Isaiah 51–53

Chapter 51

Israel Exhorted

¹“^aListen to me, you who ^bpursue righteousness,

Who seek the Lord:

Look to the ^crock from which you were hewn

And to the ¹quarry from which you were dug.

²“Look to ^aAbraham your father

And to Sarah who gave birth to you in pain;

When he ^bwas but one I called him,

Then I blessed him and multiplied him.”

³Indeed, ^athe Lord will comfort Zion;

He will comfort all her ^bwaste places.

And her ^cwilderness He will make like ^dEden,

And her desert like the ^egarden of the Lord;

^fJoy and gladness will be found in her,

Thanksgiving and sound of a melody.

⁴“^aPay attention to Me, O My people,

And give ear to Me, O My ¹nation;

For a ^blaw will go forth from Me,

And I will ²set My ^cjustice for a ^dlight of the peoples.

⁵“My ^arighteousness is near, My salvation has gone forth,

And My ^barms will judge the peoples;

The ^ccoastlands will wait for Me,

And for My ^darm they will wait expectantly.

⁶“^aLift up your eyes to the sky,

Then look to the earth beneath;

For the ^bsky will vanish like smoke,

And the earth will wear out like a garment

And its inhabitants will die ¹in like manner;

But My ^csalvation will be forever,

And My righteousness will not ²wane.

⁷“^aListen to Me, you who know righteousness,

A people in whose ^bheart is My law;

Do not fear the ^creproach of man,

Nor be dismayed at their revilings.

⁸“For the ^amoth will eat them like a garment,

And the ^bgrub will eat them like wool.

But My ^crighteousness will be forever,

And My salvation to all generations.”

^9aAwake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord;

Awake as in the ^bdays of old, the generations of long ago.

^cWas it not You who cut Rahab in pieces,

Who pierced the ^ddragon?

¹⁰Was it not You who ^adried up the sea,

The waters of the great deep;

Who made the depths of the sea a pathway

For the ^bredeemed to cross over?

¹¹So the ^aransomed of the Lord will return

And come with joyful shouting to Zion,

And ^beverlasting joy will be on their heads.

They will obtain gladness and joy,

And ^csorrow and sighing will flee away.

¹²“I, even I, am He who ^acomforts you.

Who are you that you are afraid of ^bman who dies

And of the son of man who is made ^clike grass,

¹³That you have ^aforgotten the Lord your Maker,

Who ^bstretched out the heavens

And laid the foundations of the earth,

That you ^cfear continually all day long because of the fury of the oppressor,

As he makes ready to destroy?

But where is the fury of the ^doppressor?

¹⁴“The ^1aexile will soon be set free, and will not die in the dungeon, ^bnor will his bread be lacking.

¹⁵“For I am the Lord your God, who ^astirs up the sea and its waves roar (the Lord of hosts is His name).

¹⁶“I have ^aput My words in your mouth and have ^bcovered you with the shadow of My hand, to ^1cestablish the heavens, to found the earth, and to say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’ ”

^17aRouse yourself! Rouse yourself! Arise, O Jerusalem,

You who have ^bdrunk from the Lord’s hand the cup of His anger;

The ¹chalice of reeling you have ²drained to the dregs.

¹⁸There is ^anone to guide her among all the sons she has borne,

Nor is there one to take her by the hand among all the sons she has reared.

¹⁹These two things have befallen you;

Who will mourn for you?

The ^adevastation and destruction, famine and sword;

How shall I comfort you?

²⁰Your sons have fainted,

They ^alie helpless at the head of every street,

Like an ^bantelope in a net,

Full of the wrath of the Lord,

The ^crebuke of your God.

²¹Therefore, please hear this, you ^aafflicted,

Who are ^bdrunk, but not with wine:

²²Thus says your Lord, the Lord, even your God

Who ^acontends for His people,

“Behold, I have taken out of your hand the ^bcup of reeling,

The ¹chalice of My anger;

You will never drink it again.

²³“I will ^aput it into the hand of your tormentors,

Who have said to ¹you, ‘^bLie down that we may walk over you.’

You have even made your back like the ground

And like the street for those who walk over it.”

Chapter 52

Cheer for Prostrate Zion

^1aAwake, awake,

Clothe yourself in your strength, O Zion;

Clothe yourself in your ^bbeautiful garments,

O Jerusalem, the ^choly city;

For the uncircumcised and the ^dunclean

Will no longer come into you.

²Shake yourself ^afrom the dust, ^brise up,

O captive Jerusalem;

^cLoose yourself from the chains around your neck,

O captive daughter of Zion.

³For thus says the Lord, “You were ^asold for nothing and you will be ^bredeemed ^cwithout money.”

⁴For thus says the Lord ¹God, “My people ^awent down at the first into Egypt to reside there; then the Assyrian oppressed them without cause.

⁵“Now therefore, what do I have here,” declares the Lord, “seeing that My people have been taken away without cause?” Again the Lord declares, “Those who rule over them howl, and My ^aname is continually blasphemed all day long.

⁶“Therefore My people shall ^aknow My name; therefore in that day I am the one who is speaking, ‘Here I am.’ ”

⁷How lovely on the mountains

Are the feet of him who brings ^agood news,

Who announces ¹peace

And brings good news of ²happiness,

Who announces salvation,

And says to Zion, “Your ^bGod ³reigns!”

⁸Listen! Your watchmen lift up their ^avoices,

They shout joyfully together;

For they will see ¹with their own eyes

When the Lord restores Zion.

^9aBreak forth, shout joyfully together,

You ^bwaste places of Jerusalem;

For the Lord has comforted His people,

He has ^credeemed Jerusalem.

¹⁰The Lord has bared His holy ^aarm

In the sight of all the nations,

¹That ^ball the ends of the earth may see

The salvation of our God.

^11aDepart, depart, go out from there,

^bTouch nothing unclean;

Go out of the midst of her, ^cpurify yourselves,

You who carry the vessels of the Lord.

¹²But you will not go out in ^ahaste,

Nor will you go ¹as fugitives;

For the ^bLord will go before you,

And ^cthe God of Israel will be your rear guard.

The Exalted Servant

¹³Behold, My ^aservant will prosper,

He will be high and lifted up and ¹greatly ^bexalted.

¹⁴Just as many were astonished at you, My people,

So His ^aappearance was marred more than any man

And His form more than the sons of men.

¹⁵Thus He will ^asprinkle many nations,

Kings will ^bshut their mouths on account of Him;

For ^cwhat had not been told them they will see,

And what they had not heard they will understand.

Chapter 53

The Suffering Servant

^1aWho has believed our message?

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

²For He grew up before Him like a ^atender ¹shoot,

And like a root out of parched ground;

He has ^bno stately form or majesty

That we should look upon Him,

Nor appearance that we should ²be attracted to Him.

³He was ^adespised and forsaken of men,

A man of ¹sorrows and ^bacquainted with ²grief;

And like one from whom men hide their face

He was ^cdespised, and we did not ^desteem Him.

⁴Surely our ¹griefs He Himself ^abore,

And our ²sorrows He carried;

Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,

³Smitten of ^bGod, and afflicted.

⁵But He was ¹pierced through for ^aour transgressions,

He was crushed for ^bour iniquities;

The ^cchastening for our ²well-being fell upon Him,

And by ^dHis scourging we are healed.

⁶All of us like sheep have gone astray,

Each of us has turned to his own way;

But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all

To ¹fall on Him.

⁷He was oppressed and He was afflicted,

Yet He did not ^aopen His mouth;

^bLike a lamb that is led to slaughter,

And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,

So He did not open His mouth.

⁸By oppression and judgment He was taken away;

And as for His generation, who considered

That He was cut off out of the land of the ¹living

^aFor the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due?

⁹His grave was assigned with wicked men,

Yet He was with a ^arich man in His death,

^bBecause He had ^cdone no violence,

Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.

¹⁰But the Lord was pleased

To ^acrush Him, ^1bputting Him to grief;

If ²He would render Himself as a guilt ^coffering,

He will see ^dHis ³offspring,

He will prolong His days,

And the ⁴good ^epleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand.

¹¹As a result of the ¹anguish of His soul,

He will ^asee ²it and be satisfied;

By His ^bknowledge the Righteous One,

My Servant, will justify the many,

As He will ^cbear their iniquities.

¹²Therefore, I will allot Him a ^aportion with the great,

And He will divide the booty with the strong;

Because He poured out ^1bHimself to death,

And was ^cnumbered with the transgressors;

Yet He Himself ^dbore the sin of many,

And interceded for the transgressors.