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Isaiah 51-53
New King James Version
Isaiah 51-53
New King James Version
The Lord Comforts Zion(A)
51 “Listen to Me, (B)you who [a]follow after righteousness,
You who seek the Lord:
Look to the rock from which you were hewn,
And to the hole of the pit from which you were dug.
2 (C)Look to Abraham your father,
And to Sarah who bore you;
(D)For I called him alone,
And (E)blessed him and increased him.”
3 For the Lord will (F)comfort Zion,
He will comfort all her waste places;
He will make her wilderness like Eden,
And her desert (G)like the garden of the Lord;
Joy and gladness will be found in it,
Thanksgiving and the voice of melody.
4 “Listen to Me, My people;
And give ear to Me, O My nation:
(H)For law will proceed from Me,
And I will make My justice rest
(I)As a light of the peoples.
5 (J)My righteousness is near,
My salvation has gone forth,
(K)And My arms will judge the peoples;
(L)The coastlands will wait upon Me,
And (M)on My arm they will trust.
6 (N)Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
And look on the earth beneath.
For (O)the heavens will vanish away like smoke,
(P)The earth will grow old like a garment,
And those who dwell in it will die in like manner;
But My salvation will be (Q)forever,
And My righteousness will not be [b]abolished.
7 “Listen to Me, you who know righteousness,
You people (R)in whose heart is My law:
(S)Do not fear the reproach of men,
Nor be afraid of their insults.
8 For (T)the moth will eat them up like a garment,
And the worm will eat them like wool;
But My righteousness will be forever,
And My salvation from generation to generation.”
9 (U)Awake, awake, (V)put on strength,
O arm of the Lord!
Awake (W)as in the ancient days,
In the generations of old.
(X)Are You not the arm that cut (Y)Rahab apart,
And wounded the (Z)serpent?
10 Are You not the One who (AA)dried up the sea,
The waters of the great deep;
That made the depths of the sea a road
For the redeemed to cross over?
11 So (AB)the ransomed of the Lord shall return,
And come to Zion with singing,
With everlasting joy on their heads.
They shall obtain joy and gladness;
Sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
12 “I, even I, am He (AC)who comforts you.
Who are you that you should be afraid
(AD)Of a man who will die,
And of the son of a man who will be made (AE)like grass?
13 And (AF)you forget the Lord your Maker,
(AG)Who stretched out the heavens
And laid the foundations of the earth;
You have feared continually every day
Because of the fury of the oppressor,
When he has prepared to destroy.
(AH)And where is the fury of the oppressor?
14 The captive exile hastens, that he may be loosed,
(AI)That he should not die in the pit,
And that his bread should not fail.
15 But I am the Lord your God,
Who (AJ)divided the sea whose waves roared—
The Lord of hosts is His name.
16 And (AK)I have put My words in your mouth;
(AL)I have covered you with the shadow of My hand,
(AM)That I may [c]plant the heavens,
Lay the foundations of the earth,
And say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’ ”
God’s Fury Removed
17 (AN)Awake, awake!
Stand up, O Jerusalem,
You who (AO)have drunk at the hand of the Lord
The cup of His fury;
You have drunk the dregs of the cup of trembling,
And drained it out.
18 There is no one to guide her
Among all the sons she has brought forth;
Nor is there any who takes her by the hand
Among all the sons she has brought up.
19 (AP)These two things have come to you;
Who will be sorry for you?—
Desolation and destruction, famine and sword—
(AQ)By whom will I comfort you?
20 (AR)Your sons have fainted,
They lie at the head of all the streets,
Like an antelope in a net;
They are full of the fury of the Lord,
The rebuke of your God.
21 Therefore please hear this, you afflicted,
And drunk (AS)but not with wine.
22 Thus says your Lord,
The Lord and your God,
Who (AT)pleads the cause of His people:
“See, I have taken out of your hand
The cup of trembling,
The dregs of the cup of My fury;
You shall no longer drink it.
23 (AU)But I will put it into the hand of those who afflict you,
Who have said to [d]you,
‘Lie down, that we may walk over you.’
And you have laid your body like the ground,
And as the street, for those who walk over.”
God Redeems Jerusalem
52 Awake, awake!
Put on your strength, O Zion;
Put on your beautiful garments,
O Jerusalem, the holy city!
For the uncircumcised (AV)and the unclean
Shall no longer come to you.
2 (AW)Shake yourself from the dust, arise;
Sit down, O Jerusalem!
(AX)Loose yourself from the bonds of your neck,
O captive daughter of Zion!
3 For thus says the Lord:
4 For thus says the Lord God:
“My people went down at first
Into (BA)Egypt to [e]dwell there;
Then the Assyrian oppressed them without cause.
5 Now therefore, what have I here,” says the Lord,
“That My people are taken away for nothing?
Those who rule over them
[f]Make them wail,” says the Lord,
“And My name is (BB)blasphemed continually every day.
6 Therefore My people shall know My name;
Therefore they shall know in that day
That I am He who speaks:
‘Behold, it is I.’ ”
7 (BC)How beautiful upon the mountains
Are the feet of him who brings good news,
Who proclaims peace,
Who brings glad tidings of good things,
Who proclaims salvation,
Who says to Zion,
(BD)“Your God reigns!”
8 Your watchmen shall lift up their voices,
With their voices they shall sing together;
For they shall see eye to eye
When the Lord brings back Zion.
9 Break forth into joy, sing together,
You waste places of Jerusalem!
For the Lord has comforted His people,
He has redeemed Jerusalem.
10 (BE)The Lord has [g]made bare His holy arm
In the eyes of (BF)all the nations;
And all the ends of the earth shall see
The salvation of our God.
11 (BG)Depart! Depart! Go out from there,
Touch no unclean thing;
Go out from the midst of her,
(BH)Be clean,
You who bear the vessels of the Lord.
12 For (BI)you shall not go out with haste,
Nor go by flight;
(BJ)For the Lord will go before you,
(BK)And the God of Israel will be your rear guard.
The Sin-Bearing Servant
13 Behold, (BL)My Servant shall [h]deal prudently;
(BM)He shall be exalted and [i]extolled and be very high.
14 Just as many were astonished at you,
So His (BN)visage[j] was marred more than any man,
And His form more than the sons of men;
15 (BO)So shall He [k]sprinkle many nations.
Kings shall shut their mouths at Him;
For (BP)what had not been told them they shall see,
And what they had not heard they shall consider.
The Sin-Bearing Messiah
53 Who (BQ)has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,
And as a root out of dry ground.
He has no [l]form or [m]comeliness;
And when we see Him,
There is no [n]beauty that we should desire Him.
3 (BR)He is despised and [o]rejected by men,
A Man of [p]sorrows and (BS)acquainted with [q]grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and (BT)we did not esteem Him.
4 Surely (BU)He has borne our [r]griefs
And carried our [s]sorrows;
Yet we [t]esteemed Him stricken,
[u]Smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But He was (BV)wounded[v] for our transgressions,
He was [w]bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His (BW)stripes[x] we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the Lord [y]has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet (BX)He opened not His mouth;
(BY)He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.
8 He was (BZ)taken from [z]prison and from judgment,
And who will declare His generation?
For (CA)He was cut off from the land of the living;
For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.
9 (CB)And [aa]they made His grave with the wicked—
But with the rich at His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was any (CC)deceit in His mouth.
10 Yet it pleased the Lord to [ab]bruise Him;
He has put Him to grief.
When You make His soul (CD)an offering for sin,
He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,
And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.
11 [ac]He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.
By His knowledge (CE)My righteous (CF)Servant shall (CG)justify many,
For He shall bear their iniquities.
12 (CH)Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great,
(CI)And He shall divide the [ad]spoil with the strong,
Because He (CJ)poured out His soul unto death,
And He was (CK)numbered with the transgressors,
And He bore the sin of many,
And (CL)made intercession for the transgressors.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 51:1 pursue
- Isaiah 51:6 broken
- Isaiah 51:16 establish
- Isaiah 51:23 Lit. your soul
- Isaiah 52:4 As resident aliens
- Isaiah 52:5 DSS Mock; LXX Marvel and wail; Tg. Boast themselves; Vg. Treat them unjustly
- Isaiah 52:10 Revealed His power
- Isaiah 52:13 prosper
- Isaiah 52:13 Lit. be lifted up
- Isaiah 52:14 appearance
- Isaiah 52:15 Or startle
- Isaiah 53:2 Stately form
- Isaiah 53:2 splendor
- Isaiah 53:2 Lit. appearance
- Isaiah 53:3 Or forsaken
- Isaiah 53:3 Lit. pains
- Isaiah 53:3 Lit. sickness
- Isaiah 53:4 Lit. sicknesses
- Isaiah 53:4 Lit. pains
- Isaiah 53:4 reckoned
- Isaiah 53:4 Struck down
- Isaiah 53:5 Or pierced through
- Isaiah 53:5 crushed
- Isaiah 53:5 Blows that cut in
- Isaiah 53:6 Lit. has caused to land on Him
- Isaiah 53:8 confinement
- Isaiah 53:9 Lit. he or He
- Isaiah 53:10 crush
- Isaiah 53:11 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; DSS, LXX From the labor of His soul He shall see light
- Isaiah 53:12 plunder
Isaiah 51-53
New International Version
Isaiah 51-53
New International Version
Everlasting Salvation for Zion
51 “Listen(A) to me, you who pursue righteousness(B)
and who seek(C) the Lord:
Look to the rock(D) from which you were cut
and to the quarry from which you were hewn;
2 look to Abraham,(E) your father,
and to Sarah, who gave you birth.
When I called him he was only one man,
and I blessed him and made him many.(F)
3 The Lord will surely comfort(G) Zion(H)
and will look with compassion on all her ruins;(I)
he will make her deserts like Eden,(J)
her wastelands(K) like the garden of the Lord.
Joy and gladness(L) will be found in her,
thanksgiving(M) and the sound of singing.
4 “Listen to me, my people;(N)
hear me,(O) my nation:
Instruction(P) will go out from me;
my justice(Q) will become a light to the nations.(R)
5 My righteousness draws near speedily,
my salvation(S) is on the way,(T)
and my arm(U) will bring justice to the nations.
The islands(V) will look to me
and wait in hope(W) for my arm.
6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
look at the earth beneath;
the heavens will vanish like smoke,(X)
the earth will wear out like a garment(Y)
and its inhabitants die like flies.
But my salvation(Z) will last forever,(AA)
my righteousness will never fail.(AB)
7 “Hear me, you who know what is right,(AC)
you people who have taken my instruction to heart:(AD)
Do not fear the reproach of mere mortals
or be terrified by their insults.(AE)
8 For the moth will eat them up like a garment;(AF)
the worm(AG) will devour them like wool.
But my righteousness will last forever,(AH)
my salvation through all generations.”
9 Awake, awake,(AI) arm(AJ) of the Lord,
clothe yourself with strength!(AK)
Awake, as in days gone by,
as in generations of old.(AL)
Was it not you who cut Rahab(AM) to pieces,
who pierced that monster(AN) through?
10 Was it not you who dried up the sea,(AO)
the waters of the great deep,(AP)
who made a road in the depths of the sea(AQ)
so that the redeemed(AR) might cross over?
11 Those the Lord has rescued(AS) will return.
They will enter Zion with singing;(AT)
everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy(AU) will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee away.(AV)
12 “I, even I, am he who comforts(AW) you.
Who are you that you fear(AX) mere mortals,(AY)
human beings who are but grass,(AZ)
13 that you forget(BA) the Lord your Maker,(BB)
who stretches out the heavens(BC)
and who lays the foundations of the earth,
that you live in constant terror(BD) every day
because of the wrath of the oppressor,
who is bent on destruction?
For where is the wrath of the oppressor?(BE)
14 The cowering prisoners will soon be set free;(BF)
they will not die in their dungeon,
nor will they lack bread.(BG)
15 For I am the Lord your God,
who stirs up the sea(BH) so that its waves roar(BI)—
the Lord Almighty(BJ) is his name.
16 I have put my words in your mouth(BK)
and covered you with the shadow of my hand(BL)—
I who set the heavens in place,
who laid the foundations of the earth,(BM)
and who say to Zion, ‘You are my people.(BN)’”
The Cup of the Lord’s Wrath
17 Awake, awake!(BO)
Rise up, Jerusalem,
you who have drunk from the hand of the Lord
the cup(BP) of his wrath,(BQ)
you who have drained to its dregs(BR)
the goblet that makes people stagger.(BS)
18 Among all the children(BT) she bore
there was none to guide her;(BU)
among all the children she reared
there was none to take her by the hand.(BV)
19 These double calamities(BW) have come upon you—
who can comfort you?(BX)—
ruin and destruction,(BY) famine(BZ) and sword(CA)—
who can[a] console you?
20 Your children have fainted;
they lie at every street corner,(CB)
like antelope caught in a net.(CC)
They are filled with the wrath(CD) of the Lord,
with the rebuke(CE) of your God.
21 Therefore hear this, you afflicted(CF) one,
made drunk,(CG) but not with wine.
22 This is what your Sovereign Lord says,
your God, who defends(CH) his people:
“See, I have taken out of your hand
the cup(CI) that made you stagger;
from that cup, the goblet of my wrath,
you will never drink again.
23 I will put it into the hands of your tormentors,(CJ)
who said to you,
‘Fall prostrate(CK) that we may walk(CL) on you.’
And you made your back like the ground,
like a street to be walked on.”(CM)
52 Awake, awake,(CN) Zion,
clothe yourself with strength!(CO)
Put on your garments of splendor,(CP)
Jerusalem, the holy city.(CQ)
The uncircumcised(CR) and defiled(CS)
will not enter you again.(CT)
2 Shake off your dust;(CU)
rise up,(CV) sit enthroned, Jerusalem.
Free yourself from the chains on your neck,(CW)
Daughter Zion,(CX) now a captive.
3 For this is what the Lord says:
4 For this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
5 “And now what do I have here?” declares the Lord.
“For my people have been taken away for nothing,
and those who rule them mock,[b]”
declares the Lord.
“And all day long
my name is constantly blasphemed.(DD)
6 Therefore my people will know(DE) my name;(DF)
therefore in that day(DG) they will know
that it is I who foretold(DH) it.
Yes, it is I.”
7 How beautiful on the mountains(DI)
are the feet of those who bring good news,(DJ)
who proclaim peace,(DK)
who bring good tidings,
who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion,
“Your God reigns!”(DL)
8 Listen! Your watchmen(DM) lift up their voices;(DN)
together they shout for joy.(DO)
When the Lord returns(DP) to Zion,(DQ)
they will see it with their own eyes.
9 Burst into songs of joy(DR) together,
you ruins(DS) of Jerusalem,
for the Lord has comforted(DT) his people,
he has redeemed Jerusalem.(DU)
10 The Lord will lay bare his holy arm(DV)
in the sight of all the nations,(DW)
and all the ends of the earth(DX) will see
the salvation(DY) of our God.
11 Depart,(DZ) depart, go out from there!
Touch no unclean thing!(EA)
Come out from it and be pure,(EB)
you who carry the articles(EC) of the Lord’s house.
12 But you will not leave in haste(ED)
or go in flight;
for the Lord will go before you,(EE)
the God of Israel will be your rear guard.(EF)
The Suffering and Glory of the Servant
13 See, my servant(EG) will act wisely[c];
he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.(EH)
14 Just as there were many who were appalled(EI) at him[d]—
his appearance was so disfigured(EJ) beyond that of any human being
and his form marred beyond human likeness(EK)—
15 so he will sprinkle(EL) many nations,[e]
and kings(EM) will shut their mouths(EN) because of him.
For what they were not told, they will see,
and what they have not heard, they will understand.(EO)
53 Who has believed our message(EP)
and to whom has the arm(EQ) of the Lord been revealed?(ER)
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,(ES)
and like a root(ET) out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance(EU) that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering,(EV) and familiar with pain.(EW)
Like one from whom people hide(EX) their faces
he was despised,(EY) and we held him in low esteem.
4 Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,(EZ)
yet we considered him punished by God,(FA)
stricken by him, and afflicted.(FB)
5 But he was pierced(FC) for our transgressions,(FD)
he was crushed(FE) for our iniquities;
the punishment(FF) that brought us peace(FG) was on him,
and by his wounds(FH) we are healed.(FI)
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,(FJ)
each of us has turned to our own way;(FK)
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity(FL) of us all.
7 He was oppressed(FM) and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;(FN)
he was led like a lamb(FO) to the slaughter,(FP)
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
8 By oppression[f] and judgment(FQ) he was taken away.
Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;(FR)
for the transgression(FS) of my people he was punished.[g]
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,(FT)
and with the rich(FU) in his death,
though he had done no violence,(FV)
nor was any deceit in his mouth.(FW)
10 Yet it was the Lord’s will(FX) to crush(FY) him and cause him to suffer,(FZ)
and though the Lord makes[h] his life an offering for sin,(GA)
he will see his offspring(GB) and prolong his days,
and the will of the Lord will prosper(GC) in his hand.
11 After he has suffered,(GD)
he will see the light(GE) of life[i] and be satisfied[j];
by his knowledge[k] my righteous servant(GF) will justify(GG) many,
and he will bear their iniquities.(GH)
12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,[l](GI)
and he will divide the spoils(GJ) with the strong,[m]
because he poured out his life unto death,(GK)
and was numbered with the transgressors.(GL)
For he bore(GM) the sin of many,(GN)
and made intercession(GO) for the transgressors.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 51:19 Dead Sea Scrolls, Septuagint, Vulgate and Syriac; Masoretic Text / how can I
- Isaiah 52:5 Dead Sea Scrolls and Vulgate; Masoretic Text wail
- 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
New King James Version (NKJV) 
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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.