Isaiah 51-53
Christian Standard Bible
Salvation for Zion
51 Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness,
you who 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 father,
and to Sarah who gave birth to you.
When I called him, he was only one;
I blessed him and made him many.(A)
3 For the Lord will comfort Zion;(B)
he will comfort all her waste places,
and he will make her wilderness like Eden,(C)
and her desert like the garden of the Lord.(D)
Joy and gladness will be found in her,
thanksgiving and melodious song.
4 Pay attention to me, my people,
and listen to me, my nation;
for instruction will come from me,
and my justice for a light to the nations.(E)
I will bring it about quickly.
5 My righteousness is near,(F)
my salvation appears,
and my arms will bring justice to the nations.(G)
The coasts and islands will put their hope in me,
and they will look to my strength.[a]
6 Look up to the heavens,
and look at the earth beneath;
for the heavens will vanish like smoke,
the earth will wear out like a garment,
and its inhabitants will die like gnats.[b](H)
But my salvation will last forever,(I)
and my righteousness will never be shattered.
7 Listen to me, you who know righteousness,
the people in whose heart is my instruction:(J)
do not fear disgrace by men,
and do not be shattered by their taunts.
8 For moths will devour them like a garment,(K)
and worms will eat them like wool.(L)
But my righteousness will last forever,
and my salvation for all generations.
9 Wake up, wake up!
Arm of the Lord, clothe yourself with strength.
Wake up as in days past,
as in generations long ago.
Wasn’t it you who hacked Rahab to pieces,(M)
who pierced the sea monster?(N)
10 Wasn’t it you who dried up the sea,(O)
the waters of the great deep,
who made the sea-bed into a road
for the redeemed to pass over?(P)
11 And the ransomed of the Lord will return(Q)
and come to Zion with singing,
crowned with unending joy.
Joy and gladness will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee.
12 I—I am the one who comforts you.
Who are you that you should fear humans who die,(R)
or a son of man who is given up like grass?(S)
13 But you have forgotten the Lord, your Maker,
who stretched out the heavens
and laid the foundations of the earth.(T)
You are in constant dread all day long
because of the fury of the oppressor,
who has set himself to destroy.
But where is the fury of the oppressor?(U)
14 The prisoner[c] is soon to be set free;
he will not die and go to the Pit,
and his food will not be lacking.
15 For I am the Lord your God
who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar(V)—
his name is the Lord of Armies.
16 I have put my words in your mouth,(W)
and covered you in the shadow of my hand,(X)
in order to plant[d] the heavens,
to found the earth,
and to say to Zion, “You are my people.”
17 Wake yourself, wake yourself up!
Stand up, Jerusalem,
you who have drunk the cup of his fury(Y)
from the Lord’s hand;
you who have drunk the goblet to the dregs—
the cup that causes people to stagger.
18 There is no one to guide her
among all the children she has raised;
there is no one to take hold of her hand
among all the offspring she has brought up.
19 These two things have happened to you:(Z)
devastation and destruction,
famine and sword.
Who will grieve for you?
How can I[e] comfort you?
20 Your children have fainted;
they lie at the head of every street
like an antelope in a net.
They are full of the Lord’s fury,
the rebuke of your God.
21 So listen to this, suffering
and drunken one—but not with wine.(AA)
22 This is what your Lord says—
the Lord, even your God,
who defends his people(AB)—
“Look, I have removed from your hand
the cup that causes staggering;
that goblet, the cup of my fury.
You will never drink it again.
23 I will put it into the hands of your tormentors,
who said to you,(AC)
‘Lie down, so we can walk over you.’
You made your back like the ground,
and like a street for those who walk on it.
52 “Wake up, wake up;
put on your strength, Zion!
Put on your beautiful garments,(AD)
Jerusalem, the holy city!(AE)
For the uncircumcised and the unclean
will no longer enter you.(AF)
2 Stand up, shake the dust off yourself!
Take your seat, Jerusalem.
Remove the bonds[f] from your neck,
captive Daughter Zion.”
3 For this is what the Lord says:
“You were sold for nothing,
and you will be redeemed without silver.”(AG)
4 For this is what the Lord God says:
“At first my people went down to Egypt to reside there,(AH)
then Assyria oppressed them without cause.[g]
5 So now what have I here”—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
“that my people are taken away for nothing?
Its rulers wail”—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
“and my name is continually blasphemed all day long.(AI)
6 Therefore my people will know my name;(AJ)
therefore they will know on that day
that I am he who says,
‘Here I am.’”
7 How beautiful on the mountains
are the feet of the herald,
who proclaims peace,
who brings news of good things,(AK)
who proclaims salvation,
who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!” (AL)
8 The voices of your watchmen(AM)—
they lift up their voices,
shouting for joy together;
for every eye will see
when the Lord returns to Zion.
9 Be joyful, rejoice together,
you ruins of Jerusalem!(AN)
For the Lord has comforted his people;(AO)
he has redeemed Jerusalem.
10 The Lord has displayed his holy arm
in the sight of all the nations;(AP)
all the ends of the earth will see
the salvation of our God.(AQ)
11 Leave, leave, go out from there!(AR)
Do not touch anything unclean;
go out from her, purify yourselves,(AS)
you who carry the vessels of the Lord.
12 For you will not leave in a hurry,(AT)
and you will not have to take flight;
because the Lord is going before you,(AU)
and the God of Israel is your rear guard.(AV)
The Servant’s Suffering and Exaltation
13 See, my servant[h](AW) will be successful;[i]
he will be raised and lifted up and greatly exalted.(AX)
14 Just as many were appalled at you[j]—
his appearance was so disfigured
that he did not look like a man,
and his form did not resemble a human being—
15 so he will sprinkle many nations.[k](AY)
Kings will shut their mouths because of him,
for they will see what had not been told them,
and they will understand what they had not heard.(AZ)
53 Who has believed what we have heard?[l]
And to whom has the arm of the Lord(BA) been revealed?(BB)
2 He grew up before him like a young plant(BC)
and like a root out of dry ground.
He didn’t have an impressive form
or majesty that we should look at him,
no appearance that we should desire him.(BD)
3 He was despised and rejected by men,(BE)
a man of suffering who knew what sickness was.(BF)
He was like someone people turned away from;[m]
he was despised, and we didn’t value him.
4 Yet he himself bore our sicknesses,
and he carried our pains;(BG)
but we in turn regarded him stricken,
struck down by God,(BH) and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced because of our rebellion,(BI)
crushed because of our iniquities;(BJ)
punishment(BK) for our peace was on him,
and we are healed by his wounds.(BL)
6 We all went astray like sheep;(BM)
we all have turned to our own way;
and the Lord has punished him
for[n] the iniquity(BN) of us all.(BO)
7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth.
Like a lamb led to the slaughter
and like a sheep silent before her shearers,
he did not open his mouth.(BP)
8 He was taken away because of oppression and judgment,
and who considered his fate?[o]
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
he was struck because of my people’s rebellion.
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
but he was with a rich man at his death,(BQ)
because he had done no violence
and had not spoken deceitfully.(BR)
10 Yet the Lord was pleased(BS) to crush him severely.[p](BT)
When[q] you make him a guilt offering,(BU)
he will see his seed, he will prolong his days,
and by his hand, the Lord’s pleasure will be accomplished.(BV)
11 After his anguish,
he will see light[r] and be satisfied.
By his knowledge,
my righteous(BW) servant(BX) will justify many,(BY)
and he will carry their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will give him[s] the many as a portion,
and he will receive[t] the mighty as spoil,
because he willingly submitted to death,(BZ)
and was counted among the rebels;(CA)
yet he bore the sin of many(CB)
and interceded for the rebels.(CC)
Footnotes
- 51:5 Lit arm
- 51:6 Or die in like manner
- 51:14 Hb obscure
- 51:16 Syr reads to stretch out
- 51:19 DSS, LXX, Syr, Vg read you? Who can
- 52:2 Alt Hb tradition reads The bonds are removed
- 52:4 Or them at last, or them for nothing
- 52:13 Tg adds the Messiah
- 52:13 Or will act wisely
- 52:14 Some Hb mss, Syr, Tg read him
- 52:15 LXX reads so many nations will marvel at him
- 53:1 Or believed our report
- 53:3 Lit And like a hiding of faces from him
- 53:6 Or has placed on him; lit with
- 53:8 Or and as for his generation, who considered him?
- 53:10 Or him; he made him sick.
- 53:10 Or If
- 53:11 DSS, LXX; MT omits light
- 53:12 Or him with
- 53:12 Or receive with
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