exalted.p
14 Just as many were appalled at youC—
his appearance was so disfigured
that he did not look like a man,
and his form did not resemble a human being—
15 so he will sprinkle many nations.D,q
Kings will shut their mouths because of him,
for they will see what had not been told them,
and they will understand what they had not heard.r
53 Who has believed what we have heard?E
And to whom has the arm of the Lords been revealed?t
2 He grew up before him like a young plantu
and like a root out of dry ground.
He didn’t have an impressive form
or majesty that we should look at him,
no appearance that we should desire him.v
3 He was despised and rejected by men,w
a man of suffering who knew what sickness was.x
He was like someone people turned away from;F
he was despised, and we didn’t value him.
4 Yet he himself bore our sicknesses,
and he carried our pains;y
but we in turn regarded him stricken,
struck down by God,z and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced because of our rebellion,aa
crushed because of our iniquities;ab
punishmentac for our peace was on him,
and we are healed by his wounds.ad
6 We all went astray like sheep;ae
we all have turned to our own way;
and the Lord has punished him
forG the iniquityaf of us all.ag
7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth.
Like a lamb led to the slaughter
and like a sheep silent before her shearers,
he did not open his mouth.ah
8 He was taken away because of oppression and judgment,
and who considered his fate?H
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
he was struck because of my people’s rebellion.
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
but he was with a rich man at his death,a
because he had done no violence
and had not spoken deceitfully.b
10 Yet the Lord was pleasedc to crush him severely.A,d
WhenB you make him a guilt offering,e
he will see his seed, he will prolong his days,
and by his hand, the Lord’s pleasure will be accomplished.f
11 After his anguish, he will see lightC and be satisfied.
By his knowledge,
my righteousg servanth will justify many,i
and he will carry their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will give himD the many as a portion,
and he will receiveE the mighty as spoil,
because he willingly submitted to death,j
and was counted among the rebels;k
yet he bore the sin of manyl
and interceded for the rebels.m