Isaiah 53

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The Lord’s Comfort for Zion

51  dListen to me, you who pursue righteousness,

you who seek the Lord:

look to the rock from which you were hewn,

and to the quarry from which you were dug.

Look to Abraham your father

and to Sarah who bore you;

for ehe was but one when I called him,

that I might bless him and multiply him.

For the Lord fcomforts Zion;

he comforts all her waste places

and makes her wilderness like gEden,

her desert like hthe garden of the Lord;

ijoy and gladness will be found in her,

thanksgiving and the voice of song.

jGive attention to me, my people,

and give ear to me, my nation;

kfor a law1 will go out from me,

and I will set my justice for a light to the peoples.

lMy righteousness draws near,

my salvation has gone out,

and my arms will judge the peoples;

mthe coastlands hope for me,

and for my arm they wait.

nLift up your eyes to the heavens,

and look at the earth beneath;

ofor the heavens vanish like smoke,

the earth will wear out like a garment,

and they who dwell in it will die in like manner;2

pbut my salvation will be forever,

and my righteousness will never be dismayed.

qListen to me, you who know righteousness,

the people rin whose heart is my law;

sfear not the reproach of man,

nor be dismayed at their revilings.

tFor the moth will eat them up like a garment,

and the worm will eat them like wool,

pbut my righteousness will be forever,

and my salvation to all generations.

uAwake, awake, vput on strength,

O warm of the Lord;

awake, xas in days of old,

the generations of long ago.

Was it not you who cut yRahab in pieces,

who pierced zthe dragon?

10  aWas it not you who dried up the sea,

the waters of the great deep,

who made the depths of the sea a way

for the redeemed to pass over?

11  bAnd the ransomed of the Lord shall return

and come to Zion with singing;

everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;

they shall obtain gladness and joy,

and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

12  I, I am he cwho comforts you;

who are you that you are afraid of dman who dies,

of the son of man who is made elike grass,

13  and have forgotten the Lord, your Maker,

fwho stretched out the heavens

and glaid the foundations of the earth,

and you fear continually all the day

because of the wrath of hthe oppressor,

when he sets himself to destroy?

And where is the wrath of hthe oppressor?

14  iHe who is bowed down shall speedily be released;

he shall not die and go down jto the pit,

neither shall his bread be lacking.

15  I am the Lord your God,

kwho stirs up the sea so that its waves roar

the Lord of hosts is his name.

16  lAnd I have put my words in your mouth

mand covered you in the shadow of my hand,

nestablishing3 the heavens

and olaying the foundations of the earth,

and saying to Zion, You are my people.

17  pWake yourself, wake yourself,

stand up, O Jerusalem,

qyou who have drunk from the hand of the Lord

the cup of his wrath,

who have drunk to the dregs

the bowl, rthe cup of staggering.

18  sThere is none to guide her

among all the sons she has borne;

there is none to take her by the hand

among all the sons she has brought up.

19  tThese two things have happened to you

who will console you?

devastation and destruction, famine and sword;

who will comfort you?4

20  uYour sons have fainted;

they lie at the head of every street

like an vantelope win a net;

they are full of the wrath of the Lord,

the rebuke of your God.

21  xTherefore hear this, you who are afflicted,

who are drunk, but not with wine:

22  Thus says your Lord, the Lord,

your God ywho pleads the cause of his people:

Behold, I have taken from your hand rthe cup of staggering;

the bowl of my wrath you shall drink no more;

23  zand I will put it into the hand of your tormentors,

awho have said to you,

Bow down, that we may pass over;

and byou have made your back like the ground

and like the street for them to pass over.

The Lord’s Coming Salvation

52  cAwake, awake,

put on your strength, O Zion;

dput on your beautiful garments,

O Jerusalem, ethe holy city;

ffor there shall no more come into you

the uncircumcised and the unclean.

gShake yourself from the dust and arise;

be seated, O Jerusalem;

hloose the bonds from your neck,

O captive daughter of Zion.

For thus says the Lord: iYou were sold for nothing, and jyou shall be redeemed without money. For thus says the Lord God: kMy people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there, and the Assyrian oppressed them for nothing.1 Now therefore what have I here, declares the Lord, seeing that my people are taken away for nothing? Their rulers wail, declares the Lord, and lcontinually all the day my name is despised. Therefore my people shall know my name. mTherefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here I am.

nHow beautiful upon the mountains

are the feet of him who brings good news,

who publishes peace, owho brings good news of happiness,

who publishes salvation,

who says to Zion, Your God reigns.

The voice of pyour watchmenthey lift up their voice;

together they sing for joy;

qfor eye to eye they see

the return of the Lord to Zion.

rBreak forth together into singing,

syou waste places of Jerusalem,

for tthe Lord has comforted his people;

he has redeemed Jerusalem.

10  uThe Lord has bared his holy arm

before the eyes of all the nations,

vand all the ends of the earth shall see

the salvation of our God.

11  wDepart, depart, go out from there;

touch no unclean thing;

go out from the midst of her; purify yourselves,

xyou who bear the vessels of the Lord.

12  For you shall not ygo out in haste,

and you shall not go in flight,

zfor the Lord will go before you,

aand the God of Israel will be your rear guard.

He Was Pierced for Our Transgressions

13  Behold, bmy servant shall act wisely;2

he shall be high and lifted up,

and shall be exalted.

14  As many were astonished at you

chis appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,

and his form beyond that of the children of mankind

15  so dshall he sprinkle3 many nations.

eKings shall shut their mouths because of him,

ffor that which has not been told them they see,

and that which they have not heard they understand.

53  gWho has believed what he has heard from us?1

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

For he grew up before him like a young plant,

iand like a root out of dry ground;

jhe had no form or majesty that we should look at him,

and no beauty that we should desire him.

kHe was despised and rejected2 by men,

a man of sorrows3 and acquainted with4 grief;5

and as one from whom men hide their faces6

he was despised, and lwe esteemed him not.

mSurely he has borne our griefs

and carried our sorrows;

yet we esteemed him stricken,

nsmitten by God, and afflicted.

oBut he was pierced for our transgressions;

he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

pand with his wounds we are healed.

qAll we like sheep have gone astray;

we have turnedevery oneto his own way;

rand the Lord has laid on him

the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,

syet he opened not his mouth;

tlike a ulamb that is led to the slaughter,

and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,

so he opened not his mouth.

By oppression and judgment he was taken away;

and as for his generation, vwho considered

that he was cut off out of the land of the living,

stricken for the transgression of my people?

And they made his grave with the wicked

wand with a rich man in his death,

although xhe had done no violence,

and there was no deceit in his mouth.

10  Yet yit was the will of the Lord to crush him;

he has put him to grief;7

zwhen his soul makes8 an offering for guilt,

he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;

athe will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

11  Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see9 and be satisfied;

by his knowledge shall bthe righteous one, my servant,

cmake many to be accounted righteous,

dand he shall bear their iniquities.

12  eTherefore I will divide him a portion with the many,10

fand he shall divide the spoil with the strong,11

because he poured out his soul to death

and was numbered with the transgressors;

gyet he bore the sin of many,

and makes intercession for the transgressors.

The Eternal Covenant of Peace

54  hSing, O barren one, who did not bear;

break forth into singing and cry aloud,

you who have not been in labor!

For the children of ithe desolate one jwill be more

than the children of her who is married, says the Lord.

kEnlarge the place of your tent,

and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out;

do not hold back; lengthen your cords

and strengthen your stakes.

lFor you will spread abroad to the right and to the left,

and your offspring will possess the nations

and will people the desolate cities.

Fear not, mfor you will not be ashamed;

be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced;

for you will forget the shame of your youth,

and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more.

nFor your Maker is your husband,

the Lord of hosts is his name;

oand the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer,

pthe God of the whole earth he is called.

qFor the Lord has called you

like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit,

like a wife of youth when she is cast off,

says your God.

rFor a brief moment I deserted you,

but with great compassion I will gather you.

rIn overflowing anger for a moment

I hid my face from you,

sbut with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,

says the Lord, your Redeemer.

This is like tthe days of Noah1 to me:

as I swore that the waters of Noah

should no more go over the earth,

so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you,

and will not rebuke you.

10  For the mountains may depart

and the hills be removed,

but my steadfast love shall not depart from you,

and umy covenant of peace shall not be removed,

says the Lord, who has compassion on you.

11  vO afflicted one, storm-tossed and not comforted,

behold, wI will set your stones in antimony,

xand lay your foundations with sapphires.2

12  I will make your pinnacles of agate,3

your gates of carbuncles,4

and all your wall of precious stones.

13  yAll your children zshall be taught by the Lord,

aand great shall be the peace of your children.

14  In 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.

15  bIf anyone stirs up strife,

it is not from me;

whoever stirs up strife with you

shall fall because of you.

16  Behold, I have created the smith

who blows the fire of coals

and produces a weapon for its purpose.

I have also created the ravager to destroy;

17  no weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed,

and you shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment.

This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord

cand their vindication5 from me, declares the Lord.

The Compassion of the Lord

55  dCome, everyone who thirsts,

come to the waters;

and he who has no money,

ecome, buy and eat!

Come, buy wine and milk

without money and without price.

fWhy do you spend your money for that which is not bread,

and your labor for that which does not satisfy?

Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,

and delight yourselves in rich food.

Incline your ear, and come to me;

ghear, that your soul may live;

hand I will make with you an everlasting covenant,

imy steadfast, sure love for jDavid.

kBehold, I made him a witness to the peoples,

la leader and commander for the peoples.

kBehold, you shall call a nation that you do not know,

and ma nation that did not know you shall run to you,

because of the Lord your God, and of the Holy One of Israel,

nfor he has glorified you.

oSeek the Lord while he may be found;

call upon him while he is near;

let the wicked forsake his way,

and the unrighteous man his thoughts;

let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him,

and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.

pFor as the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts.

10  qFor as the rain and the snow come down from heaven

and do not return there but water the earth,

making it bring forth and sprout,

rgiving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

11  so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;

it shall not return to me empty,

but sit shall accomplish that which I purpose,

and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

12  tFor you shall go out in joy

and be led forth in peace;

uthe mountains and the hills before you

shall break forth into singing,

and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

13  vInstead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;

instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;

and it shall make a name for the Lord,

an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.