Isaiah 51–53

Everlasting Salvation for Zion

51“Listen^f to me, you who pursue righteousness^g

and who seek^h the Lord:

Look to the rockⁱ from which you were cut

and to the quarry from which you were hewn;

²look to Abraham,^j your father,

and to Sarah, who gave you birth.

When I called him he was only one man,

and I blessed him and made him many.^k

³The Lord will surely comfort^l Zion^m

and will look with compassion on all her ruins;ⁿ

he will make her deserts like Eden,^o

her wastelands^p like the garden of the Lord.

Joy and gladness^q will be found in her,

thanksgiving^r and the sound of singing.

⁴“Listen to me, my people;^s

hear me,^t my nation:

Instruction^u will go out from me;

my justice^v will become a light to the nations.^w

⁵My righteousness draws near speedily,

my salvation^x is on the way,^y

and my arm^z will bring justice to the nations.

The islands^a will look to me

and wait in hope^b for my arm.

⁶Lift up your eyes to the heavens,

look at the earth beneath;

the heavens will vanish like smoke,^c

the earth will wear out like a garment^d

and its inhabitants die like flies.

But my salvation^e will last forever,^f

my righteousness will never fail.^g

⁷“Hear me, you who know what is right,^h

you people who have taken my instruction to heart:ⁱ

Do not fear the reproach of mere mortals

or be terrified by their insults.^j

⁸For the moth will eat them up like a garment;^k

the worm^l will devour them like wool.

But my righteousness will last forever,^m

my salvation through all generations.”

⁹Awake, awake,ⁿ arm^o of the Lord,

clothe yourself with strength!^p

Awake, as in days gone by,

as in generations of old.^q

Was it not you who cut Rahab^r to pieces,

who pierced that monster^s through?

¹⁰Was it not you who dried up the sea,^t

the waters of the great deep,^u

who made a road in the depths of the sea^v

so that the redeemed^w might cross over?

¹¹Those the Lord has rescued^x will return.

They will enter Zion with singing;^y

everlasting joy will crown their heads.

Gladness and joy^z will overtake them,

and sorrow and sighing will flee away.^a

¹²“I, even I, am he who comforts^b you.

Who are you that you fear^c mere mortals,^d

human beings who are but grass,^e

¹³that you forget^f the Lord your Maker,^g

who stretches out the heavens^h

and who lays the foundations of the earth,

that you live in constant terrorⁱ every day

because of the wrath of the oppressor,

who is bent on destruction?

For where is the wrath of the oppressor?^j

¹⁴The cowering prisoners will soon be set free;^k

they will not die in their dungeon,

nor will they lack bread.^l

¹⁵For I am the Lord your God,

who stirs up the sea^m so that its waves roarⁿ—

the Lord Almighty^o is his name.

¹⁶I have put my words in your mouth^p

and covered you with the shadow of my hand^q—

I who set the heavens in place,

who laid the foundations of the earth,^r

and who say to Zion, ‘You are my people.^s’ ”

The Cup of the Lord’s Wrath

¹⁷Awake, awake!^t

Rise up, Jerusalem,

you who have drunk from the hand of the Lord

the cup^u of his wrath,^v

you who have drained to its dregs^w

the goblet that makes people stagger.^x

¹⁸Among all the children^y she bore

there was none to guide her;^z

among all the children she reared

there was none to take her by the hand.^a

¹⁹These double calamities^b have come upon you—

who can comfort you?^c—

ruin and destruction,^d famine^e and sword^f—

who can^a console you?

²⁰Your children have fainted;

they lie at every street corner,^g

like antelope caught in a net.^h

They are filled with the wrathⁱ of the Lord,

with the rebuke^j of your God.

²¹Therefore hear this, you afflicted^k one,

made drunk,^l but not with wine.

²²This is what your Sovereign Lord says,

your God, who defends^m his people:

“See, I have taken out of your hand

the cupⁿ that made you stagger;

from that cup, the goblet of my wrath,

you will never drink again.

²³I will put it into the hands of your tormentors,^o

who said to you,

‘Fall prostrate^p that we may walk^q on you.’

And you made your back like the ground,

like a street to be walked on.”^r

52Awake, awake,^s Zion,

clothe yourself with strength!^t

Put on your garments of splendor,^u

Jerusalem, the holy city.^v

The uncircumcised^w and defiled^x

will not enter you again.^y

²Shake off your dust;^z

rise up,^a sit enthroned, Jerusalem.

Free yourself from the chains on your neck,^b

Daughter Zion,^c now a captive.

³For this is what the Lord says:

“You were sold for nothing,^d

and without money^e you will be redeemed.^f”

⁴For this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“At first my people went down to Egypt^g to live;

lately, Assyria^h has oppressed them.

⁵“And now what do I have here?” declares the Lord.

“For my people have been taken away for nothing,

and those who rule them mock,^a”

declares the Lord.

“And all day long

my name is constantly blasphemed.ⁱ

⁶Therefore my people will know^j my name;^k

therefore in that day^l they will know

that it is I who foretold^m it.

Yes, it is I.”

⁷How beautiful on the mountainsⁿ

are the feet of those who bring good news,^o

who proclaim peace,^p

who bring good tidings,

who proclaim salvation,

who say to Zion,

“Your God reigns!”^q

⁸Listen! Your watchmen^r lift up their voices;^s

together they shout for joy.^t

When the Lord returns^u to Zion,^v

they will see it with their own eyes.

⁹Burst into songs of joy^w together,

you ruins^x of Jerusalem,

for the Lord has comforted^y his people,

he has redeemed Jerusalem.^z

¹⁰The Lord will lay bare his holy arm^a

in the sight of all the nations,^b

and all the ends of the earth^c will see

the salvation^d of our God.

¹¹Depart,^e depart, go out from there!

Touch no unclean thing!^f

Come out from it and be pure,^g

you who carry the articles^h of the Lord’s house.

¹²But you will not leave in hasteⁱ

or go in flight;

for the Lord will go before you,^j

the God of Israel will be your rear guard.^k

The Suffering and Glory of the Servant

¹³See, my servant^l will act wisely^b;

he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.^m

¹⁴Just as there were many who were appalledⁿ at him^c—

his appearance was so disfigured^o beyond that of any human being

and his form marred beyond human likeness^p—

¹⁵so he will sprinkle^q many nations,^d

and kings^r will shut their mouths^s because of him.

For what they were not told, they will see,

and what they have not heard, they will understand.^t

53Who has believed our message^u

and to whom has the arm^v of the Lord been revealed?^w

²He grew up before him like a tender shoot,^x

and like a root^y out of dry ground.

He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,

nothing in his appearance^z that we should desire him.

³He was despised and rejected by mankind,

a man of suffering,^a and familiar with pain.^b

Like one from whom people hide^c their faces

he was despised,^d and we held him in low esteem.

⁴Surely he took up our pain

and bore our suffering,^e

yet we considered him punished by God,^f

stricken by him, and afflicted.^g

⁵But he was pierced^h for our transgressions,ⁱ

he was crushed^j for our iniquities;

the punishment^k that brought us peace^l was on him,

and by his wounds^m we are healed.ⁿ

⁶We all, like sheep, have gone astray,^o

each of us has turned to our own way;^p

and the Lord has laid on him

the iniquity^q of us all.

⁷He was oppressed^r and afflicted,

yet he did not open his mouth;^s

he was led like a lamb^t to the slaughter,^u

and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,

so he did not open his mouth.

⁸By oppression^a and judgment^v he was taken away.

Yet who of his generation protested?

For he was cut off from the land of the living;^w

for the transgression^x of my people he was punished.^b

⁹He was assigned a grave with the wicked,^y

and with the rich^z in his death,

though he had done no violence,^a

nor was any deceit in his mouth.^b

¹⁰Yet it was the Lord’s will^c to crush^d him and cause him to suffer,^e

and though the Lord makes^c his life an offering for sin,^f

he will see his offspring^g and prolong his days,

and the will of the Lord will prosper^h in his hand.

¹¹After he has suffered,ⁱ

he will see the light^j of life^d and be satisfied^e;

by his knowledge^f my righteous servant^k will justify^l many,

and he will bear their iniquities.^m

¹²Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,^gn

and he will divide the spoils^o with the strong,^h

because he poured out his life unto death,^p

and was numbered with the transgressors.^q

For he bore^r the sin of many,^s

and made intercession^t for the transgressors.