Loading…

52 Wake 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.”

2 Get 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.

6 So 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.”

7 What 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!”

8 Listen! 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.

9 Burst into songs of joy together,

you broken-down buildings in Jerusalem.

The Lord has comforted his people.

He has set Jerusalem free.

10 The 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.

11 You 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.

12 But 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

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

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

14 Many 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.

15 But 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.”

NIrV

About New International Reader’s Version (1998)

The New International Reader’s Version (NIrV) was developed to help early readers understand the Bible. Begun in 1992, the NIrV is a simplification of the New International Version (NIV). The NIrV uses shorter words and sentences so that those with a typical fourth grade reading level can comprehend what they are reading. The chapters have been separated into shorter sections and most have titles that clearly indicate what the section is all about. The NIrV will be a valuable translation to those for whom English is a second language. The NIrV still relies on the best and oldest copies of the Hebrew and Greek manuscripts for its translation, guaranteeing that those who read it are getting the actual Word of God.

Copyright

Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998 by International Bible Society.

All rights reserved.

The NIrV text may be quoted for non-commercial usage in any form (written, visual, electronic or audio) up to and inclusive of five hundred (500) verses without the express written permission of the publisher, providing the verses quoted do not amount to a complete book of the Bible nor do the verses quoted account for twenty-five percent (25%) or more of the total text of the work in which they are quoted.

Notice of copyright must appear on the title or copyright page of the work as follows:

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL READER’S VERSION™. Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

When quotations from the NIrV text are used in non-saleable media, such as church bulletins, orders of service, posters, transparencies or similar media, a complete copyright notice is not required, but the initials (NIrV) must appear at the end of each quotation.

Any commentary or other Biblical reference work produced for commercial sale that uses the New International Reader’s Version must obtain written permission for use of the NIrV text.

Permission requests for commercial use within the U.S. and Canada that exceed the above guidelines must be directed to, and approved in writing by, Zondervan, 5300 Patterson Ave. S.E., Grand Rapids, MI 49530.

Permission requests for commercial use within the U.K., EEC, and EFTA countries that exceed the above guidelines must be directed to, and approved in writing by, Hodder Headline Plc., 338 Euston Road, London NW1 3BH, England.

Permission requests for non-commercial usage that exceed the above guidelines must be directed to, and approved in writing by, International Bible Society, 1820 Jet Stream Drive, Colorado Springs, CO 80921.

Support Info

nirv

Table of Contents