Isaiah 52–53

52 Awake, awake,s Zion,

clothe yourself with strength!t

Put on your garments of splendor,u

Jerusalem, the holy city.v

The uncircumcisedw and defiledx

will not enter you again.y

2 Shake 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.

3 For this is what the Lord says:

“You were sold for nothing,d

and without moneye you will be redeemed.f”

4 For this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“At first my people went down to Egyptg to live;

lately, Assyriah 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

6 Therefore my people will knowj my name;k

therefore in that dayl they will know

that it is I who foretoldm it.

Yes, it is I.”

7 How 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

8 Listen! Your watchmenr lift up their voices;s

together they shout for joy.t

When the Lord returnsu to Zion,v

they will see it with their own eyes.

9 Burst into songs of joyw together,

you ruinsx of Jerusalem,

for the Lord has comfortedy his people,

he has redeemed Jerusalem.z

10 The Lord will lay bare his holy arma

in the sight of all the nations,b

and all the ends of the earthc will see

the salvationd of our God.

11 Depart,e depart, go out from there!

Touch no unclean thing!f

Come out from it and be pure,g

you who carry the articlesh of the Lord’s house.

12 But 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

13 See, my servantl will act wiselyb;

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

14 Just as there were many who were appalledn at himc—

his appearance was so disfiguredo beyond that of any human being

and his form marred beyond human likenessp—

15 so he will sprinkleq many nations,d

and kingsr will shut their mouthss because of him.

For what they were not told, they will see,

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

53 Who has believed our messageu

and to whom has the armv of the Lord been revealed?w

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

and like a rooty out of dry ground.

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

nothing in his appearancez that we should desire him.

3 He was despised and rejected by mankind,

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

Like one from whom people hidec their faces

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

4 Surely he took up our pain

and bore our suffering,e

yet we considered him punished by God,f

stricken by him, and afflicted.g

5 But he was piercedh for our transgressions,i

he was crushedj for our iniquities;

the punishmentk that brought us peacel was on him,

and by his woundsm we are healed.n

6 We 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 iniquityq of us all.

7 He was oppressedr and afflicted,

yet he did not open his mouth;s

he was led like a lambt to the slaughter,u

and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,

so he did not open his mouth.

8 By oppressiona and judgmentv he was taken away.

Yet who of his generation protested?

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

for the transgressionx of my people he was punished.b

9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,y

and with the richz in his death,

though he had done no violence,a

nor was any deceit in his mouth.b

10 Yet it was the Lord’s willc to crushd him and cause him to suffer,e

and though the Lord makesc his life an offering for sin,f

he will see his offspringg and prolong his days,

and the will of the Lord will prosperh in his hand.

11 After he has suffered,i

he will see the lightj of lifed and be satisfiede;

by his knowledgef my righteous servantk will justifyl many,

and he will bear their iniquities.m

12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,g n

and he will divide the spoilso with the strong,h

because he poured out his life unto death,p

and was numbered with the transgressors.q

For he borer the sin of many,s

and made intercessiont for the transgressors.