The Lord’s Coming Salvation

52 cAwake, awake,

put on your strength, O Zion;

dput on your beautiful garments,

O Jerusalem, ethe holy city;

ffor there shall no more come into you

the uncircumcised and the unclean.

2  gShake yourself from the dust and arise;

be seated, O Jerusalem;

hloose the bonds from your neck,

O captive daughter of Zion.

3 For thus says the Lord: i“You were sold for nothing, and jyou shall be redeemed without money.” 4 For thus says the Lord God: k“My people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there, and the Assyrian oppressed them for nothing.1 5 Now therefore what have I here,” declares the Lord, “seeing that my people are taken away for nothing? Their rulers wail,” declares the Lord, “and lcontinually all the day my name is despised. 6 Therefore my people shall know my name. mTherefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here I am.”

7  nHow beautiful upon the mountains

are the feet of him who brings good news,

who publishes peace, owho brings good news of happiness,

who publishes salvation,

who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”

8  The voice of pyour watchmen—they lift up their voice;

together they sing for joy;

qfor eye to eye they see

the return of the Lord to Zion.

9  rBreak forth together into singing,

syou waste places of Jerusalem,

for tthe Lord has comforted his people;

he has redeemed Jerusalem.

10  uThe Lord has bared his holy arm

before the eyes of all the nations,

vand all the ends of the earth shall see

the salvation of our God.

11  wDepart, depart, go out from there;

touch no unclean thing;

go out from the midst of her; purify yourselves,

xyou who bear the vessels of the Lord.

12  For you shall not ygo out in haste,

and you shall not go in flight,

zfor the Lord will go before you,

aand the God of Israel will be your rear guard.

He Was Pierced for Our Transgressions

13  Behold, bmy servant shall act wisely;2

he shall be high and lifted up,

and shall be exalted.

14  As many were astonished at you—

chis appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,

and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—

15  so dshall he sprinkle3 many nations.

eKings shall shut their mouths because of him,

ffor that which has not been told them they see,

and that which they have not heard they understand.

53 gWho has believed what he has heard from us?1

And to whom has hthe arm of the Lord been revealed?

2  For he grew up before him like a young plant,

iand like a root out of dry ground;

jhe had no form or majesty that we should look at him,

and no beauty that we should desire him.

3  kHe was despised and rejected2 by men,

a man of sorrows3 and acquainted with4 grief;5

and as one from whom men hide their faces6

he was despised, and lwe esteemed him not.

4  mSurely he has borne our griefs

and carried our sorrows;

yet we esteemed him stricken,

nsmitten by God, and afflicted.

5  oBut he was pierced for our transgressions;

he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

pand with his wounds we are healed.

6  qAll we like sheep have gone astray;

we have turned—every one—to his own way;

rand the Lord has laid on him

the iniquity of us all.

7  He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,

syet he opened not his mouth;

tlike a ulamb that is led to the slaughter,

and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,

so he opened not his mouth.

8  By oppression and judgment he was taken away;

and as for his generation, vwho considered

that he was cut off out of the land of the living,

stricken for the transgression of my people?

9  And they made his grave with the wicked

wand with a rich man in his death,

although xhe had done no violence,

and there was no deceit in his mouth.

10  Yet yit was the will of the Lord to crush him;

he has put him to grief;7

zwhen his soul makes8 an offering for guilt,

he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;

athe will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

11  Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see9 and be satisfied;

by his knowledge shall bthe righteous one, my servant,

cmake many to be accounted righteous,

dand he shall bear their iniquities.

12  eTherefore I will divide him a portion with the many,10

fand he shall divide the spoil with the strong,11

because he poured out his soul to death

and was numbered with the transgressors;

gyet he bore the sin of many,

and makes intercession for the transgressors.

The Eternal Covenant of Peace

54 h“Sing, O barren one, who did not bear;

break forth into singing and cry aloud,

you who have not been in labor!

For the children of ithe desolate one jwill be more

than the children of her who is married,” says the Lord.

2  k“Enlarge the place of your tent,

and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out;

do not hold back; lengthen your cords

and strengthen your stakes.

3  lFor you will spread abroad to the right and to the left,

and your offspring will possess the nations

and will people the desolate cities.

4  “Fear not, mfor you will not be ashamed;

be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced;

for you will forget the shame of your youth,

and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more.

5  nFor your Maker is your husband,

the Lord of hosts is his name;

oand the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer,

pthe God of the whole earth he is called.

6  qFor the Lord has called you

like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit,

like a wife of youth when she is cast off,

says your God.

7  rFor a brief moment I deserted you,

but with great compassion I will gather you.

8  rIn overflowing anger for a moment

I hid my face from you,

sbut with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,”

says the Lord, your Redeemer.

9  “This is like tthe days of Noah1 to me:

as I swore that the waters of Noah

should no more go over the earth,

so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you,

and will not rebuke you.

10  For the mountains may depart

and the hills be removed,

but my steadfast love shall not depart from you,

and umy covenant of peace shall not be removed,”

says the Lord, who has compassion on you.

11  v“O afflicted one, storm-tossed and not comforted,

behold, wI will set your stones in antimony,

xand lay your foundations with sapphires.2

12  I will make your pinnacles of agate,3

your gates of carbuncles,4

and all your wall of precious stones.

13  yAll your children zshall be taught by the Lord,

aand great shall be the peace of your children.

14  In righteousness you shall be established;

you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear;

and from terror, for it shall not come near you.

15  bIf anyone stirs up strife,

it is not from me;

whoever stirs up strife with you

shall fall because of you.

16  Behold, I have created the smith

who blows the fire of coals

and produces a weapon for its purpose.

I have also created the ravager to destroy;

17  no weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed,

and you shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment.

This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord

cand their vindication5 from me, declares the Lord.”

The Compassion of the Lord

55 d“Come, everyone who thirsts,

come to the waters;

and he who has no money,

ecome, buy and eat!

Come, buy wine and milk

without money and without price.

2  fWhy do you spend your money for that which is not bread,

and your labor for that which does not satisfy?

Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,

and delight yourselves in rich food.

3  Incline your ear, and come to me;

ghear, that your soul may live;

hand I will make with you an everlasting covenant,

imy steadfast, sure love for jDavid.

4  kBehold, I made him a witness to the peoples,

la leader and commander for the peoples.

5  kBehold, you shall call a nation that you do not know,

and ma nation that did not know you shall run to you,

because of the Lord your God, and of the Holy One of Israel,

nfor he has glorified you.

6  o“Seek the Lord while he may be found;

call upon him while he is near;

7  let the wicked forsake his way,

and the unrighteous man his thoughts;

let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him,

and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

8  For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.

9  pFor as the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts.

10  q“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven

and do not return there but water the earth,

making it bring forth and sprout,

rgiving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

11  so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;

it shall not return to me empty,

but sit shall accomplish that which I purpose,

and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

12  t“For you shall go out in joy

and be led forth in peace;

uthe mountains and the hills before you

shall break forth into singing,

and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

13  vInstead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;

instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;

and it shall make a name for the Lord,

an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

Salvation for Foreigners

56 Thus says the Lord:

“Keep justice, and do righteousness,

wfor soon my salvation will come,

and my righteousness be revealed.

2  Blessed is the man who does this,

and the son of man who holds it fast,

xwho keeps the Sabbath, not profaning it,

and keeps his hand from doing any evil.”

3  Let not ythe foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say,

“The Lord will surely separate me from his people”;

and let not the eunuch say,

“Behold, I am za dry tree.”

4  For thus says the Lord:

“To the eunuchs xwho keep my Sabbaths,

who choose the things that please me

and hold fast my covenant,

5  aI will give in my house and within my walls

a bmonument and a name

better than sons and daughters;

cI will give them an everlasting name

that shall not be cut off.

6  “And ythe foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,

to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord,

and to be his servants,

everyone xwho keeps the Sabbath and does not