Isaiah 40-55

Christian Standard Bible

⁶ A voice was saying, “Cry out!”
Another said,^[c] “What should I cry out?”
“All humanity is grass,^(K)
and all its goodness is like the flower of the field.^(L)
7 The grass withers, the flowers fade
when the breath^[d] of the Lord blows on them;^[e]
indeed, the people are grass.
⁸ The grass withers, the flowers fade,^(M)
but the word of our God remains forever.”^(N)

⁹ Zion, herald of good news,
go up on a high mountain.^(O)
Jerusalem, herald of good news,^(P)
raise your voice loudly.
Raise it, do not be afraid!
Say to the cities of Judah,
“Here is your God!” ^(Q)
10 See, the Lord God comes with strength,
and his power establishes his rule.^(R)
His wages are with him,^(S)
and his reward accompanies him.
¹¹ He protects his flock like a shepherd;^(T)
he gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them in the fold of his garment.
He gently leads those that are nursing.

¹² Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
or marked off the heavens with the span of his hand?^(U)
Who has gathered the dust of the earth in a measure
or weighed the mountains on a balance
and the hills on the scales?
¹³ Who has directed^[f] the Spirit of the Lord,
or who gave him counsel?^(V)
14 Who did he consult?
Who gave him understanding^(W)
and taught him the paths of justice?
Who taught him knowledge
and showed him the way of understanding?
¹⁵ Look, the nations are like a drop in a bucket;
they are considered as a speck of dust on the scales;
he lifts up the islands like fine dust.
¹⁶ Lebanon’s cedars are not enough for fuel,
or its animals enough for a burnt offering.^(X)
17 All the nations are as nothing before him;
they are considered by him
as empty nothingness.^(Y)

¹⁸ With whom will you compare God?
What likeness will you set up for comparison with him?^(Z)
19 An idol?—something that a smelter casts
and a metalworker plates with gold
and makes silver chains for?^(AA)
20 A poor person contributes wood for a pedestal
that will not rot.^[g]
He looks for a skilled craftsman
to set up an idol that will not fall over.^(AB)

²¹ Do you not know?^(AC)
Have you not heard?
Has it not been declared to you
from the beginning?
Have you not considered
the foundations of the earth?^(AD)
22 God is enthroned above the circle of the earth;
its inhabitants are like grasshoppers.^(AE)
He stretches out the heavens like thin cloth^(AF)
and spreads them out like a tent to live in.^(AG)
23 He reduces princes to nothing^(AH)
and makes judges of the earth like a wasteland.
²⁴ They are barely planted, barely sown,
their stem hardly takes root in the ground
when he blows on them and they wither,
and a whirlwind carries them away like stubble.^(AI)

²⁵ “To whom will you compare me,^(AJ)
or who is my equal?” asks the Holy One.
²⁶ Look up and see!
Who created^(AK) these?
He brings out the stars by number;
he calls all of them by name.^(AL)
Because of his great power and strength,
not one of them is missing.

²⁷ Jacob, why do you say,
and Israel, why do you assert,
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
and my claim is ignored by my God”?^(AM)
28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,^(AN)
the Creator of the whole earth.
He never becomes faint or weary;
there is no limit to his understanding.^(AO)
29 He gives strength to the faint
and strengthens the powerless.
³⁰ Youths may become faint and weary,
and young men stumble and fall,
³¹ but those who trust in the Lord
will renew their strength;^(AP)
they will soar on wings like eagles;^(AQ)
they will run and not become weary,
they will walk and not faint.

⁵ The coasts and islands see and are afraid,
the whole earth trembles.^(AX)
They approach and arrive.
⁶ Each one helps the other,
and says to another, “Take courage!”
⁷ The craftsman encourages the metalworker;^(AY)
the one who flattens with the hammer
encourages the one who strikes the anvil,
saying of the soldering, “It is good.”
He fastens it with nails so that it will not fall over.^(AZ)

⁸ But you, Israel, my servant,^(BA)
Jacob, whom I have chosen,^(BB)
descendant of Abraham, my friend^(BC)—
⁹ I brought^[j] you from the ends of the earth
and called you from its farthest corners.
I said to you: You are my servant;
I have chosen you; I haven’t rejected you.^(BD)
10 Do not fear, for I am with you;^(BE)
do not be afraid, for I am your God.^(BF)
I will strengthen you; I will help you;
I will hold on to you with my righteous right hand.^(BG)

¹¹ Be sure that all who are enraged against you
will be ashamed and disgraced;^(BH)
those who contend with you
will become as nothing and will perish.
¹² You will look for those who contend with you,
but you will not find them.
Those who war against you
will become absolutely nothing.
¹³ For I am the Lord your God,^(BI)
who holds your right hand,
who says to you, “Do not fear,
I will help you.
¹⁴ Do not fear, you worm Jacob,^(BJ)
you men^[k] of Israel.
I will help you”—
this is the Lord’s declaration.
Your Redeemer^(BK) is the Holy One of Israel.^(BL)
15 See, I will make you into a sharp threshing board,
new, with many teeth.
You will thresh mountains and pulverize them
and make hills into chaff.^(BM)
16 You will winnow them^(BN)
and a wind will carry them away,
a whirlwind will scatter them.
But you will rejoice in the Lord;
you will boast in the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁷ The poor and the needy seek water, but there is none;
their tongues are parched with thirst.
I will answer them.^(BO)
I am the Lord, the God of Israel. I will not abandon them.
¹⁸ I will open rivers on the barren heights,^(BP)
and springs in the middle of the plains.
I will turn the desert into a pool
and dry land into springs.^(BQ)
19 I will plant cedar, acacia, myrtle, and olive trees
in the wilderness.^(BR)
I will put juniper, elm, and cypress trees together
in the desert,
²⁰ so that all may see and know,
consider and understand,
that the hand of the Lord has done this,^(BS)
the Holy One of Israel has created^(BT) it.

²¹ “Submit your case,” says the Lord.
“Present your arguments,” says Jacob’s King.
²² “Let them come and tell us
what will happen.^(BU)
Tell us the past events,
so that we may reflect on them
and know the outcome,
or tell us the future.
²³ Tell us the coming events,^(BV)
then we will know that you are gods.
Indeed, do something good or bad,
then we will be in awe^[l] when we see it.
²⁴ Look, you are nothing^(BW)
and your work is worthless.
Anyone who chooses you is detestable.

²⁵ “I have stirred up one from the north,^(BX) and he has come,
one from the east^(BY) who invokes my^[m] name.^(BZ)
He will march over rulers as if they were mud,
like a potter who treads the clay.
²⁶ Who told about this from the beginning,
so that we might know,
and from times past,
so that we might say, ‘He is right’?
No one announced it,
no one told it,
no one heard your words.
²⁷ I was the first to say to Zion,^[n]
‘Look! Here they are!’
And I gave Jerusalem a herald with good news.^(CA)
28 When I look, there is no one;
there is no counselor among them;
when I ask them, they have nothing to say.^(CB)
29 Look, all of them are a delusion;^[o]
their works are nonexistent;
their images are wind and emptiness.

⁵ This is what God, the Lord, says—
who created the heavens and stretched them out,^(CJ)
who spread out the earth and what comes from it,^(CK)
who gives breath to the people on it
and spirit to those who walk on it^(CL)—
⁶ “I am the Lord. I have called you
for a righteous purpose,^[q](CM)
and I will hold you by your hand.^(CN)
I will watch over you, and I will appoint you
to be a covenant for the people^(CO)
and a light to the nations,^(CP)
7 in order to open blind eyes,^(CQ)
to bring out prisoners from the dungeon,^(CR)
and those sitting in darkness from the prison house.
⁸ I am the Lord. That is my name,
and I will not give my glory to another^(CS)
or my praise to idols.
⁹ The past events have indeed happened.
Now I declare new events;^(CT)
I announce them to you before they occur.”

¹⁴ “I have kept silent from ages past;
I have been quiet and restrained myself.^(CZ)
But now, I will groan like a woman in labor,^(DA)
gasping breathlessly.
¹⁵ I will lay waste mountains and hills
and dry up all their vegetation.
I will turn rivers into islands
and dry up marshes.^(DB)
16 I will lead the blind by a way they did not know;^(DC)
I will guide them on paths they have not known.
I will turn darkness to light in front of them^(DD)
and rough places into level ground.^(DE)
This is what I will do for them,
and I will not abandon them.^(DF)
17 They will be turned back and utterly ashamed—
those who trust in an idol
and say to a cast image,
‘You are our gods!’ ^(DG)

²¹ Because of his righteousness, the Lord was pleased
to magnify his instruction and make it glorious.
²² But this is a people plundered and looted,
all of them trapped in holes
or imprisoned in dungeons.
They have become plunder^(DK)
with no one to rescue them
and loot, with no one saying, “Give it back!”
²³ Who among you will hear this?
Let him listen and obey in the future.
²⁴ Who gave Jacob to the robber,^[u]
and Israel to the plunderers?
Was it not the Lord?
Have we not sinned against him?
They were not willing to walk in his ways,
and they would not listen to his instruction.
²⁵ So he poured out his furious anger
and the power of war on Jacob.
It surrounded him with fire, but he did not know it;
it burned him, but he didn’t take it to heart.^(DL)

⁸ Bring out a people who are blind, yet have eyes,^(EA)
and are deaf, yet have ears.
⁹ All the nations are gathered together,
and the peoples are assembled.^(EB)
Who among them can declare this,^(EC)
and tell us the former things?
Let them present their witnesses
to vindicate themselves,
so that people may hear and say, “It is true.”
¹⁰ “You are my witnesses”^(ED)—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
“and my servant whom I have chosen,^(EE)
so that you may know and believe me
and understand that I am he.^(EF)
No god was formed before me,
and there will be none after me.^(EG)
11 I—I am the Lord.
Besides me, there is no Savior.^(EH)
12 I alone declared, saved, and proclaimed—
and not some foreign god^[v] among you.
So you are my witnesses”—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
“and^[w] I am God.^(EI)
13 Also, from today on I am he alone,
and none can rescue from my power.^(EJ)
I act, and who can reverse it?” ^(EK)

¹⁶ This is what the Lord says—
who makes a way in the sea,
and a path through raging water,^(EO)
17 who brings out the chariot and horse,^(EP)
the army and the mighty one together
(they lie down, they do not rise again;
they are extinguished, put out like a wick^(EQ))—
¹⁸ “Do not remember the past events;
pay no attention to things of old.^(ER)
19 Look, I am about to do something new;^(ES)
even now it is coming. Do you not see it?
Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness,^(ET)
rivers^[aa] in the desert.
²⁰ Wild animals—
jackals and ostriches—will honor me,
because I provide water in the wilderness,
and rivers in the desert,^(EU)
to give drink to my chosen people.
²¹ The people I formed for myself
will declare my praise.^(EV)

²² “But, Jacob, you have not called on me,
because, Israel, you have become weary of me.^(EW)
23 You have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings
or honored me with your sacrifices.^(EX)
I have not burdened you with offerings
or wearied you with incense.^[ab]
24 You have not bought me aromatic cane with silver,
or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices.
But you have burdened me with your sins;
you have wearied me^(EY) with your iniquities.^(EZ)

²⁵ “I am the one,I sweep away your transgressions^(FA)
for my own sake^(FB)
and remember your sins no more.^(FC)
26 Remind me. Let’s argue the case together.^(FD)
Recount the facts, so that you may be vindicated.
²⁷ Your first father sinned,^(FE)
and your mediators have rebelled against me.^(FF)
28 So I defiled the officers of the sanctuary,
and set Jacob apart for destruction^(FG)
and Israel for scorn.

⁹ All who make idols are nothing,
and what they treasure benefits no one.
Their witnesses do not see or know anything,
so they will be put to shame.^(FR)
10 Who makes a god or casts a metal image
that benefits no one?^(FS)
11 Look, all its worshipers will be put to shame,
and the craftsmen are humans.
They all will assemble and stand;
they all will be startled and put to shame.

¹² The ironworker labors over the coals,
shapes the idol with hammers,
and works it with his strong arm.
Also he grows hungry and his strength fails;
he doesn’t drink water and is faint.
¹³ The woodworker stretches out a measuring line,
he outlines it with a stylus;
he shapes it with chisels
and outlines it with a compass.
He makes it according to a human form,^(FT)
like a beautiful person,
to dwell in a temple.
¹⁴ He cuts down^[af] cedars for his use,
or he takes a cypress or an oak.
He lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest.
He plants a laurel, and the rain makes it grow.
¹⁵ A person can use it for fuel.
He takes some of it and warms himself;
also he kindles a fire and bakes bread;
he even makes it into a god and worships it;
he makes an idol from it and bows down to it.
¹⁶ He burns half of it in a fire,
and he roasts meat on that half.
He eats the roast and is satisfied.
He warms himself and says, “Ah!
I am warm, I see the blaze.”
¹⁷ He makes a god or his idol with the rest of it.
He bows down to it and worships;
he prays to it,^(FU) “Save me, for you are my god.”
¹⁸ Such people^[ag] do not comprehend
and cannot understand,
for he has shut their eyes^[ah] so they cannot see,
and their minds so they cannot understand.
¹⁹ No one comes to his senses;^[ai]
no one has the perception or insight to say,
“I burned half of it in the fire,
I also baked bread on its coals,
I roasted meat and ate.
Should I make something detestable^(FV) with the rest of it?
Should I bow down to a block of wood?”
²⁰ He feeds on^[aj] ashes.
His deceived mind has led him astray,
and he cannot rescue himself,
or say, “Isn’t there a lie in my right hand?” ^(FW)

²¹ Remember these things, Jacob,
and Israel, for you are my servant;
I formed you, you are my servant;
Israel, you will never be forgotten by me.^[ak](FX)
22 I have swept away your transgressions like a cloud,^(FY)
and your sins like a mist.
Return to me,^(FZ)
for I have redeemed you.^(GA)
23 Rejoice, heavens,^(GB) for the Lord has acted;
shout, depths of the earth.
Break out into singing, mountains,
forest, and every tree in it.
For the Lord has redeemed Jacob,
and glorifies himself through Israel.^(GC)

45 The Lord says this to Cyrus, his anointed,^(GK)
whose right hand I have grasped^(GL)
to subdue nations before him
and disarm^[al] kings,^(GM)
to open doors before him,
and even city gates will not be shut:
² “I will go before you
and level the uneven places;^[am](GN)
I will shatter the bronze doors
and cut the iron bars in two.^(GO)
3 I will give you the treasures of darkness
and riches from secret places,^(GP)
so that you may know that I am the Lord.
I am the God of Israel, who calls you by your name.^(GQ)
4 I call you by your name,
for the sake of my servant Jacob^(GR)
and Israel my chosen one.
I give a name to you,
though you do not know me.
⁵ I am the Lord, and there is no other;^(GS)
there is no God but me.^(GT)
I will strengthen^[an] you,
though you do not know me,
⁶ so that all may know from the rising of the sun to its setting
that there is no one but me.^(GU)
I am the Lord, and there is no other.
⁷ I form light and create darkness,^(GV)
I make success and create disaster;^(GW)
I am the Lord, who does all these things.

⁸ “Heavens, sprinkle from above,
and let the skies shower righteousness.^(GX)
Let the earth open up
so that salvation will sprout
and righteousness will spring up with it.^(GY)
I, the Lord, have created it.

⁹ “Woe to the one who argues with his Maker—
one clay pot among many.^[ao]
Does clay say to the one forming it,
‘What are you making?’ ^(GZ)
Or does your work say,
‘He has no hands’?^[ap]
10 Woe to the one who says to his father,
‘What are you fathering?’
or to his mother,^[aq]
‘What are you giving birth to?’”
¹¹ This is what the Lord,
the Holy One of Israel^(HA) and its Maker, says:
“Ask me what is to happen to^[ar] my sons,^(HB)
and instruct me about the work of my hands.^(HC)
12 I made the earth,
and created humans on it.
It was my hands that stretched out the heavens,^(HD)
and I commanded everything in them.
¹³ I have stirred him up in righteousness,^(HE)
and will level all roads for him.
He will rebuild my city,^(HF)
and set my exiles free,^(HG)
not for a price or a bribe,”
says the Lord of Armies.

¹⁵ Yes, you are a God who hides,^(HK)
God of Israel, Savior.^(HL)
16 All of them are put to shame, even humiliated;^(HM)
the makers of idols go in humiliation together.
¹⁷ Israel will be saved by the Lord
with an everlasting salvation;
you will not be put to shame or humiliated
for all eternity.^(HN)

¹⁸ For this is what the Lord says—
the Creator of the heavens,
the God who formed the earth and made it,
the one who established it
(he did not create it to be a wasteland,
but formed it to be inhabited)^(HO)—
he says, “I am the Lord,
and there is no other.
¹⁹ I have not spoken in secret,^(HP)
somewhere in a land of darkness.
I did not say to the descendants of Jacob:
Seek me in a wasteland.^(HQ)
I am the Lord, who speaks righteously,^(HR)
who declares what is right.

²⁰ “Come, gather together,
and approach, you fugitives of the nations.
Those who carry their wooden idols
and pray to a god who cannot save^(HS)
have no knowledge.^(HT)
21 Speak up and present your case^[at](HU)—
yes, let them consult each other.
Who predicted this long ago?
Who announced it from ancient times?
Was it not I, the Lord?
There is no other God but me,
a righteous God and Savior;^(HV)
there is no one except me.^(HW)
22 Turn to me and be saved,
all the ends of the earth.
For I am God,
and there is no other.
²³ By myself I have sworn;^(HX)
truth has gone from my mouth,^(HY)
a word that will not be revoked:
Every knee will bow^(HZ) to me,
every tongue will swear allegiance.
²⁴ It will be said about me, ‘Righteousness and strength
are found only in the Lord.’”
All who are enraged against him
will come to him and be put to shame.^(IA)
25 All the descendants of Israel
will be justified and boast in the Lord.

³ “Listen to me, house of Jacob,
all the remnant of the house of Israel,
who have been sustained from the womb,
carried along since birth.
⁴ I will be the same until your old age,^(ID)
and I will bear you up when you turn gray.
I have made you, and I will carry you;
I will bear and rescue you.

⁵ “To whom will you compare me or make me equal?
Who will you measure me with,
so that we should be like each other?^(IE)
6 Those who pour out their bags of gold
and weigh out silver on scales—
they hire a goldsmith and he makes it into a god.
Then they kneel and bow down to it.^(IF)
7 They lift it to their shoulder and bear it along;^(IG)
they set it in its place, and there it stands;
it does not budge from its place.^(IH)
They cry out to it but it doesn’t answer;
it saves no one from his trouble.

⁸ “Remember this and be brave;^[au]
take it to heart, you transgressors!
⁹ Remember what happened long ago,^(II)
for I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and no one is like me.
¹⁰ I declare the end from the beginning,
and from long ago what is not yet done,
saying: my plan will take place,
and I will do all my will.^(IJ)
11 I call a bird of prey^[av] from the east,^(IK)
a man for my purpose from a far country.
Yes, I have spoken; so I will also bring it about.^(IL)
I have planned it; I will also do it.
¹² Listen to me, you hardhearted,
far removed from justice:
¹³ I am bringing my justice near;^(IM)
it is not far away,
and my salvation will not delay.
I will put salvation in Zion,
my splendor in Israel.

⁵ “Daughter Chaldea,
sit in silence^(IS) and go into darkness.
For you will no longer be called mistress of kingdoms.
⁶ I was angry with my people;
I profaned my possession,
and I handed them over to you.
You showed them no mercy;
you made your yoke very heavy on the elderly.
⁷ You said, ‘I will be the queen forever.’
You did not take these things to heart
or think about their outcome.

⁸ “So now hear this, lover of luxury,
who sits securely,^(IT)
who says to herself,
‘I am, and there is no one else.
I will never be a widow
or know the loss of children.’^(IU)
9 These two things will happen to you
suddenly, in one day:
loss of children and widowhood.
They will happen to you in their entirety,
in spite of your many sorceries^(IV)
and the potency of your spells.
¹⁰ You were secure in your wickedness;
you said, ‘No one sees me.’^(IW)
Your wisdom and knowledge
led you astray.
You said to yourself,
‘I am, and there is no one else.’
¹¹ But disaster will happen to you;
you will not know how to avert it.
And it will fall on you,
but you will be unable to ward it off.^[ax]
Devastation will happen to you suddenly
and unexpectedly.^(IX)

¹² So take your stand with your spells
and your many sorceries,
which you have wearied yourself with from your youth.
Perhaps you will be able to succeed;
perhaps you will inspire terror!
¹³ You are worn out with your many consultations.
So let the astrologers stand and save you—
those who observe the stars,^(IY)
those who predict monthly
what will happen to you.
¹⁴ Look, they are like stubble;^(IZ)
fire burns them.^(JA)
They cannot rescue themselves
from the power of the flame.
This is not a coal for warming themselves,
or a fire to sit beside!
¹⁵ This is what they are to you—
those who have wearied you
and have traded with you from your youth—
each wanders on his own way;
no one can save you.

²⁰ Leave Babylon,
flee from the Chaldeans!
Declare with a shout of joy,
proclaim this,
let it go out to the end of the earth;
announce,
“The Lord has redeemed his servant^(JX) Jacob!”
²¹ They did not thirst
when he led them through the deserts;
he made water flow from the rock for them;^(JY)
he split the rock, and water gushed out.
²² “There is no peace for the wicked,” says the Lord.^(JZ)

¹³ Shout for joy, you heavens!^(KS)
Earth, rejoice!
Mountains break into joyful shouts!
For the Lord has comforted his people,^(KT)
and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.^(KU)

²⁴ Can the prey be taken from a mighty man,
or the captives of a tyrant^[bo] be delivered?
²⁵ For this is what the Lord says:
“Even the captives of a mighty man will be taken,
and the prey of a tyrant will be delivered;
I will contend with the one who contends with you,
and I will save your children.
²⁶ I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh,^(LF)
and they will be drunk with their own blood
as with sweet wine.
Then all humanity will know
that I, the Lord, am your Savior,^(LG)
and your Redeemer,^(LH) the Mighty One of Jacob.”^(LI)

⁷ The Lord God will help me;
therefore I have not been humiliated;
therefore I have set my face like flint,^(LT)
and I know I will not be put to shame.
⁸ The one who vindicates me is near;^(LU)
who will contend with me?
Let us confront each other.^[bp]
Who has a case against me?^[bq]
Let him come near me!

⁹ In truth, the Lord God will help me;
who will condemn me?^(LV)
Indeed, all of them will wear out like a garment;
a moth will devour them.^(LW)
10 Who among you fears the Lord
and listens to his servant?^(LX)
Who among you walks in darkness,
and has no light?
Let him trust in the name of the Lord;
let him lean on his God.
¹¹ Look, all you who kindle a fire,
who encircle yourselves with^[br] torches;
walk in the light of your fire
and of the torches you have lit!
This is what you’ll get from my hand:
you will lie down in a place of torment.

¹² I—I am the one who comforts you.
Who are you that you should fear humans who die,^(MP)
or a son of man who is given up like grass?^(MQ)
13 But you have forgotten the Lord, your Maker,
who stretched out the heavens
and laid the foundations of the earth.^(MR)
You are in constant dread all day long
because of the fury of the oppressor,
who has set himself to destroy.
But where is the fury of the oppressor?^(MS)
14 The prisoner^[bu] is soon to be set free;
he will not die and go to the Pit,
and his food will not be lacking.
¹⁵ For I am the Lord your God
who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar^(MT)—
his name is the Lord of Armies.
¹⁶ I have put my words in your mouth,^(MU)
and covered you in the shadow of my hand,^(MV)
in order to plant^[bv] the heavens,
to found the earth,
and to say to Zion, “You are my people.”

¹⁷ Wake yourself, wake yourself up!
Stand up, Jerusalem,
you who have drunk the cup of his fury^(MW)
from the Lord’s hand;
you who have drunk the goblet to the dregs—
the cup that causes people to stagger.
¹⁸ There is no one to guide her
among all the children she has raised;
there is no one to take hold of her hand
among all the offspring she has brought up.
¹⁹ These two things have happened to you:^(MX)
devastation and destruction,
famine and sword.
Who will grieve for you?
How can I^[bw] comfort you?
²⁰ Your children have fainted;
they lie at the head of every street
like an antelope in a net.
They are full of the Lord’s fury,
the rebuke of your God.

²¹ So listen to this, suffering
and drunken one—but not with wine.^(MY)
22 This is what your Lord says—
the Lord, even your God,
who defends his people^(MZ)—
“Look, I have removed from your hand
the cup that causes staggering;
that goblet, the cup of my fury.
You will never drink it again.
²³ I will put it into the hands of your tormentors,
who said to you,^(NA)
‘Lie down, so we can walk over you.’
You made your back like the ground,
and like a street for those who walk on it.

52 “Wake up, wake up;
put on your strength, Zion!
Put on your beautiful garments,^(NB)
Jerusalem, the holy city!^(NC)
For the uncircumcised and the unclean
will no longer enter you.^(ND)
2 Stand up, shake the dust off yourself!
Take your seat, Jerusalem.
Remove the bonds^[bx] 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.”^(NE)
4 For this is what the Lord God says:
“At first my people went down to Egypt to reside there,^(NF)
then Assyria oppressed them without cause.^[by]
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.^(NG)
6 Therefore my people will know my name;^(NH)
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,^(NI)
who proclaims salvation,
who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!” ^(NJ)
8 The voices of your watchmen^(NK)—
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!^(NL)
For the Lord has comforted his people;^(NM)
he has redeemed Jerusalem.
¹⁰ The Lord has displayed his holy arm
in the sight of all the nations;^(NN)
all the ends of the earth will see
the salvation of our God.^(NO)

¹¹ Leave, leave, go out from there!^(NP)
Do not touch anything unclean;
go out from her, purify yourselves,^(NQ)
you who carry the vessels of the Lord.
¹² For you will not leave in a hurry,^(NR)
and you will not have to take flight;
because the Lord is going before you,^(NS)
and the God of Israel is your rear guard.^(NT)

53 Who has believed what we have heard?^[cd]
And to whom has the arm of the Lord^(NY) been revealed?^(NZ)
2 He grew up before him like a young plant^(OA)
and like a root out of dry ground.
He didn’t have an impressive form
or majesty that we should look at him,
no appearance that we should desire him.^(OB)
3 He was despised and rejected by men,^(OC)
a man of suffering who knew what sickness was.^(OD)
He was like someone people turned away from;^[ce]
he was despised, and we didn’t value him.

⁴ Yet he himself bore our sicknesses,
and he carried our pains;^(OE)
but we in turn regarded him stricken,
struck down by God,^(OF) and afflicted.
⁵ But he was pierced because of our rebellion,^(OG)
crushed because of our iniquities;^(OH)
punishment^(OI) for our peace was on him,
and we are healed by his wounds.^(OJ)
6 We all went astray like sheep;^(OK)
we all have turned to our own way;
and the Lord has punished him
for^[cf] the iniquity^(OL) of us all.^(OM)

⁷ He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth.
Like a lamb led to the slaughter
and like a sheep silent before her shearers,
he did not open his mouth.^(ON)
8 He was taken away because of oppression and judgment,
and who considered his fate?^[cg]
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
he was struck because of my people’s rebellion.
⁹ He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
but he was with a rich man at his death,^(OO)
because he had done no violence
and had not spoken deceitfully.^(OP)

¹⁰ Yet the Lord was pleased^(OQ) to crush him severely.^[ch](OR)
When^[ci] you make him a guilt offering,^(OS)
he will see his seed, he will prolong his days,
and by his hand, the Lord’s pleasure will be accomplished.^(OT)
11 After his anguish,
he will see light^[cj] and be satisfied.
By his knowledge,
my righteous^(OU) servant^(OV) will justify many,^(OW)
and he will carry their iniquities.
¹² Therefore I will give him^[ck] the many as a portion,
and he will receive^[cl] the mighty as spoil,
because he willingly submitted to death,^(OX)
and was counted among the rebels;^(OY)
yet he bore the sin of many^(OZ)
and interceded for the rebels.^(PA)

⁴ “Do not be afraid, for you will not be put to shame;^(PF)
don’t be humiliated, for you will not be disgraced.
For you will forget the shame of your youth,
and you will no longer remember
the disgrace of your widowhood.^(PG)
5 Indeed, your husband is your Maker^(PH)—
his name is the Lord of Armies—
and the Holy One of Israel^(PI) is your Redeemer;^(PJ)
he is called the God of the whole earth.
⁶ For the Lord has called you,
like a wife deserted and wounded in spirit,^(PK)
a wife of one’s youth^(PL) when she is rejected,”
says your God.
⁷ “I deserted you for a brief moment,^(PM)
but I will take you back with abundant compassion.
⁸ In a surge of anger
I hid my face^(PN) from you for a moment,
but I will have compassion on you
with everlasting love,”^(PO)
says the Lord your Redeemer.
⁹ “For this is like the days^[cm] of Noah to me:
when I swore that the water of Noah
would never flood the earth again,^(PP)
so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you
or rebuke you.^(PQ)
10 Though the mountains move
and the hills shake,
my love will not be removed from you
and my covenant of peace^(PR) will not be shaken,”
says your compassionate Lord.

¹¹ “Poor Jerusalem, storm-tossed, and not comforted,
I will set your stones in black mortar,^[cn]
and lay your foundations in lapis lazuli.^(PS)
12 I will make your fortifications^[co] out of rubies,
your gates out of sparkling stones,
and all your walls out of precious stones.
¹³ Then all your children will be taught by the Lord,^(PT)
their prosperity will be great,
¹⁴ and you will be established
on a foundation of righteousness.
You will be far from oppression,
you will certainly not be afraid;
you will be far from terror,
it will certainly not come near you.
¹⁵ If anyone attacks you,
it is not from me;
whoever attacks you
will fall before you.
¹⁶ Look, I have created the craftsman
who blows on the charcoal fire
and produces a weapon suitable for its task;
and I have created the destroyer to cause havoc.
¹⁷ No weapon formed against you will succeed,
and you will refute any accusation^[cp]
raised against you in court.
This is the heritage of the Lord’s servants,^(PU)
and their vindication is from me.”^(PV)

⁶ Seek the Lord while he may be found;
call to him while he is near.^(QF)
7 Let the wicked one abandon his way
and the sinful one his thoughts;^(QG)
let him return to the Lord,
so he may have compassion on him,
and to our God, for he will freely forgive.^(QH)

⁸ “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
and your ways are not my ways.”
This is the Lord’s declaration.
⁹ “For as heaven is higher than earth,^(QI)
so my ways are higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
¹⁰ For just as rain and snow fall from heaven
and do not return there
without saturating the earth
and making it germinate and sprout,
and providing seed to sow
and food to eat,^(QJ)
11 so my word that comes from my mouth
will not return to me empty,
but it will accomplish what I please
and will prosper in what I send it to do.”^(QK)

¹² You will indeed go out with joy
and be peacefully guided;
the mountains and the hills will break into singing before you,
and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.^(QL)
13 Instead of the thornbush, a cypress will come up,
and instead of the brier, a myrtle will come up;^(QM)
this will stand as a monument for the Lord,^(QN)
an everlasting sign that will not be destroyed.