53 (A)Who has believed what he has heard from us?[a]
    And to whom has (B)the arm of the Lord been revealed?
For he grew up before him like a young plant,
    (C)and like a root out of dry ground;
(D)he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
    and no beauty that we should desire him.
(E)He was despised and rejected[b] by men,
    a man of sorrows[c] and acquainted with[d] grief;[e]
and as one from whom men hide their faces[f]
    he was despised, and (F)we esteemed him not.

(G)Surely he has borne our griefs
    and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
    (H)smitten by God, and afflicted.
(I)But he was pierced for our transgressions;
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
    (J)and with his wounds we are healed.
(K)All we like sheep have gone astray;
    we have turned—every one—to his own way;
(L)and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 53:1 Or Who has believed what we have heard?
  2. Isaiah 53:3 Or forsaken
  3. Isaiah 53:3 Or pains; also verse 4
  4. Isaiah 53:3 Or and knowing
  5. Isaiah 53:3 Or sickness; also verse 4
  6. Isaiah 53:3 Or as one who hides his face from us

53 Who has believed our message(A)
    and to whom has the arm(B) of the Lord been revealed?(C)
He grew up before him like a tender shoot,(D)
    and like a root(E) out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
    nothing in his appearance(F) that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by mankind,
    a man of suffering,(G) and familiar with pain.(H)
Like one from whom people hide(I) their faces
    he was despised,(J) and we held him in low esteem.

Surely he took up our pain
    and bore our suffering,(K)
yet we considered him punished by God,(L)
    stricken by him, and afflicted.(M)
But he was pierced(N) for our transgressions,(O)
    he was crushed(P) for our iniquities;
the punishment(Q) that brought us peace(R) was on him,
    and by his wounds(S) we are healed.(T)
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,(U)
    each of us has turned to our own way;(V)
and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity(W) of us all.

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Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch

26 Now (A)an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south[a] to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place. 27 And he rose and went. And there was an (B)Ethiopian, a (C)eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, (D)who was in charge of all her treasure. (E)He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” 30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, (F)“How can I, unless someone (G)guides me?” And (H)he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this:

(I)“Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter
    and like a lamb before its shearer is silent,
    so he opens not his mouth.
33 In his (J)humiliation justice was denied him.
    Who can describe his generation?
For his life is taken away from the earth.”

34 And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and (K)beginning with this Scripture (L)he told him the good news about Jesus. 36 And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! (M)What prevents me from being baptized?”[b] 38 And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39 And when they came up out of the water, (N)the Spirit of the Lord (O)carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.

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Footnotes

  1. Acts 8:26 Or go at about noon
  2. Acts 8:36 Some manuscripts add all or most of verse 37: And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he replied, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”

Philip and the Ethiopian

26 Now an angel(A) of the Lord said to Philip,(B) “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27 So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian[a](C) eunuch,(D) an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship,(E) 28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. 29 The Spirit told(F) Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”

30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.

31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

32 This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading:

“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
    and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
    so he did not open his mouth.
33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.
    Who can speak of his descendants?
    For his life was taken from the earth.”[b](G)

34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” 35 Then Philip began(H) with that very passage of Scripture(I) and told him the good news(J) about Jesus.

36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?”(K) [37] [c] 38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away,(L) and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing.

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Footnotes

  1. Acts 8:27 That is, from the southern Nile region
  2. Acts 8:33 Isaiah 53:7,8 (see Septuagint)
  3. Acts 8:37 Some manuscripts include here Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” The eunuch answered, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”

22 For (A)Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ (B)crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ (C)the power of God and (D)the wisdom of God.

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22 Jews demand signs(A) and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified:(B) a stumbling block(C) to Jews and foolishness(D) to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called,(E) both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God(F) and the wisdom of God.(G)

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