Isaiah 52

English Standard Version

The Lord's Coming Salvation

52 ^(A)Awake, awake,
    put on your strength, O Zion;
^(B)put on your beautiful garments,
    O Jerusalem, ^(C)the holy city;
^(D)for there shall no more come into you
    the uncircumcised and the unclean.
²^(E)Shake yourself from the dust and arise;
    be seated, O Jerusalem;
^(F)loose the bonds from your neck,
    O captive daughter of Zion.

³For thus says the Lord: ^(G)“You were sold for nothing, and ^(H)you shall be redeemed without money.” ⁴For thus says the Lord God: ^(I)“My people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there, and the Assyrian oppressed them for nothing.^[a] ⁵Now therefore what have I here,” declares the Lord, “seeing that my people are taken away for nothing? Their rulers wail,” declares the Lord, “and ^(J)continually all the day my name is despised. ⁶Therefore my people shall know my name. ^(K)Therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here I am.”

⁷^(L)How beautiful upon the mountains
    are the feet of him who brings good news,
who publishes peace, ^(M)who brings good news of happiness,
    who publishes salvation,
    who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”
⁸The voice of ^(N)your watchmen—they lift up their voice;
    together they sing for joy;
^(O)for eye to eye they see
    the return of the Lord to Zion.
⁹^(P)Break forth together into singing,
    ^(Q)you waste places of Jerusalem,
for ^(R)the Lord has comforted his people;
    he has redeemed Jerusalem.
¹⁰^(S)The Lord has bared his holy arm
    before the eyes of all the nations,
^(T)and all the ends of the earth shall see
    the salvation of our God.

¹¹^(U)Depart, depart, go out from there;
    touch no unclean thing;
go out from the midst of her; purify yourselves,
    ^(V)you who bear the vessels of the Lord.
¹²For you shall not ^(W)go out in haste,
    and you shall not go in flight,
^(X)for the Lord will go before you,
    ^(Y)and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.

He Was Pierced for Our Transgressions

¹³Behold, ^(Z)my servant shall act wisely;^[b]
    he shall be high and lifted up,
    and shall be exalted.
¹⁴As many were astonished at you—
    ^(AA)his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,
    and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—
¹⁵so ^(AB)shall he sprinkle^[c] many nations.
    ^(AC)Kings shall shut their mouths because of him,
^(AD)for that which has not been told them they see,
    and that which they have not heard they understand.

Footnotes

Isaiah 52:4 Or the Assyrian has oppressed them of late
Isaiah 52:13 Or shall prosper
Isaiah 52:15 Or startle

Psalm 55

English Standard Version

Cast Your Burden on the Lord

To the choirmaster: with ^(A)stringed instruments. A Maskil^[a] of David.

55 ^(B)Give ear to my prayer, O God,
    and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy!
²Attend to me, and answer me;
    I am restless ^(C)in my complaint and I ^(D)moan,
³because of the noise of the enemy,
    because of the oppression of the wicked.
For they ^(E)drop trouble upon me,
    and in anger they bear a grudge against me.

⁴My heart is in anguish within me;
    ^(F)the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
⁵Fear and trembling come upon me,
    and ^(G)horror ^(H)overwhelms me.
⁶And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
    I would fly away and be at rest;
⁷^(I)yes, I would wander far away;
    I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah
⁸I would hurry to find a shelter
    from ^(J)the raging wind and tempest.”

⁹Destroy, O Lord, ^(K)divide their tongues;
    for I see ^(L)violence and strife in the city.
¹⁰Day and night they go around it
    on its walls,
and ^(M)iniquity and trouble are within it;
¹¹    ruin is in its midst;
^(N)oppression and fraud
    do not depart from its marketplace.

¹²For it is not an enemy who taunts me—
    then I could bear it;
it is not an adversary who ^(O)deals insolently with me—
    then I could hide from him.
¹³^(P)But it is you, a man, my equal,
    my companion, my familiar friend.
¹⁴We used to take sweet counsel together;
    within God's house we walked in ^(Q)the throng.
¹⁵Let death steal over them;
    let them go down to Sheol ^(R)alive;
    for evil is in their dwelling place and in their heart.

¹⁶But I call to God,
    and the Lord will save me.
¹⁷^(S)Evening and ^(T)morning and at ^(U)noon
    I ^(V)utter my complaint and moan,
    and he hears my voice.
¹⁸He redeems my soul in safety
    from the battle that I wage,
    for ^(W)many are arrayed against me.
¹⁹God will give ear and humble them,
    he who is ^(X)enthroned from of old, Selah
because they do not ^(Y)change
    and do not fear God.

²⁰My companion^[b] ^(Z)stretched out his hand against his friends;
    he violated his covenant.
²¹His ^(AA)speech was ^(AB)smooth as butter,
    yet war was in his heart;
his words were softer than oil,
    yet they were ^(AC)drawn swords.

²²^(AD)Cast your burden on the Lord,
and he will sustain you;
^(AE)he will never permit
the righteous to be moved.

²³But you, O God, ^(AF)will cast them down
into ^(AG)the pit of destruction;
men of ^(AH)blood and treachery
shall not ^(AI)live out half their days.
But I will ^(AJ)trust in you.