Isaiah 51–53

Words of Comfort to Jerusalem

51The Lord says,

“Listen to me,

you that want to be saved, you that come to me for help.

Think of the rock from which you came,

the quarry from which you were dug.

²Think of your ancestor, Abraham,

and of Sarah, from whom you are descended.

When I called Abraham, he was childless,

but I blessed him and gave him children;

I made his descendants numerous.

³“I will show compassion to Jerusalem,

to all who live in her ruins.

Though her land is a desert, I will make it a garden,

like the garden I planted in Eden.

Joy and gladness will be there,

and songs of praise and thanks to me.

⁴“Listen to me, my people,

listen to what I say:

I give my teaching to the nations;

my laws will bring them light.

⁵I will come quickly and save them;

the time of my victory is near.

I myself will rule over the nations.

Distant lands wait for me to come;

they wait with hope for me to save them.

⁶Look up at the heavens; look at the earth!

The heavens will disappear like smoke;

the earth will wear out like old clothing,

and all its people will die like flies.

But the deliverance I bring will last for ever;

my victory will be final.

⁷“Listen to me, you that know what is right,

who have my teaching fixed in your hearts.

Do not be afraid when people taunt and insult you;

⁸they will vanish like moth-eaten clothing!

But the deliverance I bring will last for ever;

my victory will endure for all time.”

⁹Wake up, Lord, and help us!

Use your power and save us;

use it as you did in ancient times.

It was you that cut the sea monster Rahab^b to pieces.

¹⁰It was you also who dried up the sea

and made a path through the water,

so that those you were saving could cross.

¹¹Those whom you have rescued

will reach Jerusalem with gladness,

singing and shouting for joy.

They will be happy

for ever, for ever free from sorrow and grief.

¹²The Lord says,

“I am the one who strengthens you.

Why should you fear mortals,

who are no more enduring than grass?

¹³Have you forgotten the Lord who made you,

who stretched out the heavens

and laid the earth’s foundations?

Why should you live in constant fear

of the fury of those who oppress you,

of those who are ready to destroy you?

Their fury can no longer touch you.

¹⁴Those who are prisoners will soon be set free;

they will live a long life

and have all the food they need.

¹⁵“I am the Lord your God;

I stir up the sea

and make its waves roar.

My name is the Lord Almighty!

¹⁶I stretched out^c the heavens

and laid the earth’s foundations;

I say to Jerusalem, ‘You are my people!

I have given you my teaching,

and I protect you with my hand.’ ”

The End of Jerusalem’s Suffering

¹⁷Jerusalem, wake up!

Rouse yourself and get up!

You have drunk the cup of punishment

that the Lord in his anger gave you to drink;

you drank it down, and it made you stagger.

¹⁸There is no one to lead you,

no one among your people

to take you by the hand.

¹⁹A double disaster has fallen on you:

your land has been devastated by war,

and your people have starved.

There is no one to show you sympathy.

²⁰At the corner of every street

your people collapse from weakness;

they are like deer caught in a hunter’s net.

They have felt the force of God’s anger.

²¹You suffering people of Jerusalem,

you that stagger as though you were drunk,

²²the Lord your God defends you and says,

“I am taking away the cup

that I gave you in my anger.

You will no longer have to drink

the wine that makes you stagger.

²³I will give it to those who oppressed you,

to those who made you lie down in the streets

and trampled on you as if you were dirt.”

God Will Rescue Jerusalem

52^*Jerusalem, be strong and great again!

Holy city of God, clothe yourself with splendour!

The heathen will never enter your gates again.

²Shake yourself free, Jerusalem!

Rise from the dust and sit on your throne!

Undo the chains that bind you,

captive people of Zion!

³The Sovereign Lord says to his people, “When you became slaves, no money was paid for you; in the same

way nothing will be paid to set you free. ⁴When you went to live in Egypt as foreigners, you did so of your own free will; Assyria, however, took you away by force and paid nothing for you. ^5*And now in Babylonia the same thing has happened: you are captives, and nothing was paid for you. Those who rule over you boast and brag and constantly show contempt for me. ⁶In time to come you will acknowledge that I am God and that I have spoken to you.”

^7*How wonderful it is to see

a messenger coming across the mountains,

bringing good news, the news of peace!

He announces victory and says to Zion,

“Your God is king!”

⁸Those who guard the city are

shouting, shouting together for joy!

They can see with their own eyes

the return of the Lord to Zion!

⁹Break into shouts of joy,

you ruins of Jerusalem!

The Lord will rescue his city

and comfort his people.

¹⁰The Lord will use his holy power;

he will save his people,

and all the world will see it.

^11*Make sure you leave Babylonia,

all you that carry the temple equipment!

Touch no forbidden thing;^d

keep yourselves holy and leave.

¹²This time

you will not have to leave in a hurry; you will not be trying to escape.

The Lord your God will lead you

and protect you on every side.

The Suffering Servant

¹³The Lord says,

“My servant will succeed in his task;

he will be highly honoured.^e

¹⁴Many people were shocked when they saw him;

he was so disfigured that he hardly looked human.

^15*But now many nations will marvel at him,

and kings will be speechless with amazement.

They will see and understand

something they had never known.”

53^*The people reply,

“Who would have believed what we now report?

Who could have seen the Lord’s hand in this?

²It was the will of the Lord that his servant

should grow like a plant taking root in dry ground.

He had no dignity or beauty

to make us take notice of him.

There was

nothing attractive about him, nothing that would draw us to him.

³We despised him and rejected him;

he endured suffering and pain.

No one would even look at him—

we ignored him as if he were nothing.

^4*“But he endured the suffering that should have been ours,

the pain that we should have borne.

All the while we thought that his suffering

was punishment sent by God.

^5*But because of our sins he was wounded,

beaten because of the evil we did.

We are healed by the punishment he suffered,

made whole by the blows he received.

^6*All of us were like sheep that were lost,

each of us going his own way.

But the Lord made

the punishment fall on him, the punishment all of us deserved.

^7*“He was treated harshly, but endured it humbly;

he never said a word.

Like a lamb about to be slaughtered,

like a sheep about to be sheared,

he never said a word.

^8*He was arrested and sentenced and led off to die,

and no one cared about his fate.

He was put to death for the sins of our people.

^9*He was placed in a grave with the wicked,

he was buried with the rich, even though he had never committed a crime

or ever told a lie.”

¹⁰The Lord says,

“It was my will that he should suffer;

his death was a sacrifice to bring forgiveness.

And so he will see his descendants;

he will live a long life,

and through him my purpose will succeed.

¹¹After a life of suffering, he will again have joy;

he will know that he did not suffer in vain.

My devoted servant, with whom I am pleased,

will bear the punishment of many

and for his sake I will forgive them.

^12*And so I will give him

a place of honor, a place among the great and powerful.

He willingly gave his life

and shared the fate of evil men.

He took the place of many sinners

and prayed that they might be forgiven.”^f