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Isaiah 52:13-53:12
Good News Translation
Isaiah 52:13-53:12
Good News Translation
The Suffering Servant
13 The Lord says,
“My servant will succeed in his task;
he will be highly honored.[a]
14 Many people were shocked when they saw him;
he was so disfigured that he hardly looked human.
15 (A)But now many nations will marvel at him,
and kings will be speechless with amazement.
They will see and understand
something they had never known.”
53 (B)The people reply,
“Who would have believed what we now report?
Who could have seen the Lord's hand in this?
2 It was the will of the Lord that his servant
grow like a plant taking root in dry ground.
He had no dignity or beauty
to make us take notice of him.
There was nothing attractive about him,
nothing that would draw us to him.
3 We despised him and rejected him;
he endured suffering and pain.
No one would even look at him—
we ignored him as if he were nothing.
4 (C)“But he endured the suffering that should have been ours,
the pain that we should have borne.
All the while we thought that his suffering
was punishment sent by God.
5 (D)But because of our sins he was wounded,
beaten because of the evil we did.
We are healed by the punishment he suffered,
made whole by the blows he received.
6 (E)All of us were like sheep that were lost,
each of us going his own way.
But the Lord made the punishment fall on him,
the punishment all of us deserved.
7 (F)“He was treated harshly, but endured it humbly;
he never said a word.
Like a lamb about to be slaughtered,
like a sheep about to be sheared,
he never said a word.
8 He was arrested and sentenced and led off to die,
and no one cared about his fate.
He was put to death for the sins of our people.
9 (G)He was placed in a grave with those who are evil,
he was buried with the rich,
even though he had never committed a crime
or ever told a lie.”
10 The Lord says,
“It was my will that he should suffer;
his death was a sacrifice to bring forgiveness.
And so he will see his descendants;
he will live a long life,
and through him my purpose will succeed.
11 After a life of suffering, he will again have joy;
he will know that he did not suffer in vain.
My devoted servant, with whom I am pleased,
will bear the punishment of many
and for his sake I will forgive them.
12 (H)And so I will give him a place of honor,
a place among the great and powerful.
He willingly gave his life
and shared the fate of evil men.
He took the place of many sinners
and prayed that they might be forgiven.”[b]
Footnotes
- Isaiah 52:13 he will be highly honored; or he will be restored to greatness and honor.
- Isaiah 53:12 prayed that they might be forgiven; or suffered the punishment they deserved.
Isaiah 52:13-53:12
New International Version
Isaiah 52:13-53:12
New International Version
The Suffering and Glory of the Servant
13 See, my servant(A) will act wisely[a];
he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.(B)
14 Just as there were many who were appalled(C) at him[b]—
his appearance was so disfigured(D) beyond that of any human being
and his form marred beyond human likeness(E)—
15 so he will sprinkle(F) many nations,[c]
and kings(G) will shut their mouths(H) because of him.
For what they were not told, they will see,
and what they have not heard, they will understand.(I)
53 Who has believed our message(J)
and to whom has the arm(K) of the Lord been revealed?(L)
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,(M)
and like a root(N) out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance(O) that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering,(P) and familiar with pain.(Q)
Like one from whom people hide(R) their faces
he was despised,(S) and we held him in low esteem.
4 Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,(T)
yet we considered him punished by God,(U)
stricken by him, and afflicted.(V)
5 But he was pierced(W) for our transgressions,(X)
he was crushed(Y) for our iniquities;
the punishment(Z) that brought us peace(AA) was on him,
and by his wounds(AB) we are healed.(AC)
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,(AD)
each of us has turned to our own way;(AE)
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity(AF) of us all.
7 He was oppressed(AG) and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;(AH)
he was led like a lamb(AI) to the slaughter,(AJ)
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
8 By oppression[d] and judgment(AK) he was taken away.
Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;(AL)
for the transgression(AM) of my people he was punished.[e]
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,(AN)
and with the rich(AO) in his death,
though he had done no violence,(AP)
nor was any deceit in his mouth.(AQ)
10 Yet it was the Lord’s will(AR) to crush(AS) him and cause him to suffer,(AT)
and though the Lord makes[f] his life an offering for sin,(AU)
he will see his offspring(AV) and prolong his days,
and the will of the Lord will prosper(AW) in his hand.
11 After he has suffered,(AX)
he will see the light(AY) of life[g] and be satisfied[h];
by his knowledge[i] my righteous servant(AZ) will justify(BA) many,
and he will bear their iniquities.(BB)
12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,[j](BC)
and he will divide the spoils(BD) with the strong,[k]
because he poured out his life unto death,(BE)
and was numbered with the transgressors.(BF)
For he bore(BG) the sin of many,(BH)
and made intercession(BI) for the transgressors.
Footnotes
- 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) 11 He 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 52:13-53:12
The Message
Isaiah 52:13-53:12
The Message
It Was Our Pains He Carried
13-15 “Just watch my servant blossom!
Exalted, tall, head and shoulders above the crowd!
But he didn’t begin that way.
At first everyone was appalled.
He didn’t even look human—
a ruined face, disfigured past recognition.
Nations all over the world will be in awe, taken aback,
kings shocked into silence when they see him.
For what was unheard of they’ll see with their own eyes,
what was unthinkable they’ll have right before them.”
53 Who believes what we’ve heard and seen?
Who would have thought God’s saving power would look like this?
2-6 The servant grew up before God—a scrawny seedling,
a scrubby plant in a parched field.
There was nothing attractive about him,
nothing to cause us to take a second look.
He was looked down on and passed over,
a man who suffered, who knew pain firsthand.
One look at him and people turned away.
We looked down on him, thought he was scum.
But the fact is, it was our pains he carried—
our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us.
We thought he brought it on himself,
that God was punishing him for his own failures.
But it was our sins that did that to him,
that ripped and tore and crushed him—our sins!
He took the punishment, and that made us whole.
Through his bruises we get healed.
We’re all like sheep who’ve wandered off and gotten lost.
We’ve all done our own thing, gone our own way.
And God has piled all our sins, everything we’ve done wrong,
on him, on him.
7-9 He was beaten, he was tortured,
but he didn’t say a word.
Like a lamb taken to be slaughtered
and like a sheep being sheared,
he took it all in silence.
Justice miscarried, and he was led off—
and did anyone really know what was happening?
He died without a thought for his own welfare,
beaten bloody for the sins of my people.
They buried him with the wicked,
threw him in a grave with a rich man,
Even though he’d never hurt a soul
or said one word that wasn’t true.
10 Still, it’s what God had in mind all along,
to crush him with pain.
The plan was that he give himself as an offering for sin
so that he’d see life come from it—life, life, and more life.
And God’s plan will deeply prosper through him.
11-12 Out of that terrible travail of soul,
he’ll see that it’s worth it and be glad he did it.
Through what he experienced, my righteous one, my servant,
will make many “righteous ones,”
as he himself carries the burden of their sins.
Therefore I’ll reward him extravagantly—
the best of everything, the highest honors—
Because he looked death in the face and didn’t flinch,
because he embraced the company of the lowest.
He took on his own shoulders the sin of the many,
he took up the cause of all the black sheep.
Good News Translation (GNT) 
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson