Isaiah 49; Isaiah 50; Isaiah 51; Isaiah 52; Isaiah 53

Isaiah 49

1 Listen to me, coastlands; pay attention, peoples far away. The LORD called me before my birth, called my name when I was in my mother's womb.

2 He made my mouth like a sharp sword, and hid me in the shadow of God's own hand. He made me a sharpened arrow, and concealed me in God's quiver,

3 saying to me, "You are my servant, Israel, in whom I show my glory."

4 But I said, "I have wearied myself in vain. I have used up my strength for nothing." Nevertheless, the LORD will grant me justice; my reward is with my God.

5 And now the LORD has decided— the one who formed me from the womb as his servant— to restore Jacob to God, so that Israel might return to him. Moreover, I'm honored in the LORD's eyes; my God has become my strength.

6 He said: It is not enough, since you are my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the survivors of Israel. Hence, I will also appoint you as light to the nations so that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.

7 The LORD, redeemer of Israel and its holy one, says to one despised, rejected by nations, to the slave of rulers: Kings will see and stand up; commanders will bow down on account of the LORD, who is faithful, the holy one of Israel, who has chosen you.

8 The LORD said: At the right time, I answered you; on a day of salvation, I helped you. I have guarded you, and given you as a covenant to the people, to restore the land, and to reassign deserted properties,

9 saying to the prisoners, "Come out," and to those in darkness, "Show yourselves." Along the roads animals will graze; their pasture will be on every treeless hilltop.

10 They won't hunger or thirst; the burning heat and sun won't strike them, because one who has compassion for them will lead them and will guide them by springs of water.

11 I will turn all my mountains into roads; my highways will be built up.

12 Look! These will come from far away. Look! These from the north and west, and these from the southland.

13 Sing, heavens! Rejoice, earth! Break out, mountains, with a song. The LORD has comforted his people, and taken pity on those who suffer.

14 But Zion says, "The LORD has abandoned me; my Lord has forgotten me."

15 Can a woman forget her nursing child, fail to pity the child of her womb? Even these may forget, but I won't forget you.

16 Look, on my palms I've inscribed you; your walls are before me continually.

17 Your builders come quickly; those who destroy and demolish you will depart from you.

18 Look up all around and see: they are all gathered; they come to you. As surely as I live, says the LORD, you will put them all on like ornaments, bind them on like a bride.

19 As for your ruins and desolate places and destroyed land— you will soon be crowded with settlers, and those who swallowed you will be far away.

20 You will again hear the children who were born bereaved say, "The place is too crowded for me; make room for me to settle."

21 And you will think to yourself, Who bore me these? I was bereaved and desolate, exiled and sent off. So who raised these? I was left behind, I was alone; where were these?

22 The LORD God says: Look, I will raise my hand to the nations, and to the peoples I will lift up my signal. They will bring your sons in their arms, and will carry your daughters on their shoulders.

23 Kings will be your attendants, and their queens your nursemaids. With faces to the ground they will bow down to you; they will lick the dust from your feet. You will know that I am the LORD; the one who hopes in me won't be ashamed.

24 Can loot be taken from warriors? Can a tyrant's captives escape?

25 The LORD says: Even the captives of warriors will be taken, and the tyrant's loot will escape. I myself will oppose those who oppose you, and I myself will save your children.

26 I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh; and as with wine, with their own blood they will be drunk, so that all flesh will know that I, the LORD, am your savior, and the mighty one of Jacob is your redeemer.

Isaiah 50

1 The LORD says: Where's your mother's divorce decree, with which I sent her away? Or to which lender did I sell you? On account of your sins you were sold; on account of your transgressions your mother was sent away.

2 Why did I come and find no one? Why did I call when no one answered? Is my hand too small to redeem you? Don't I have enough power to save? With my rebuke I dry up the sea and make the rivers into wilderness. Their fish stink from lack of water; they die of thirst.

3 I clothe the heavens with darkness and cover them with funeral clothing.

4 The LORD God gave me an educated tongue to know how to respond to the weary with a word that will awaken them in the morning. God awakens my ear in the morning to listen, as educated people do.

5 The LORD God opened my ear; I didn't rebel; I didn't turn my back.

6 Instead, I gave my body to attackers, and my cheeks to beard pluckers. I didn't hide my face from insults and spitting.

7 The LORD God will help me; therefore, I haven't been insulted. Therefore, I set my face like flint, and knew I wouldn't be ashamed.

8 The one who will declare me innocent is near. Who will argue with me? Let's stand up together. Who will bring judgment against me? Let him approach me.

9 Look! The LORD God will help me. Who will condemn me? Look, they will wear out like clothing; the moth will eat them.

10 Who among you fears the LORD? Who listens to the voice of his servant, who walks in darkness and has no light? They will trust in the LORD's name, and rely upon their God.

11 Look! All of you are kindling fire, igniting torches. Walk by the light of your fire, by the torches you have ignited. This is what will happen to you by my hand: you will lie down in grief.

Isaiah 51

1 Listen to me, you who look for righteousness, you who seek the LORD: Look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry where you were dug.

2 Look to Abraham your ancestor, and to Sarah, who gave you birth. They were alone when I called them, but I blessed them and made them many.

3 The LORD will comfort Zion; he will comfort all her ruins. He will make her desert like Eden and her wilderness like the LORD's garden. Happiness and joy will be found in her— thanks and the sound of singing.

4 Pay attention to me, my people; listen to me, my nation, for teaching will go out from me, my justice, as a light to the nations.

5 I will quickly bring my victory. My salvation is on its way, and my arm will judge the peoples. The coastlands hope for me; they wait for my judgment.

6 Look up to the heavens, and gaze at the earth beneath. The heavens will disappear like smoke, the earth will wear out like clothing, and its inhabitants will die like gnats. But my salvation will endure forever, and my righteousness will be unbroken.

7 Listen to me, you who know what is right, people who carry my teaching in your heart: Don't fear human scorn, and don't be upset when they abuse you.

8 The moth will eat them as if they were clothing, and the worm will eat them like wool, but my righteousness is forever, and my salvation for all generations.

9 Awake, awake, put on strength, arm of the LORD. Awake as in times past, generations long ago. Aren't you the one who crushed Rahab, who pierced the dragon?

10 Didn't you dry up the sea, the waters of the great deep? And didn't you make the redeemed a road to cross through the depths of the sea, a road for the redeemed to pass?

11 Then let those ransomed by the LORD return and come to Zion with singing and with everlasting joy upon their heads. Let happiness and joy overwhelm them; let grief and groaning flee.

12 I, I am the one who comforts you. Why should you fear humans who will die, mortals who are treated like grass?

13 You forgot the LORD your maker, the one who stretched out the heavens and founded the earth. You were continually afraid, all day long, on account of the oppressor's wrath— a fear by which they intend to destroy you. Where now is the oppressor's wrath?

14 The imprisoned ones will soon be released; they won't die in the pit or even lack bread.

15 I am the LORD your God, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the LORD of heavenly forces is his name.

16 I put my words in your mouth and hid you in the shadow of my hand, stretching out the heavens, founding the earth, and saying to Zion, "You are my people."

17 Wake yourself, wake yourself! Rise up, Jerusalem, who drank the cup of wrath from the LORD's hand. You drank; you drained the goblet of reeling.

18 There's no one to guide her among all the children she bore; there's no one to take her by the hand among all the children she raised.

19 These two things have happened to you— Who will be sorry for you?— destruction and devastation, famine and sword— who will comfort you?

20 Your children passed out; they lay at the head of every street like antelope in a net, filled with the LORD's wrath, with the rebuke of your God.

21 Therefore, hear this, suffering one, who is drunk, but not from wine.

22 The LORD, your Lord and your God, who contends for his people, says: Look, I have taken the cup of reeling, the goblet of my wrath, from your hand. You will no longer drink from it.

23 I will put it in the hand of your tormentors, who said to you, "Lie down so that we can walk on you. Make your back like the ground, like a street for those walking on it."

Isaiah 52

1 Awake, awake, put on your strength, Zion! Put on your splendid clothing, Jerusalem, you holy city; for the uncircumcised and unclean will no longer come into you.

2 Shake the dust off yourself; rise up; sit enthroned, Jerusalem. Loose the bonds from your neck, captive Daughter Zion!

3 The LORD proclaims: You were sold for nothing, and you will be redeemed without money.

4 The LORD God proclaims: Long ago my people went down to reside in Egypt. Moreover, Assyria has oppressed them without cause.

5 And now what have I here? says the LORD. My people are taken away for nothing. Their rulers wail, says the LORD, and continually all day long my name is despised.

6 Therefore, my people will know my name on that day; I'm the one who promises it; I'm here.

7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of a messenger who proclaims peace, who brings good news, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God rules!"

8 Listen! Your lookouts lift their voice; they sing out together! Right before their eyes they see the LORD returning to Zion.

9 Break into song together, you ruins of Jerusalem! The LORD has comforted his people and has redeemed Jerusalem.

10 The LORD has bared his holy arm in view of all the nations; all the ends of the earth have seen our God's victory.

11 Depart! Depart! Go out from there! Unclean! Don't touch! Get out of that place; purify yourselves, carriers of the LORD's equipment!

12 You won't go out in a rush, nor will you run away, because the one going before you is the LORD; your rear guard is the God of Israel.

13 Look, my servant will succeed. He will be exalted and lifted very high.

14 Just as many were appalled by you, he too appeared disfigured, inhuman, his appearance unlike that of mortals.

15 But he will astonish many nations. Kings will be silenced because of him, because they will see what they haven't seen before; what they haven't heard before, they will ponder.

Isaiah 53

1 Who can believe what we have heard, and for whose sake has the LORD's arm been revealed?

2 He grew up like a young plant before us, like a root from dry ground. He possessed no splendid form for us to see, no desirable appearance.

3 He was despised and avoided by others; a man who suffered, who knew sickness well. Like someone from whom people hid their faces, he was despised, and we didn't think about him.

4 It was certainly our sickness that he carried, and our sufferings that he bore, but we thought him afflicted, struck down by God and tormented.

5 He was pierced because of our rebellions and crushed because of our crimes. He bore the punishment that made us whole; by his wounds we are healed.

6 Like sheep we had all wandered away, each going its own way, but the LORD let fall on him all our crimes.

7 He was oppressed and tormented, but didn't open his mouth. Like a lamb being brought to slaughter, like a ewe silent before her shearers, he didn't open his mouth.

8 Due to an unjust ruling he was taken away, and his fate—who will think about it? He was eliminated from the land of the living, struck dead because of my people's rebellion.

9 His grave was among the wicked, his tomb with evildoers, though he had done no violence, and had spoken nothing false.

10 But the LORD wanted to crush him and to make him suffer. If his life is offered as restitution, he will see his offspring; he will enjoy long life. The LORD's plans will come to fruition through him.

11 After his deep anguish he will see light, and he will be satisfied. Through his knowledge, the righteous one, my servant, will make many righteous, and will bear their guilt.

12 Therefore, I will give him a share with the great, and he will divide the spoil with the strong, in return for exposing his life to death and being numbered with rebels, though he carried the sin of many and pleaded on behalf of those who rebelled.