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

1 Listen to me, you islands. Pay attention, you people far away. Before I was born, the LORD chose me. While I was in my mother's womb, he recorded my name.

2 He made my tongue like a sharp sword and hid me in the palm of his hand. He made me like a sharpened arrow and hid me in his quiver.

3 He said to me, "You are my servant Israel. I will display my glory through you."

4 But I said, "I have worked hard for nothing. I have used my strength, but I didn't accomplish anything. Yet, certainly my case is in the LORD's hands, and my reward is with my God."

5 The LORD formed me in the womb to be his servant in order to bring Jacob back to him and gather Israel to him. (The LORD honors me, and my God has become my strength.)

6 Now, the Lord says, "You are not just my servant who restores the tribes of Jacob and brings back those in Israel whom I have preserved. I have also made you a light for the nations so that you would save people all over the world."

7 The LORD is the defender of Israel, its Holy One. This is what the LORD says to the despised one, to the one scorned by the nation, to the slave of rulers: Kings will see [you] and stand. Princes will see [you] and bow. The LORD is faithful. The Holy One of Israel has chosen you.

8 This is what the LORD says: In the time of favor I will answer you. In the day of salvation I will help you. I will protect you. I will appoint you as my promise to the people. You will restore the land. You will make them inherit the desolate inheritance.

9 You will say to the prisoners, "Come out," and to those who are in darkness, "Show yourselves." They will graze along every path, and they will find pastures on every bare hill.

10 They will never be hungry or thirsty, nor will the sun or the burning, hot wind strike them. The one who has compassion on them will lead them and guide them to springs.

11 I will turn all my mountains into roads, and my highways will be restored.

12 They will come from far away. They will come from the north and from the west, and they will come from the land of Sinim.

13 Sing with joy, you heavens! Rejoice, you earth! Break into shouts of joy, you mountains! The LORD has comforted his people and will have compassion on his humble people.

14 But Zion said, "The LORD has abandoned me. My Lord has forgotten me."

15 Can a woman forget her nursing child? Will she have no compassion on the child from her womb? Although mothers may forget, I will not forget you.

16 I have engraved you on the palms of my hands. Your walls are always in my presence.

17 Your children will hurry back. Those who destroyed you and laid waste to you will leave you.

18 Look up, look around, and watch! All of your children are gathering together and returning to you. "I solemnly swear as I live," declares the LORD, "you will wear all of them like jewels and display them on yourself as a bride would."

19 Though you are destroyed and demolished and your land is in ruins, you will be too crowded for [your] people now. Those who devoured you will be long gone.

20 The children taken from you will say to you, "This place is too crowded for me. Make room for me to live here."

21 Then you will ask yourself, "Who has fathered these [children] for me? I was childless and unable to have children. I was exiled and rejected. Who raised these [children for me]? I was left alone. Where have they come from?"

22 This is what the Almighty LORD says: I will lift my hand [to signal] the nations. I will raise my flag for the people. They will bring your sons in their arms and carry your daughters on their shoulders.

23 Then kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens will nurse you. They will bow in front of you with their faces touching the ground. They will lick the dust at your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD. Those who wait with hope for me will not be put to shame.

24 Can loot be taken away from mighty men or prisoners be freed from conquerors?

25 This is what the LORD says: Prisoners will be freed from mighty men. Loot will be taken away from tyrants. I will fight your enemies, and I will save your children.

26 I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh, and they will become drunk on their own blood as though it were new wine. Then all humanity will know that I am the LORD, who saves you, the Mighty One of Jacob, who reclaims you.

1 This is what the LORD says: Where are your mother's divorce papers? Did I give her any to get rid of her? To which of my creditors did I sell you? You were sold because of your sins. I got rid of your mother because of your rebellion.

2 Why was no one here when I came? Why was no one here to answer when I called? Am I too weak to reclaim you? Don't I have the power to rescue you? I dry up the sea with my command, and I turn rivers into deserts. Their fish stink because there is no water, and people die of thirst.

3 I clothe the heavens in darkness and cover them with sackcloth.

4 The Almighty LORD will teach me what to say, so I will know how to encourage weary people. Morning after morning he will wake me to listen like a student.

5 The Almighty LORD will open my ears. I will not rebel, nor will I turn away [from him].

6 I will offer my back to those who whip me and my cheeks to those who pluck hairs out of my beard. I will not turn my face away from those who humiliate me and spit on me.

7 The Almighty LORD helps me. That is why I will not be ashamed. I have set my face like a flint. I know that I will not be put to shame.

8 The one who pronounces me innocent is near. Who will bring a case against me? Let us confront each other! Who accuses me? Let him confront me!

9 The Almighty LORD helps me. Who will find me guilty? They will all wear out like a garment. Moths will eat them.

10 Who among you fears the LORD and obeys his servant? Let those who walk in darkness and have no light trust the name of the LORD and depend upon their God.

11 But all of you light fires and arm yourselves with flaming torches. So walk in your own light and among the torches you have lit. This is what you will receive from me: You will be tormented.

1 Listen to me, you people who pursue what is right and seek the LORD. Look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were dug.

2 Look to Abraham, your ancestor, and to Sarah, from whom you are descended. When I called Abraham, he was childless. I blessed him and gave him many descendants.

3 So the LORD will comfort Zion. He will comfort all those who live among its ruins. He will make its desert like Eden. He will make its wilderness like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in it, thanksgiving and the sound of singing.

4 Pay attention to me, my people. Open your ears to hear me, my nation. My teachings will go out from me. My justice will become a light for the people.

5 My righteousness is near. My salvation is on the way. I will bring justice to people. The coastlands put their hope in me, and they wait eagerly for me.

6 Look at the sky. Look at the earth below. The sky will vanish like smoke. The earth will wear out like clothing, and those who live there will die like flies. But my salvation will last forever, and my righteousness will never fail.

7 Listen to me, you people who know righteousness, you people who have my teachings in your hearts. Don't be afraid of being insulted by people. Don't be discouraged by their ridicule.

8 Moths will eat them like clothing. Worms will devour them like wool. But my righteousness will last forever, and my salvation will last throughout every generation.

9 Wake up! Wake up! Clothe yourself with strength, O LORD! Wake up as you did in days long past, as in generations long ago. Didn't you cut Rahab into pieces and stab the serpent?

10 Didn't you dry up the sea, the water of the great ocean? You made a road in the depths of the sea so that the people reclaimed [by the LORD] might pass through it.

11 The people ransomed by the LORD will return. They will come to Zion singing with joy. Everlasting happiness will be on their heads [as a crown]. They will be glad and joyful. They will have no sorrow or grief.

12 I alone am the one who comforts you. Why, then, are you afraid of mortals, who must die, of humans, who are like grass?

13 Why have you forgotten the LORD, your Creator? He stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth. Why should you live in constant fear of the fury of those who oppress you, of those who are ready to destroy you? Where is the fury of those who oppress you?

14 Chained prisoners will be set free. They will not die in prison. They will not go without food.

15 I am the LORD your God who stirs up the sea and makes its waves roar. My name is the LORD of Armies.

16 I put my words in your mouth and sheltered you in the palm of my hand. I stretched out the heavens, laid the foundations of the earth, and said to Zion, "You are my people."

17 Wake up! Wake up! Stand up, Jerusalem! You drank from the cup in the LORD's hand. That cup was filled with his anger. You drank from the bowl, the cup that makes people stagger, and you drained it!

18 From all the children she gave birth to, there was no one to guide her. From all the children she raised, there was no one to take her by the hand.

19 Twice as many disasters have happened to you. Who will feel sorry for you? Violence, destruction, famine, and war have happened to you. Who will comfort you?

20 Your children have fainted. They lie sleeping at every street corner. They are like an antelope caught in a net. They experience the anger of the LORD, the fury of your God.

21 Listen to this, you humble people who are drunk but not from wine.

22 The LORD your God defends his people. This is what your master says: I'm taking from your hand the cup that makes people stagger, the bowl, the cup of my fury. You will never drink from it again.

23 I will put it in the hands of those who made you suffer. They said to you, "Lie down so that we can walk over you." So you made your back like the ground and like a street for them to cross.

1 Wake up! Wake up! Clothe yourself with strength, Zion! Put on your beautiful clothes, holy city of Jerusalem. Godless and evil people will no longer come to you.

2 Shake the dust from yourselves. Get up, captive Jerusalem. Free yourself from the chains around your neck, captive people of Zion.

3 This is what the LORD says: You were sold, but no price was paid. You will be bought back, but without money.

4 This is what the Almighty LORD says: In the beginning my people went to Egypt to live there as foreigners. Later the Assyrians oppressed them for no reason.

5 So what do I find here? asks the LORD. My people are taken away for no reason. Their rulers are screaming, declares the LORD. And my name is cursed all day long.

6 Now my people will know my name. When that day comes, [they will know] that I am the one who says, "Here I am!"

7 How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces the good news, "All is well." He brings the good news, announces salvation, and tells Zion that its God rules as king.

8 Listen! Your watchmen raise their voices and shout together joyfully. When the LORD brings Zion back, they will see it with their own eyes.

9 Break out into shouts of joy, ruins of Jerusalem. The LORD will comfort his people. He will reclaim Jerusalem.

10 The LORD will show his holy power to all the nations. All the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.

11 Run away! Run away! Get away from there! Do not touch anything unclean. Get away from it! Make yourselves pure, you Levites who carry the utensils for the LORD's temple.

12 You will not go away in a hurry, nor will you go away quickly. The LORD will go ahead of you. The God of Israel will guard you from behind.

13 My servant will be successful. He will be respected, praised, and highly honored.

14 Many will be shocked by him. His appearance will be so disfigured that he won't look like any other man. His looks will be so disfigured that he will hardly look like a human.

15 He will cleanse many nations [with his blood]. Kings will shut their mouths because of him. They will see things that they had never been told. They will understand things that they had never heard.

1 Who has believed our message? To whom has the LORD's power been revealed?

2 He grew up in his presence like a young tree, like a root out of dry ground. He had no form or majesty that would make us look at him. He had nothing in his appearance that would make us desire him.

3 He was despised and rejected by people. He was a man of sorrows, familiar with suffering. He was despised like one from whom people turn their faces, and we didn't consider him to be worth anything.

4 He certainly has taken upon himself our suffering and carried our sorrows, but we thought that God had wounded him, beat him, and punished him.

5 He was wounded for our rebellious acts. He was crushed for our sins. He was punished so that we could have peace, and we received healing from his wounds.

6 We have all strayed like sheep. Each one of us has turned to go his own way, and the LORD has laid all our sins on him.

7 He was abused and punished, but he didn't open his mouth. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. He was like a sheep that is silent when its wool is cut off. He didn't open his mouth.

8 He was arrested, taken away, and judged. Who would have thought that he would be removed from the world? He was killed because of my people's rebellion.

9 He was placed in a tomb with the wicked. He was put there with the rich when he died, although he had done nothing violent and had never spoken a lie.

10 Yet, it was the LORD's will to crush him with suffering. When the LORD has made his life a sacrifice for our wrongdoings, he will see his descendants for many days. The will of the LORD will succeed through him.

11 He will see and be satisfied because of his suffering. My righteous servant will acquit many people because of what he has learned [through suffering]. He will carry their sins as a burden.

12 So I will give him a share among the mighty, and he will divide the prize with the strong, because he poured out his life in death and he was counted with sinners. He carried the sins of many. He intercedes for those who are rebellious.