Isaiah 51–53

Zion Will Be Saved

51The Lord says, “Listen to me, you who want to do what is right.

Pay attention, you who look to me.

Consider the rock you were cut out of.

Think about the rock pit you were dug from.

²Consider Abraham. He is the father of your people.

Think about Sarah. She is your mother.

When I chose Abraham, he did not have any children.

But I blessed him and gave him many of them.

³You can be sure that I will comfort Zion’s people.

I will look with loving concern on all of their destroyed buildings.

I will make their deserts like Eden.

I will make their dry and empty land like my very own garden.

Joy and gladness will be there.

People will sing and give thanks to me.

⁴“Listen to me, my people.

Pay attention, my nation.

My law will go out to the nations.

I make everything right.

That will be a guiding light for them.

⁵The time for me to set you free is near.

I will soon save you.

My powerful arm will make everything right among the nations.

The islands will put their hope in me.

They will wait for my powerful arm to act.

⁶Look up toward the heavens.

Then look at the earth.

The heavens will vanish like smoke.

The earth will wear out like clothes.

Those who live there will die like flies.

But I will save you forever.

My saving power will never end.

⁷“Listen to me, you who know what is right.

Pay attention, you who have my law in your hearts.

Do not be afraid when mere people make fun of you.

Do not be terrified when they laugh at you.

⁸They will be like clothes that moths have eaten up.

They will be like wool that worms have chewed up.

But my saving power will last forever.

I will save you for all time to come.”

⁹Wake up! Lord, wake up! Dress your powerful arm with strength

as if it were your clothes.

Wake up, just as you did in the past.

Wake up, as you did long ago.

Didn’t you cut Rahab to pieces?

Didn’t you stab that sea monster to death?

¹⁰Didn’t you dry up the Red Sea?

Didn’t you dry up those deep waters?

You made a road on the bottom of that sea.

Then those who were set free went across.

¹¹Those the Lord has saved will return to their land.

They will sing as they enter the city of Zion.

Joy that lasts forever will be like beautiful crowns on their heads.

They will be filled with gladness and joy.

Sorrow and sighing will be gone.

¹²The Lord says to his people,

“I comfort you because of who I am.

Why are you afraid of mere men?

They are only human beings.

They are like grass that dries up.

¹³How can you forget me? I made you.

I spread out the heavens.

I laid the foundations of the earth.

Why are you terrified every day?

Is it because those who are angry with you are crushing you?

Is it because they are trying to destroy you?

Their anger can’t harm you anymore.

¹⁴You prisoners who are so afraid will soon be set free.

You will not die in your prison cells.

You will not go without food.

¹⁵I am the Lord your God.

I stir up the ocean. I make its waves roar.

My name is The Lord Who Rules Over All.

¹⁶I have put my words in your mouth.

I have kept you safe in the palm of my hand.

I set the heavens in place.

I laid the foundations of the earth.

I say to Zion, ‘You are my people.’ ”

The Cup of the Lord’s Burning Anger

¹⁷Wake up, Jerusalem!

Wake up! Get up!

The Lord has handed you the cup of his burning anger.

And you have drunk from it.

That cup makes men unsteady on their feet.

And you have drunk from it to the very last drop.

¹⁸None of the children who were born to you

are left to guide you.

None of the children you brought up

are left to lead you by the hand.

¹⁹Nothing but trouble has come to you.

You have been wiped out and destroyed.

And you have suffered hunger and war.

No one feels sorry for you.

No one can comfort you.

²⁰Your children have fainted.

They lie helpless at every street corner.

They are like antelope that have been caught in a net.

They have felt the full force of the Lord’s burning anger.

Jerusalem, your God had to warn them strongly.

²¹So listen to me, you suffering people of Jerusalem.

You have been made drunk, but not by drinking wine.

²²Your Lord and King speaks.

He is your God.

He stands up for his people. He says,

“I have taken from you the cup of my burning anger.

It made you unsteady on your feet.

But you will never drink

from that cup again.

²³Instead, I will give it to those who made you suffer.

They said to you,

‘Fall down flat on the ground.

Then we can walk all over you.’

And that is exactly what you did.

You made your back like a street to be walked on.”

52Wake up! Zion, wake up!

Dress yourself with strength as if it were your clothes.

Holy city of Jerusalem,

put on your clothes of glory.

Those who haven’t been circumcised will never enter you again.

Neither will those who are “unclean.”

²Get up, Jerusalem! Shake off your dust.

Take your place on your throne.

Captured people of Zion,

remove the chains from your neck.

³The Lord says,

“When you were sold as slaves, no one paid anything for you.

Now no one will pay any money to set you free.”

⁴The Lord and King continues,

“Long ago my people went down to Egypt.

They lived there for a while.

Later, Assyria crushed them without any reason.

⁵“Now look at what has happened to them,” announces the Lord.

“Once again my people have been taken away.

And no one paid anything for them.

Those who rule over them brag about it,”

announces the Lord.

“All day long without stopping,

people speak evil things against my name.

⁶So the day will come when my people will really know the meaning of my name.

They will know what kind of God I am.

They will know that I told them ahead of time they would return to their land.

They will know that it was I.”

⁷What a beautiful sight it is

to see messengers coming with good news!

How beautiful to see them coming down from the mountains

with a message about peace!

How wonderful it is when they bring the good news

that we are saved!

How wonderful when they say to Zion,

“Your God rules!”

⁸Listen! Those on guard duty are shouting out the message.

With their own eyes

they see the Lord returning to Zion.

So they shout with joy.

⁹Burst into songs of joy together,

you broken-down buildings in Jerusalem.

The Lord has comforted his people.

He has set Jerusalem free.

¹⁰The Lord will use the power of his holy arm to save his people.

All of the nations will see him do it.

Everyone from one end of the earth to the other will see it.

¹¹You who carry the articles that belong to the Lord’s temple, leave Babylon!

Leave it! Get out of there!

Don’t touch anything that isn’t pure and clean.

Come out of Babylon and be pure.

¹²But this time you won’t have to leave in a hurry.

You won’t have to rush away.

The Lord will go ahead of you and lead you.

The God of Israel will follow behind you and guard you.

The Suffering and Glory of the Lord’s Servant

¹³The Lord says, “My servant will act wisely and accomplish his task.

He will be highly honored. He will be greatly respected.

¹⁴Many people were shocked when they saw him.

He was so scarred that he did not look like a man at all.

His body was so twisted that he did not look like a human being anymore.

¹⁵But many nations will be surprised when they see what he has done.

Kings will be so amazed that they will not be able to say anything.

They will understand things they were never told about.

They will know the meaning of things they never heard about.”

53Who has believed what we’ve been saying?

Who has seen the Lord’s saving power?

²His servant grew up like a tender young plant.

He grew like a root coming up out of dry ground.

He didn’t have any beauty or majesty that made us notice him.

There wasn’t anything special about the way he looked that drew us to him.

³Men looked down on him. They didn’t accept him.

He knew all about sorrow and suffering.

He was like someone people turn their faces away from.

We looked down on him. We didn’t have any respect for him.

⁴He suffered the things we should have suffered.

He took on himself the pain that should have been ours.

But we thought God was punishing him.

We thought God was wounding him and making him suffer.

⁵But the servant was pierced because we had sinned.

He was crushed because we had done what was evil.

He was punished to make us whole again.

His wounds have healed us.

⁶All of us are like sheep. We have wandered away from God.

All of us have turned to our own way.

And the Lord has placed on his servant

the sins of all of us.

⁷He was beaten down and made to suffer.

But he didn’t open his mouth.

He was led away like a sheep to be killed.

Lambs are silent while their wool is being cut off.

In the same way, he didn’t open his mouth.

⁸He was arrested and sentenced to death.

Then he was taken away.

He was cut off from this life.

He was punished for the sins of my people.

Who among those who were living at that time

could have understood those things?

⁹He was given a grave with those who were evil.

But his body was buried in the tomb of a rich man.

He was killed even though he hadn’t harmed anyone.

And he had never lied to anyone.

¹⁰The Lord says, “It was my plan to crush him

and cause him to suffer.

I made his life a guilt offering to pay for sin.

But he will see all of his children after him.

In fact, he will continue to live.

My plan will be brought about through him.

¹¹After he suffers, he will see the light that leads to life.

And he will be satisfied.

My godly servant will make many people godly

because of what he will accomplish.

He will be punished for their sins.

¹²So I will give him a place of honor among those who are great.

He will be rewarded just like others who win the battle.

That is because he was willing to give his life as a sacrifice.

He was counted among those who had committed crimes.

He took the sins of many people on himself.

And he gave his life for those who had done what is wrong.”