Isaiah 53
New American Standard Bible
The Suffering Servant
53 (A)Who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 For He grew up before Him like a (B)tender [a]shoot,
And like a root out of dry ground;
He has (C)no stately form or majesty
That we would look at Him,
Nor an appearance that we would take pleasure in Him.
3 He was (D)despised and abandoned by men,
A man of [b]great pain and (E)familiar with sickness;
And like one from whom people hide their faces,
He was (F)despised, and we had no (G)regard for Him.
4 However, it was our sicknesses that He Himself (H)bore,
And our pains that He carried;
Yet we ourselves assumed that He had been afflicted,
Struck down by (I)God, and humiliated.
5 But He was [c]pierced for (J)our offenses,
He was crushed for (K)our wrongdoings;
The (L)punishment for our [d]well-being was laid upon Him,
And by (M)His wounds we are healed.
6 All of us, like sheep, have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the Lord has caused the wrongdoing of us all
To [e]fall on Him.
7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
Yet He did not (N)open His mouth;
(O)Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,
And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,
So He did not open His mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment He was taken away;
And as for His generation, who considered
That He was cut off from the land of the [f]living
(P)For the wrongdoing of my people, to whom the blow was due?
9 And His grave was assigned with wicked men,
Yet He was with a (Q)rich man in His death,
(R)Because He had (S)done no violence,
Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.
10 But the Lord desired
To (T)crush Him, [g](U)causing Him grief;
If He renders [h]Himself as a guilt (V)offering,
He will see (W)His [i]offspring,
He will prolong His days,
And the [j]good (X)pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand.
11 As a result of the [k]anguish of His soul,
He will [l](Y)see it and be satisfied;
By His (Z)knowledge the Righteous One,
My Servant, will justify the many,
For He will (AA)bear their wrongdoings.
12 Therefore, I will allot Him a (AB)portion with the great,
And He will divide the plunder with the strong,
Because He poured out His [m](AC)life unto death,
And was (AD)counted with wrongdoers;
Yet He Himself (AE)bore the sin of many,
And interceded for the wrongdoers.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 53:2 Lit suckling
- Isaiah 53:3 Lit pains
- Isaiah 53:5 Or wounded
- Isaiah 53:5 Or peace
- Isaiah 53:6 Lit encounter Him
- Isaiah 53:8 Or life
- Isaiah 53:10 Lit He made Him sick
- Isaiah 53:10 Lit His soul
- Isaiah 53:10 Lit seed
- Isaiah 53:10 Or will of
- Isaiah 53:11 Or trouble
- Isaiah 53:11 DSS see light; LXX also has light
- Isaiah 53:12 Lit soul
Isaiah 53
New Living Translation
53 Who has believed our message?
To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm?
2 My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot,
like a root in dry ground.
There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance,
nothing to attract us to him.
3 He was despised and rejected—
a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.
We turned our backs on him and looked the other way.
He was despised, and we did not care.
4 Yet it was our weaknesses he carried;
it was our sorrows[a] that weighed him down.
And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God,
a punishment for his own sins!
5 But he was pierced for our rebellion,
crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
He was whipped so we could be healed.
6 All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.
We have left God’s paths to follow our own.
Yet the Lord laid on him
the sins of us all.
7 He was oppressed and treated harshly,
yet he never said a word.
He was led like a lamb to the slaughter.
And as a sheep is silent before the shearers,
he did not open his mouth.
8 Unjustly condemned,
he was led away.[b]
No one cared that he died without descendants,
that his life was cut short in midstream.[c]
But he was struck down
for the rebellion of my people.
9 He had done no wrong
and had never deceived anyone.
But he was buried like a criminal;
he was put in a rich man’s grave.
10 But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him
and cause him grief.
Yet when his life is made an offering for sin,
he will have many descendants.
He will enjoy a long life,
and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands.
11 When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish,
he will be satisfied.
And because of his experience,
my righteous servant will make it possible
for many to be counted righteous,
for he will bear all their sins.
12 I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier,
because he exposed himself to death.
He was counted among the rebels.
He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels.
Footnotes
- 53:4 Or Yet it was our sicknesses he carried; / it was our diseases.
- 53:8a Greek version reads He was humiliated and received no justice. Compare Acts 8:33.
- 53:8b Or As for his contemporaries, / who cared that his life was cut short in midstream? Greek version reads Who can speak of his descendants? / For his life was taken from the earth. Compare Acts 8:33.
Isaiah 53
Contemporary English Version
What God's Servant Did for Us
53 (A) Has anyone believed us
or seen the mighty power
of the Lord in action?
2 Like a young plant or a root
that sprouts in dry ground,
the servant grew up
obeying the Lord.
He wasn't some handsome king.
Nothing about the way he looked
made him attractive to us.
3 He was hated and rejected;
his life was filled with sorrow
and terrible suffering.
No one wanted to look at him.
We despised him and said,
“He is a nobody!”
4 He suffered and endured
great pain for us,
but we thought his suffering
was punishment from God.
5 (B)(C) He was wounded and crushed
because of our sins;
by taking our punishment,
he made us completely well.
6 (D) All of us were like sheep
that had wandered off.
We had each gone our own way,
but the Lord gave him
the punishment we deserved.
7 (E)(F) (G) He was painfully abused,
but he did not complain.
He was silent like a lamb
being led to the butcher,
as quiet as a sheep
having its wool cut off.
8 He was condemned to death
without a fair trial.
Who could have imagined
what would happen to him?
His life was taken away
because of the sinful things
my people[a] had done.
9 (H) He wasn't dishonest or violent,
but he was buried in a tomb
among cruel, rich people.[b]
10 The Lord decided his servant
would suffer as a sacrifice
to take away the sin
and guilt of others.
Now the servant will live
to see his own descendants.[c]
He did everything
the Lord had planned.
11 By suffering, the servant
will learn the true meaning
of obeying the Lord.
Although he is innocent,
he will take the punishment
for the sins of others,
so that many of them
will no longer be guilty.
12 (I) The Lord will reward him
with honor and power
for sacrificing his life.
Others thought he was a sinner,
but he suffered for our sins
and asked God to forgive us.
Isaiah 53
Living Bible
53 But, oh, how few believe it! Who will listen? To whom will God reveal his saving power? 2 In God’s eyes[a] he was like a tender green shoot, sprouting from a root in dry and sterile ground. But in our eyes there was no attractiveness at all, nothing to make us want him. 3 We despised him and rejected him—a man of sorrows, acquainted with bitterest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way when he went by. He was despised, and we didn’t care.
4 Yet it was our grief he bore, our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, for his own sins! 5 But he was wounded and bruised for our sins. He was beaten that we might have peace; he was lashed—and we were healed! 6 We—every one of us—have strayed away like sheep! We, who left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet God laid on him the guilt and sins of every one of us!
7 He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he never said a word. He was brought as a lamb to the slaughter; and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he stood silent before the ones condemning him. 8 From prison and trial they led him away to his death. But who among the people of that day realized it was their sins that he was dying for—that he was suffering their punishment? 9 He was buried like a criminal, but in a rich man’s grave; but he had done no wrong and had never spoken an evil word.
10 But it was the Lord’s good plan to bruise him and fill him with grief. However, when his soul has been made an offering for sin, then he shall have a multitude of children, many heirs. He shall live again,[b] and God’s program shall prosper in his hands. 11 And when he sees all that is accomplished by the anguish of his soul, he shall be satisfied; and because of what he has experienced, my righteous Servant shall make many to be counted righteous before God, for he shall bear all their sins. 12 Therefore, I will give him the honors of one who is mighty and great because he has poured out his soul unto death. He was counted as a sinner, and he bore the sins of many, and he pled with God for sinners.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 53:2 In God’s eyes, literally, “Before him.”
- Isaiah 53:10 He shall live again, literally, “He shall prolong his days.”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society For more information about CEV, visit www.bibles.com and www.cev.bible.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.