God Redeems Jerusalem

52 Awake, awake!
Put on your strength, O Zion;
Put on your beautiful garments,
O Jerusalem, the holy city!
For the uncircumcised (A)and the unclean
Shall no longer come to you.
(B)Shake yourself from the dust, arise;
Sit down, O Jerusalem!
(C)Loose yourself from the bonds of your neck,
O captive daughter of Zion!

For thus says the Lord:

(D)“You have sold yourselves for nothing,
And you shall be redeemed (E)without money.”

For thus says the Lord God:

“My people went down at first
Into (F)Egypt to [a]dwell there;
Then the Assyrian oppressed them without cause.
Now therefore, what have I here,” says the Lord,
“That My people are taken away for nothing?
Those who rule over them
[b]Make them wail,” says the Lord,
“And My name is (G)blasphemed continually every day.
Therefore My people shall know My name;
Therefore they shall know in that day
That I am He who speaks:
‘Behold, it is I.’ ”

(H)How beautiful upon the mountains
Are the feet of him who brings good news,
Who proclaims peace,
Who brings glad tidings of good things,
Who proclaims salvation,
Who says to Zion,
(I)“Your God reigns!”
Your watchmen shall lift up their voices,
With their voices they shall sing together;
For they shall see eye to eye
When the Lord brings back Zion.
Break forth into joy, sing together,
You waste places of Jerusalem!
For the Lord has comforted His people,
He has redeemed Jerusalem.
10 (J)The Lord has [c]made bare His holy arm
In the eyes of (K)all the nations;
And all the ends of the earth shall see
The salvation of our God.

11 (L)Depart! Depart! Go out from there,
Touch no unclean thing;
Go out from the midst of her,
(M)Be clean,
You who bear the vessels of the Lord.
12 For (N)you shall not go out with haste,
Nor go by flight;
(O)For the Lord will go before you,
(P)And the God of Israel will be your rear guard.

The Sin-Bearing Servant

13 Behold, (Q)My Servant shall [d]deal prudently;
(R)He shall be exalted and [e]extolled and be very high.
14 Just as many were astonished at you,
So His (S)visage[f] was marred more than any man,
And His form more than the sons of men;
15 (T)So shall He [g]sprinkle many nations.
Kings shall shut their mouths at Him;
For (U)what had not been told them they shall see,
And what they had not heard they shall consider.

The Sin-Bearing Messiah

53 Who (V)has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,
And as a root out of dry ground.
He has no [h]form or [i]comeliness;
And when we see Him,
There is no [j]beauty that we should desire Him.
(W)He is despised and [k]rejected by men,
A Man of [l]sorrows and (X)acquainted with [m]grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and (Y)we did not esteem Him.

Surely (Z)He has borne our [n]griefs
And carried our [o]sorrows;
Yet we [p]esteemed Him stricken,
[q]Smitten by God, and afflicted.
But He was (AA)wounded[r] for our transgressions,
He was [s]bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His (AB)stripes[t] we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the Lord [u]has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet (AC)He opened not His mouth;
(AD)He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.
He was (AE)taken from [v]prison and from judgment,
And who will declare His generation?
For (AF)He was cut off from the land of the living;
For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.
(AG)And [w]they made His grave with the wicked—
But with the rich at His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was any (AH)deceit in His mouth.

10 Yet it pleased the Lord to [x]bruise Him;
He has put Him to grief.
When You make His soul (AI)an offering for sin,
He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,
And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.
11 [y]He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.
By His knowledge (AJ)My righteous (AK)Servant shall (AL)justify many,
For He shall bear their iniquities.
12 (AM)Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great,
(AN)And He shall divide the [z]spoil with the strong,
Because He (AO)poured out His soul unto death,
And He was (AP)numbered with the transgressors,
And He bore the sin of many,
And (AQ)made intercession for the transgressors.

A Perpetual Covenant of Peace

54 “Sing, O (AR)barren,
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.
“Enlarge(AS) the place of your tent,
And let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings;
Do not spare;
Lengthen your cords,
And strengthen your stakes.
For you shall expand to the right and to the left,
And your descendants will (AT)inherit the nations,
And make the desolate cities inhabited.

“Do(AU) not 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.
(AV)For your Maker is your husband,
The Lord of hosts is His name;
And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel;
He is called (AW)the God of the whole earth.
For the Lord (AX)has called you
Like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit,
Like a youthful wife when you were refused,”
Says your God.
“For(AY) a mere moment I have forsaken you,
But with great mercies (AZ)I will gather you.
With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment;
(BA)But with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,”
Says the Lord, your Redeemer.

“For this is like the waters of (BB)Noah 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 (BC)you, nor rebuke you.
10 For (BD)the mountains shall depart
And the hills be removed,
(BE)But 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 (BF)colorful gems,
And lay your foundations with sapphires.
12 I will make your pinnacles of rubies,
Your gates of crystal,
And all your walls of precious stones.
13 All your children shall be (BG)taught by the Lord,
And (BH)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 Indeed they shall surely assemble, but not because of Me.
Whoever assembles against you shall (BI)fall for your sake.

16 “Behold, I have created the blacksmith
Who blows the coals in the fire,
Who brings forth an [aa]instrument for his work;
And I have created the [ab]spoiler to destroy.
17 No weapon formed against you shall (BJ)prosper,
And every tongue which rises against you in judgment
You shall condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
(BK)And their righteousness is from Me,”
Says the Lord.

An Invitation to Abundant Life

55 “Ho! (BL)Everyone who thirsts,
Come to the waters;
And you who have no money,
(BM)Come, buy and eat.
Yes, come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without price.
Why do you [ac]spend 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.
Incline your ear, and (BN)come to Me.
Hear, and your soul shall live;
(BO)And I will make an everlasting covenant with you—
The (BP)sure mercies of David.
Indeed I have given him as (BQ)a witness to the people,
(BR)A leader and commander for the people.
(BS)Surely you shall call a nation you do not know,
(BT)And nations who do not know you shall run to you,
Because of the Lord your God,
And the Holy One of Israel;
(BU)For He has glorified you.”

(BV)Seek the Lord while He may be (BW)found,
Call upon Him while He is near.
(BX)Let the [ad]wicked forsake his way,
And the unrighteous man (BY)his thoughts;
Let him return to the Lord,
(BZ)And He will have mercy on him;
And to our God,
For He will abundantly pardon.

“For(CA) My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
“For(CB) as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.

10 “For (CC)as 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,
11 (CD)So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me [ae]void,
But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall (CE)prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

12 “For(CF) you shall go out with joy,
And be led out with peace;
The mountains and the hills
Shall (CG)break forth into singing before you,
And (CH)all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
13 (CI)Instead of (CJ)the 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 (CK)for a name,
For an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 52:4 As resident aliens
  2. Isaiah 52:5 DSS Mock; LXX Marvel and wail; Tg. Boast themselves; Vg. Treat them unjustly
  3. Isaiah 52:10 Revealed His power
  4. Isaiah 52:13 prosper
  5. Isaiah 52:13 Lit. be lifted up
  6. Isaiah 52:14 appearance
  7. Isaiah 52:15 Or startle
  8. Isaiah 53:2 Stately form
  9. Isaiah 53:2 splendor
  10. Isaiah 53:2 Lit. appearance
  11. Isaiah 53:3 Or forsaken
  12. Isaiah 53:3 Lit. pains
  13. Isaiah 53:3 Lit. sickness
  14. Isaiah 53:4 Lit. sicknesses
  15. Isaiah 53:4 Lit. pains
  16. Isaiah 53:4 reckoned
  17. Isaiah 53:4 Struck down
  18. Isaiah 53:5 Or pierced through
  19. Isaiah 53:5 crushed
  20. Isaiah 53:5 Blows that cut in
  21. Isaiah 53:6 Lit. has caused to land on Him
  22. Isaiah 53:8 confinement
  23. Isaiah 53:9 Lit. he or He
  24. Isaiah 53:10 crush
  25. Isaiah 53:11 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; DSS, LXX From the labor of His soul He shall see light
  26. Isaiah 53:12 plunder
  27. Isaiah 54:16 Or weapon
  28. Isaiah 54:16 destroyer
  29. Isaiah 55:2 Lit. weigh out silver
  30. Isaiah 55:7 Lit. man of iniquity
  31. Isaiah 55:11 empty, without fruit

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