Isaiah 51–53

The Lord’s Comfort for Zion

51^d“Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness,

you who seek the Lord:

look to the rock from which you were hewn,

and to the quarry from which you were dug.

²Look to Abraham your father

and to Sarah who bore you;

for ^ehe was but one when I called him,

that I might bless him and multiply him.

³For the Lord ^fcomforts Zion;

he comforts all her waste places

and makes her wilderness like ^gEden,

her desert like ^hthe garden of the Lord;

ⁱjoy and gladness will be found in her,

thanksgiving and the voice of song.

^4j“Give attention to me, my people,

and give ear to me, my nation;

^kfor a law¹ will go out from me,

and I will set my justice for a light to the peoples.

^5lMy righteousness draws near,

my salvation has gone out,

and my arms will judge the peoples;

^mthe coastlands hope for me,

and for my arm they wait.

⁶ⁿLift up your eyes to the heavens,

and look at the earth beneath;

^ofor the heavens vanish like smoke,

the earth will wear out like a garment,

and they who dwell in it will die in like manner;²

^pbut my salvation will be forever,

and my righteousness will never be dismayed.

^7q“Listen to me, you who know righteousness,

the people ^rin whose heart is my law;

^sfear not the reproach of man,

nor be dismayed at their revilings.

^8tFor the moth will eat them up like a garment,

and the worm will eat them like wool,

^pbut my righteousness will be forever,

and my salvation to all generations.”

^9uAwake, awake, ^vput on strength,

O ^warm of the Lord;

awake, ^xas in days of old,

the generations of long ago.

Was it not you who cut ^yRahab in pieces,

who pierced ^zthe dragon?

^10aWas it not you who dried up the sea,

the waters of the great deep,

who made the depths of the sea a way

for the redeemed to pass over?

^11bAnd the ransomed of the Lord shall return

and come to Zion with singing;

everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;

they shall obtain gladness and joy,

and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

¹²“I, I am he ^cwho comforts you;

who are you that you are afraid of ^dman who dies,

of the son of man who is made ^elike grass,

¹³and have forgotten the Lord, your Maker,

^fwho stretched out the heavens

and ^glaid the foundations of the earth,

and you fear continually all the day

because of the wrath of ^hthe oppressor,

when he sets himself to destroy?

And where is the wrath of ^hthe oppressor?

¹⁴ⁱHe who is bowed down shall speedily be released;

he shall not die and go down ^jto the pit,

neither shall his bread be lacking.

¹⁵I am the Lord your God,

^kwho stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—

the Lord of hosts is his name.

^16lAnd I have put my words in your mouth

^mand covered you in the shadow of my hand,

ⁿestablishing³ the heavens

and ^olaying the foundations of the earth,

and saying to Zion, ‘You are my people.’ ”

^17pWake yourself, wake yourself,

stand up, O Jerusalem,

^qyou who have drunk from the hand of the Lord

the cup of his wrath,

who have drunk to the dregs

the bowl, ^rthe cup of staggering.

^18sThere is none to guide her

among all the sons she has borne;

there is none to take her by the hand

among all the sons she has brought up.

^19tThese two things have happened to you—

who will console you?—

devastation and destruction, famine and sword;

who will comfort you?⁴

^20uYour sons have fainted;

they lie at the head of every street

like an ^vantelope ^win a net;

they are full of the wrath of the Lord,

the rebuke of your God.

^21xTherefore hear this, you who are afflicted,

who are drunk, but not with wine:

²²Thus says your Lord, the Lord,

your God ^ywho pleads the cause of his people:

“Behold, I have taken from your hand ^rthe cup of staggering;

the bowl of my wrath you shall drink no more;

^23zand I will put it into the hand of your tormentors,

^awho have said to you,

‘Bow down, that we may pass over’;

and ^byou have made your back like the ground

and like the street for them to pass over.”

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.

^2gShake yourself from the dust and arise;

be seated, O Jerusalem;

^hloose the bonds from your neck,

O captive daughter of Zion.

³For thus says the Lord: ⁱ“You were sold for nothing, and ^jyou shall be redeemed without money.” ⁴For 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. ⁶Therefore my people shall know my name. ^mTherefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here I am.”

⁷ⁿHow 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.”

⁸The 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.

^9rBreak forth together into singing,

^syou waste places of Jerusalem,

for ^tthe Lord has comforted his people;

he has redeemed Jerusalem.

^10uThe 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.

^11wDepart, 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.

¹²For 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

¹³Behold, ^bmy servant shall act wisely;²

he shall be high and lifted up,

and shall be exalted.

¹⁴As many were astonished at you—

^chis appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,

and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—

¹⁵so ^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?

²For 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.

^3kHe 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.

^4mSurely he has borne our griefs

and carried our sorrows;

yet we esteemed him stricken,

ⁿsmitten by God, and afflicted.

^5oBut 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.

^6qAll 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.

⁷He 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.

⁸By 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?

⁹And they made his grave with the wicked

^wand with a rich man in his death,

although^{7 x}he had done no violence,

and there was no deceit in his mouth.

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

he has put him to grief;⁸

^zwhen his soul makes⁹ an offering for guilt,

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

^athe will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

¹¹Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see¹⁰ and be satisfied;

by his knowledge shall ^bthe righteous one, my servant,

^cmake many to be accounted righteous,

^dand he shall bear their iniquities.

^12eTherefore I will divide him a portion with the many,¹¹

^fand he shall divide the spoil with the strong,¹²

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.