Isaiah 53–55

53Who ^ahas believed our report?

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

²For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,

And as a root out of dry ground.

He has no ¹form or ²comeliness;

And when we see Him,

There is no ³beauty that we should desire Him.

^3bHe is despised and ⁴rejected by men,

A Man of ⁵sorrows and ^cacquainted with ⁶grief.

And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;

He was despised, and ^dwe did not esteem Him.

⁴Surely ^eHe has borne our ⁷griefs

And carried our ⁸sorrows;

Yet we ⁹esteemed Him stricken,

¹Smitten by God, and afflicted.

⁵But He was ^fwounded ²for our transgressions,

He was ³bruised for our iniquities;

The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,

And by His ^gstripes ⁴we are healed.

⁶All we like sheep have gone astray;

We have turned, every one, to his own way;

And the Lord ⁵has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

⁷He was oppressed and He was afflicted,

Yet ^hHe opened not His mouth;

ⁱHe was led as a lamb to the slaughter,

And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,

So He opened not His mouth.

⁸He was ^jtaken from ⁶prison and from judgment,

And who will declare His generation?

For ^kHe was cut off from the land of the living;

For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.

^9lAnd ⁷they made His grave with the wicked—

But with the rich at His death,

Because He had done no violence,

Nor was any ^mdeceit in His mouth.

¹⁰Yet it pleased the Lord to ⁸bruise Him;

He has put Him to grief.

When You make His soul ⁿan offering for sin,

He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,

And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.

¹¹⁹He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.

By His knowledge ^oMy righteous ^pServant shall ^qjustify many,

For He shall bear their iniquities.

^12rTherefore I will divide Him a portion with the great,

^sAnd He shall divide the ¹spoil with the strong,

Because He ^tpoured out His soul unto death,

And He was ^unumbered with the transgressors,

And He bore the sin of many,

And ^vmade intercession for the transgressors.

A Perpetual Covenant of Peace

54“Sing, O ^abarren,

You who have not borne!

Break forth into singing, and cry aloud,

You who have not labored with child!

For more are the children of the desolate

Than the children of the married woman,” says the Lord.

²“Enlarge ^bthe place of your tent,

And let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings;

Do not spare;

Lengthen your cords,

And strengthen your stakes.

³For you shall expand to the right and to the left,

And your descendants will ^cinherit the nations,

And make the desolate cities inhabited.

⁴“Do ^dnot fear, for you will not be ashamed;

Neither be disgraced, for you will not be put to shame;

For you will forget the shame of your youth,

And will not remember the reproach of your widowhood anymore.

^5eFor your Maker is your husband,

The Lord of hosts is His name;

And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel;

He is called ^fthe God of the whole earth.

⁶For the Lord ^ghas called you

Like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit,

Like a youthful wife when you were refused,”

Says your God.

⁷“For ^ha mere moment I have forsaken you,

But with great mercies ⁱI will gather you.

⁸With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment;

^jBut with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,”

Says the Lord, your Redeemer.

⁹“For this is like the waters of ^kNoah to Me;

For as I have sworn

That the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth,

So have I sworn

That I would not be angry with ^lyou, nor rebuke you.

¹⁰For ^mthe mountains shall depart

And the hills be removed,

ⁿBut My kindness shall not depart from you,

Nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,”

Says the Lord, who has mercy on you.

¹¹“O you afflicted one,

Tossed with tempest, and not comforted,

Behold, I will lay your stones with ^ocolorful gems,

And lay your foundations with sapphires.

¹²I will make your pinnacles of rubies,

Your gates of crystal,

And all your walls of precious stones.

¹³All your children shall be ^ptaught by the Lord,

And ^qgreat shall be the peace of your children.

¹⁴In righteousness you shall be established;

You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear;

And from terror, for it shall not come near you.

¹⁵Indeed they shall surely assemble, but not because of Me.

Whoever assembles against you shall ^rfall for your sake.

¹⁶“Behold, I have created the blacksmith

Who blows the coals in the fire,

Who brings forth an ¹instrument for his work;

And I have created the ²spoiler to destroy.

¹⁷No weapon formed against you shall ^sprosper,

And every tongue which rises against you in judgment

You shall condemn.

This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,

^tAnd their righteousness is from Me,”

Says the Lord.

An Invitation to Abundant Life

55“Ho! ^aEveryone who thirsts,

Come to the waters;

And you who have no money,

^bCome, buy and eat.

Yes, come, buy wine and milk

Without money and without price.

²Why do you ¹spend money for what is not bread,

And your wages for what does not satisfy?

Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,

And let your soul delight itself in abundance.

³Incline your ear, and ^ccome to Me.

Hear, and your soul shall live;

^dAnd I will make an everlasting covenant with you—

The ^esure mercies of David.

⁴Indeed I have given him as ^fa witness to the people,

^gA leader and commander for the people.

^5hSurely you shall call a nation you do not know,

ⁱAnd nations who do not know you shall run to you,

Because of the Lord your God,

And the Holy One of Israel;

^jFor He has glorified you.”

^6kSeek the Lord while He may be ^lfound,

Call upon Him while He is near.

^7mLet the ²wicked forsake his way,

And the unrighteous man ⁿhis thoughts;

Let him return to the Lord,

^oAnd He will have mercy on him;

And to our God,

For He will abundantly pardon.

⁸“For ^pMy thoughts are not your thoughts,

Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.

⁹“For ^qas the heavens are higher than the earth,

So are My ways higher than your ways,

And My thoughts than your thoughts.

¹⁰“For ^ras the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven,

And do not return there,

But water the earth,

And make it bring forth and bud,

That it may give seed to the sower

And bread to the eater,

^11sSo shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;

It shall not return to Me ³void,

But it shall accomplish what I please,

And it shall ^tprosper in the thing for which I sent it.

¹²“For ^uyou shall go out with joy,

And be led out with peace;

The mountains and the hills

Shall ^vbreak forth into singing before you,

And ^wall the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

^13xInstead of ^ythe thorn shall come up the cypress tree,

And instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree;

And it shall be to the Lord ^zfor a name,

For an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”