53 Indeed, who would ever believe it?
    Who would possibly accept what we’ve been told?^[a]
    Who has witnessed the awesome power and plan of the Eternal in action?^[b]
2 Out of emptiness he came, like a tender shoot from rock-hard ground.
He didn’t look like anything or anyone of consequence—
    he had no physical beauty to attract our attention.
³ So he was despised and forsaken by men,
    this man of suffering, grief’s patient friend.
As if he was a person to avoid, we looked the other way;
    he was despised, forsaken, and we took no notice of him.