Isaiah 52
Holman Christian Standard Bible
52 “Wake up, wake up;
put on your strength, Zion!
Put on your beautiful garments,(A)
Jerusalem, the Holy City!(B)
For the uncircumcised and the unclean
will no longer enter you.(C)
2 Stand up, shake the dust off yourself!
Take your seat, Jerusalem.
Remove the bonds[a] 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.”(D)
4 For this is what the Lord God says:
“At first My people went down to Egypt to live there,(E)
then Assyria oppressed them without cause.[b]
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.(F)
6 Therefore My people will know My name;(G)
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,(H)
who proclaims salvation,
who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”(I)
8 The voices of your watchmen(J)—
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!(K)
For the Lord has comforted His people;(L)
He has redeemed Jerusalem.
10 The Lord has displayed His holy arm
in the sight of all the nations;(M)
all the ends of the earth will see
the salvation of our God.(N)
11 Leave, leave, go out from there!(O)
Do not touch anything unclean;
go out from her, purify yourselves,(P)
you who carry the vessels of the Lord.
12 For you will not leave in a hurry,(Q)
and you will not have to take flight;
because the Lord is going before you,(R)
and the God of Israel is your rear guard.(S)
The Servant’s Suffering and Exaltation
13 See, My Servant[c](T) will act wisely;[d]
He will be raised and lifted up and greatly exalted.(U)
14 Just as many were appalled at You[e]—
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[f][g] many nations.[h](V)
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.(W)
Footnotes
- Isaiah 52:2 Alt Hb tradition reads The bonds are removed
- Isaiah 52:4 Or them at last, or them for nothing
- Isaiah 52:13 Tg adds the Messiah
- Isaiah 52:13 Or will be successful
- Isaiah 52:14 Some Hb mss, Syr, Tg read Him
- Isaiah 52:15 Or startle
- Isaiah 52:15 As the blood of a sacrifice is sprinkled on the altar on behalf of the people
- Isaiah 52:15 LXX reads so many nations will marvel at Him
Isaiah 52
International Standard Version
The Redemption of Zion
52 Awake, awake!
Clothe yourself with strength,[a] O Zion!
Put on your beautiful garments,
O Jerusalem, the holy city,
for the uncircumcised and the unclean won’t enter you.[b]
2 Shake yourself from the dust and[c] arise,
and[d] sit on your throne, O Jerusalem!
Loosen the bonds from your neck,
O captive daughter of Zion.
3 For this is what the Lord says: “You were sold for nothing, and you’ll be redeemed without money.”
4 For this is what the Lord[e] says: “My people went down long ago into Egypt to live[f] there; the Assyrian, too, has oppressed them without cause.
5 “Now therefore, what[g] am I doing here,” asks[h] the Lord, “seeing that my people are taken away without cause? Those who rule over them are deluded,”[i] says the Lord, “and continuously, all the day long, my name is blasphemed. 6 Therefore my people will know my name; in that day[j] they’ll know that it is I who speaks, ‘Here I am!’
7 “How beautiful[k] on the mountains
are the feet of the one who brings news of peace,[l]
who announces good things,
who announces salvation,[m]
who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’
8 Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices,[n]
together they sing for joy;
for they will see in plain sight
the return of the Lord to Zion with compassion.[o]
9 “Break forth together into singing,[p]
you ruins of Jerusalem;
for the Lord has comforted his people,
and[q] he has redeemed Jerusalem.
10 The Lord has bared his holy arm[r]
in the eyes of all the nations;
and all the ends of the earth will see
the salvation of our God.
11 “Depart! Depart! Go out from there;
touch no unclean thing;
go out from the midst of her;
purify yourselves,
you who carry the vessels of the Lord.
12 For you won’t go out in haste,
nor will you go in flight;
for the Lord will go before you;
and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.
He is called the God of all the earth.”[s]
The Suffering Servant
13 “Look! My servant will prosper,
and[t] he will be exalted and lifted up,
and will be very high.
14 Just as many were astonished at you[u]—
so was he marred in[v] his appearance, more than any human,
and his form beyond that of human semblance[w]—
15 so will he startle[x] many nations.
Kings will shut their mouths at him;
for what had not been told them they will see,
and what they had not heard they will understand.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 52:1 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX read with your strength
- Isaiah 52:1 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX read you any more
- Isaiah 52:2 So 1QIsaa LXX; 4QIsab MT lack and
- Isaiah 52:2 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX lack and
- Isaiah 52:4 So 1QIsaa LXX; MT reads the Lord God
- Isaiah 52:4 Or sojourn
- Isaiah 52:5 So 1QIsaa LXX; MT reads who
- Isaiah 52:5 Lit. declares
- Isaiah 52:5 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX read them wail; or them taunt
- Isaiah 52:6 So 1QIsaa LXX. MT reads therefore in that day
- Isaiah 52:7 Lit. they are beautiful; so 1QIsaa MTT LXXmss; 4QIsab reads It is beautiful
- Isaiah 52:7 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX read who brings good news
- Isaiah 52:7 So 1QIsaa; MT reads who announces peace, who brings news of good things, who announces salvation; cf. LXX
- Isaiah 52:8 Lit. their voice; so 1QIsaa; MT reads the voice
- Isaiah 52:8 So 1QIsaa LXX; MT lacks with compassion
- Isaiah 52:9 Lit. sing for joy (sing.); so 1QIsaa; MT reads sing for joy (pl.)
- Isaiah 52:9 So 1QIsaa LXX; MT lacks and
- Isaiah 52:10 I.e. the Messiah
- Isaiah 52:12 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX lack this line
- Isaiah 52:13 So 1QIsaa; 1QIsab 4QIsac MT lack and; LXX lacks and he will be exalted
- Isaiah 52:14 So 1QIsaa MT LXX; MTmss Syriac read at him
- Isaiah 52:14 Or was my marring; so 1QIsaa; MT reads was the marring of
- Isaiah 52:14 Lit. of the descendants of humans; so 1QIsaa; LXX reads of the humans; MT reads of the human
- Isaiah 52:15 Or sprinkle
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