Isaiah 52
Authorized (King James) Version
52 Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion;
put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city:
for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.
2 Shake thyself from the dust;
arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem:
loose thyself from the bands of thy neck,
O captive daughter of Zion.
3 For thus saith the Lord,
Ye have sold yourselves for nought;
and ye shall be redeemed without money.
4 For thus saith the Lord God,
My people went down aforetime into Egypt to sojourn there;
and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause.
5 Now therefore, what have I here, saith the Lord,
that my people is taken away for nought?
they that rule over them make them to howl, saith the Lord;
and my name continually every day is blasphemed.
6 Therefore my people shall know my name:
therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that doth speak:
behold, it is I.
7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings,
that publisheth peace;
that bringeth good tidings of good,
that publisheth salvation;
that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!
8 Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice;
with the voice together shall they sing:
for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion.
9 Break forth into joy,
sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem:
for the Lord hath comforted his people,
he hath redeemed Jerusalem.
10 The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations;
and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.
11 Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence,
touch no unclean thing;
go ye out of the midst of her;
be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord.
12 For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight:
for the Lord will go before you;
and the God of Israel will be your rereward.
13 Behold, my servant shall deal prudently,
he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.
14 As many were astonied at thee;
his visage was so marred more than any man,
and his form more than the sons of men:
15 so shall he sprinkle many nations;
the kings shall shut their mouths at him:
for that which had not been told them shall they see;
and that which they had not heard shall they consider.
Isaiah 52
Expanded Bible
Jerusalem Will Be Saved
52 Wake up, wake up, ·Jerusalem [L Zion; C the location of the Temple]! ·Become strong [L Clothe yourself with/Put on strength]!
·Be beautiful again [L Put on beautiful/glorious clothes],
holy city of Jerusalem.
The ·people who do not worship God and who are not pure [L uncircumcised and defiled/unclean]
will not enter you again.
2 Jerusalem, ·you once were a prisoner [or be enthroned/seated].
Now shake off the dust and ·stand up [arise].
·Jerusalem, you once were a prisoner [L Captive daughter of Zion,].
Now free yourself from the chains around your neck.
3 This is what the Lord says:
“You were ·not sold for a price [L sold for nothing],
so you will be ·saved [redeemed] without cost.”
4 This is what the Lord God says:
“First my people went down to Egypt to live.
Later Assyria ·made them slaves [oppressed them].
5 “Now ·see what has happened [what do I have here…?],” says the Lord.
“Another nation has taken away my people for nothing.
Those who rule them ·make fun of me [mock; taunt][a],” says the Lord.
“All day long they ·speak against [slander; blaspheme] me.
6 This has happened so my people will know ·who I am [L my name],
and so, ·on that future [L in that] day, they will know
that I am the one speaking to them.
·It will really be me [L Look/T Behold, I].”
7 ·How beautiful [or How beautiful on the mountains] ·is the person [L are the feet of him]
who ·comes over the mountains to bring [or brings] good news,
who announces peace
and brings good news,
who announces salvation [Nah. 1:15]
and says to ·Jerusalem [L Zion; v. 1],
“Your God ·is King [or reigns].”
8 Listen! Your ·guards [watchmen] ·are shouting [raise their voices].
They are all shouting [L together] for joy!
They all will see ·with their own eyes [right in front of their eyes; L eye in eye]
when the Lord returns to ·Jerusalem [L Zion; v. 1].
9 ·Jerusalem, although your buildings are destroyed now [L You ruins of Jerusalem],
shout and rejoice together,
because the Lord has comforted his people.
He has ·saved [redeemed] Jerusalem.
10 The Lord ·will show his holy power [flexes his holy muscles; L bared his holy arm]
·to [L to the eyes of] all the nations.
Then ·everyone on [L all the ends of the] earth
will see the salvation of our God.
11 You people, leave, leave; get out ·of Babylon [L from there]!
Touch nothing that is ·unclean [defiled].
You who carry the ·Lord’s things used in worship [articles/vessels of the Lord],
leave there and make yourselves pure.
12 You will not ·be forced to leave Babylon quickly [leave in haste];
you will not be forced to run away,
because the Lord will go before you,
and the God of Israel will ·guard you from behind [be your rear guard].
The Lord’s Suffering Servant
13 The Lord says, “See, my servant will ·act wisely [or have success].
·People will greatly honor and respect him [He will be raised and exalted; C 52:13—53:12 is the fourth of four “servant songs” in Isaiah; see 42:1].
14 Many people were ·shocked [astonished; appalled] when they saw him.
His appearance was so ·damaged [disfigured; marred] he did not look like a man;
his form ·was so changed they could barely tell he was human [L beyond the sons of man/children of humanity].
15 But now he will ·surprise [startle; or sprinkle; C as the blood of a sacrifice sprinkled on the altar; Lev. 4:6, 17] many nations.
Kings will ·be amazed [L shut their mouths because of him].
They will see things they had not been ·told about him [L told],
and they will understand things they had not heard.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 52:5 taunt The Dead Sea Scrolls read “wail.”
Isaiah 52
Living Bible
52 Wake up, wake up, Jerusalem, and clothe yourselves with strength from God.[a] Put on your beautiful clothes, O Zion, Holy City; for sinners—those who turn from God—will no longer enter your gates. 2 Rise from the dust, Jerusalem; take off the slave bands from your neck, O captive daughter of Zion. 3 For the Lord says: When I sold you into exile, I asked no fee from your oppressors; now I can take you back again and owe them not a cent! 4 My people were tyrannized without cause by Egypt and Assyria, and I delivered them.
5 And now, what is this? asks the Lord. Why are my people enslaved again and oppressed without excuse? Those who rule them shout in exultation, and my name is constantly blasphemed day by day. 6 Therefore I will reveal my name to my people, and they shall know the power in that name. Then at last they will recognize that it is I, yes, I, who speaks to them.
7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those who bring the happy news of peace and salvation, the news that the God of Israel reigns. 8 The watchmen shout and sing with joy, for right before their eyes they see the Lord God bring his people home again. 9 Let the ruins of Jerusalem break into joyous song, for the Lord has comforted his people; he has redeemed Jerusalem. 10 The Lord has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations; the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.
11 Go now, leave your bonds and slavery. Put Babylon and all it represents far behind you—it is unclean to you. You are the holy people of the Lord; purify yourselves, all you who carry home the vessels of the Lord. 12 You shall not leave in haste, running for your lives; for the Lord will go ahead of you, and he, the God of Israel, will protect you from behind.
13 See, my Servant[b] shall prosper; he shall be highly exalted. 14-15 Yet many shall be amazed when they see him—yes, even far-off foreign nations and their kings; they shall stand dumbfounded, speechless in his presence. For they shall see and understand what they had not been told before. They shall see my Servant beaten and bloodied, so disfigured one would scarcely know it was a person standing there. So shall he cleanse[c] many nations.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 52:1 from God, implied.
- Isaiah 52:13 my Servant. The Servant of the Lord, as the term is used here, is the Messiah, our Lord Jesus. This was the interpretation of this passage by Christ himself, the writers of the New Testament, and orthodox Christianity ever since.
- Isaiah 52:14 cleanse, or “startle.” The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain.
KJV reproduced by permission of Cambridge University Press, the Crown’s patentee in the UK.
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.