Isaiah 52-54

New International Version

52 Awake, awake,^(A) Zion,
    clothe yourself with strength!^(B)
Put on your garments of splendor,^(C)
    Jerusalem, the holy city.^(D)
The uncircumcised^(E) and defiled^(F)
    will not enter you again.^(G)
²Shake off your dust;^(H)
    rise up,^(I) sit enthroned, Jerusalem.
Free yourself from the chains on your neck,^(J)
    Daughter Zion,^(K) now a captive.

³For this is what the Lord says:

“You were sold for nothing,^(L)
and without money^(M) you will be redeemed.^(N)”

⁴For this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“At first my people went down to Egypt^(O) to live;
lately, Assyria^(P) has oppressed them.

⁵“And now what do I have here?” declares the Lord.

“For my people have been taken away for nothing,
    and those who rule them mock,^[a]”
declares the Lord.
“And all day long
    my name is constantly blasphemed.^(Q)
⁶Therefore my people will know^(R) my name;^(S)
    therefore in that day^(T) they will know
that it is I who foretold^(U) it.
    Yes, it is I.”

⁷How beautiful on the mountains^(V)
    are the feet of those who bring good news,^(W)
who proclaim peace,^(X)
    who bring good tidings,
    who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion,
    “Your God reigns!”^(Y)
⁸Listen! Your watchmen^(Z) lift up their voices;^(AA)
    together they shout for joy.^(AB)
When the Lord returns^(AC) to Zion,^(AD)
    they will see it with their own eyes.
⁹Burst into songs of joy^(AE) together,
    you ruins^(AF) of Jerusalem,
for the Lord has comforted^(AG) his people,
    he has redeemed Jerusalem.^(AH)
¹⁰The Lord will lay bare his holy arm^(AI)
    in the sight of all the nations,^(AJ)
and all the ends of the earth^(AK) will see
    the salvation^(AL) of our God.

¹¹Depart,^(AM) depart, go out from there!
    Touch no unclean thing!^(AN)
Come out from it and be pure,^(AO)
    you who carry the articles^(AP) of the Lord’s house.
¹²But you will not leave in haste^(AQ)
    or go in flight;
for the Lord will go before you,^(AR)
    the God of Israel will be your rear guard.^(AS)

The Suffering and Glory of the Servant

¹³See, my servant^(AT) will act wisely^[b];
    he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.^(AU)
¹⁴Just as there were many who were appalled^(AV) at him^[c]—
    his appearance was so disfigured^(AW) beyond that of any human being
    and his form marred beyond human likeness^(AX)—
¹⁵so he will sprinkle^(AY) many nations,^[d]
    and kings^(AZ) will shut their mouths^(BA) because of him.
For what they were not told, they will see,
    and what they have not heard, they will understand.^(BB)

53 Who has believed our message^(BC)
    and to whom has the arm^(BD) of the Lord been revealed?^(BE)
²He grew up before him like a tender shoot,^(BF)
    and like a root^(BG) out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
    nothing in his appearance^(BH) that we should desire him.
³He was despised and rejected by mankind,
    a man of suffering,^(BI) and familiar with pain.^(BJ)
Like one from whom people hide^(BK) their faces
    he was despised,^(BL) and we held him in low esteem.

⁴Surely he took up our pain
    and bore our suffering,^(BM)
yet we considered him punished by God,^(BN)
    stricken by him, and afflicted.^(BO)
⁵But he was pierced^(BP) for our transgressions,^(BQ)
    he was crushed^(BR) for our iniquities;
the punishment^(BS) that brought us peace^(BT) was on him,
    and by his wounds^(BU) we are healed.^(BV)
⁶We all, like sheep, have gone astray,^(BW)
    each of us has turned to our own way;^(BX)
and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity^(BY) of us all.

⁷He was oppressed^(BZ) and afflicted,
    yet he did not open his mouth;^(CA)
he was led like a lamb^(CB) to the slaughter,^(CC)
    and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
    so he did not open his mouth.
⁸By oppression^[e] and judgment^(CD) he was taken away.
    Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;^(CE)
    for the transgression^(CF) of my people he was punished.^[f]
⁹He was assigned a grave with the wicked,^(CG)
    and with the rich^(CH) in his death,
though he had done no violence,^(CI)
    nor was any deceit in his mouth.^(CJ)

¹⁰Yet it was the Lord’s will^(CK) to crush^(CL) him and cause him to suffer,^(CM)
    and though the Lord makes^[g] his life an offering for sin,^(CN)
he will see his offspring^(CO) and prolong his days,
    and the will of the Lord will prosper^(CP) in his hand.
¹¹After he has suffered,^(CQ)
    he will see the light^(CR) of life^[h] and be satisfied^[i];
by his knowledge^[j] my righteous servant^(CS) will justify^(CT) many,
    and he will bear their iniquities.^(CU)
¹²Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,^[k]^(CV)
    and he will divide the spoils^(CW) with the strong,^[l]
because he poured out his life unto death,^(CX)
    and was numbered with the transgressors.^(CY)
For he bore^(CZ) the sin of many,^(DA)
    and made intercession^(DB) for the transgressors.

The Future Glory of Zion

54 “Sing, barren woman,^(DC)
    you who never bore a child;
burst into song, shout for joy,^(DD)
    you who were never in labor;^(DE)
because more are the children^(DF) of the desolate^(DG) woman
    than of her who has a husband,^(DH)”
says the Lord.
²“Enlarge the place of your tent,^(DI)
    stretch your tent curtains wide,
    do not hold back;
lengthen your cords,
    strengthen your stakes.^(DJ)
³For you will spread out to the right and to the left;
    your descendants^(DK) will dispossess nations^(DL)
    and settle in their desolate^(DM) cities.

⁴“Do not be afraid;^(DN) you will not be put to shame.^(DO)
    Do not fear disgrace;^(DP) you will not be humiliated.
You will forget the shame of your youth^(DQ)
    and remember no more the reproach^(DR) of your widowhood.^(DS)
⁵For your Maker^(DT) is your husband^(DU)—
    the Lord Almighty is his name—
the Holy One^(DV) of Israel is your Redeemer;^(DW)
    he is called the God of all the earth.^(DX)
⁶The Lord will call you back^(DY)
    as if you were a wife deserted^(DZ) and distressed in spirit—
a wife who married young,^(EA)
    only to be rejected,” says your God.
⁷“For a brief moment^(EB) I abandoned^(EC) you,
    but with deep compassion^(ED) I will bring you back.^(EE)
⁸In a surge of anger^(EF)
    I hid^(EG) my face from you for a moment,
but with everlasting kindness^(EH)
    I will have compassion^(EI) on you,”
    says the Lord your Redeemer.^(EJ)

⁹“To me this is like the days of Noah,
    when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth.^(EK)
So now I have sworn^(EL) not to be angry^(EM) with you,
    never to rebuke^(EN) you again.
¹⁰Though the mountains be shaken^(EO)
    and the hills be removed,
yet my unfailing love^(EP) for you will not be shaken^(EQ)
    nor my covenant^(ER) of peace^(ES) be removed,”
    says the Lord, who has compassion^(ET) on you.

¹¹“Afflicted^(EU) city, lashed by storms^(EV) and not comforted,^(EW)
    I will rebuild you with stones of turquoise,^[m]^(EX)
    your foundations^(EY) with lapis lazuli.^(EZ)
¹²I will make your battlements of rubies,
    your gates^(FA) of sparkling jewels,
    and all your walls of precious stones.
¹³All your children will be taught by the Lord,^(FB)
    and great will be their peace.^(FC)
¹⁴In righteousness^(FD) you will be established:^(FE)
Tyranny^(FF) will be far from you;
    you will have nothing to fear.^(FG)
Terror^(FH) will be far removed;
    it will not come near you.
¹⁵If anyone does attack you, it will not be my doing;
    whoever attacks you will surrender^(FI) to you.

¹⁶“See, it is I who created the blacksmith^(FJ)
    who fans the coals into flame
    and forges a weapon^(FK) fit for its work.
And it is I who have created the destroyer^(FL) to wreak havoc;
¹⁷    no weapon forged against you will prevail,^(FM)
    and you will refute^(FN) every tongue that accuses you.
This is the heritage of the servants^(FO) of the Lord,
    and this is their vindication^(FP) from me,”
declares the Lord.

Footnotes

Isaiah 52:5 Dead Sea Scrolls and Vulgate; Masoretic Text wail
Isaiah 52:13 Or will prosper
Isaiah 52:14 Hebrew you
Isaiah 52:15 Or so will many nations be amazed at him (see also Septuagint)
Isaiah 53:8 Or From arrest
Isaiah 53:8 Or generation considered / that he was cut off from the land of the living, / that he was punished for the transgression of my people?
Isaiah 53:10 Hebrew though you make
Isaiah 53:11 Dead Sea Scrolls (see also Septuagint); Masoretic Text does not have the light of life.
Isaiah 53:11 Or (with Masoretic Text) ¹¹He will see the fruit of his suffering / and will be satisfied
Isaiah 53:11 Or by knowledge of him
Isaiah 53:12 Or many
Isaiah 53:12 Or numerous
Isaiah 54:11 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.