Isaiah 52
New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
Let Zion Rejoice
52 Awake, awake,
put on your strength, O Zion!
Put on your beautiful garments,
O Jerusalem, the holy city;
for the uncircumcised and the unclean
shall enter you no more.
2 Shake yourself from the dust, rise up,
O captive[a] Jerusalem;
loose the bonds from your neck,
O captive daughter Zion!
3 For thus says the Lord: You were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money. 4 For thus says the Lord God: Long ago, my people went down into Egypt to reside there as aliens; the Assyrian, too, has oppressed them without cause. 5 Now therefore what am I doing here, says the Lord, seeing that my people are taken away without cause? Their rulers howl, says the Lord, and continually, all day long, my name is despised. 6 Therefore my people shall know my name; therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here am I.
7 How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of the messenger who announces peace,
who brings good news,
who announces salvation,
who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”
8 Listen! Your sentinels lift up their voices,
together they sing for joy;
for in plain sight they see
the return of the Lord to Zion.
9 Break forth together into singing,
you ruins of Jerusalem;
for the Lord has comforted his people,
he has redeemed Jerusalem.
10 The Lord has bared his holy arm
before the eyes of all the nations;
and all the ends of the earth shall see
the salvation of our God.
11 Depart, depart, go out from there!
Touch no unclean thing;
go out from the midst of it, purify yourselves,
you who carry the vessels of the Lord.
12 For you shall not go out in haste,
and you shall not go in flight;
for the Lord will go before you,
and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.
The Suffering Servant
13 See, my servant shall prosper;
he shall be exalted and lifted up,
and shall be very high.
14 Just as there were many who were astonished at him[b]
—so marred was his appearance, beyond human semblance,
and his form beyond that of mortals—
15 so he shall startle[c] many nations;
kings shall shut their mouths because of him;
for that which had not been told them they shall see,
and that which they had not heard they shall contemplate.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 52:2 Cn: Heb rise up, sit
- Isaiah 52:14 Syr Tg: Heb you
- Isaiah 52:15 Meaning of Heb uncertain
Isaiah 52
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 52
The Joy of Zion
1 Awake, awake!
Clothe yourself in strength, O Zion.
Put on your glorious garments,
O Jerusalem, the holy city.
For the uncircumcised and the unclean
will no longer enter you.
2 Shake off the dust from yourself and rise up
O captive Jerusalem.
Remove the chains from your neck,
O captive daughter of Zion.
3 For thus says the Lord:
You were sold for nothing
and you will be redeemed without money.
4 Then the Lord God continues:
Long ago my people went down to Egypt
and settled there as aliens;
the Assyrians also oppressed them without cause.
5 Therefore, says the Lord,
what should now be done?
My people have been carried off without cause;
their rulers boast triumphantly,
and my name is constantly reviled
throughout the day, declares the Lord.
6 Therefore, on that day,
my people will know my name
and understand that it is I who say:
Here I am!
7 How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of the messenger who announces peace,
who bears good news and proclaims glad tidings,
announcing salvation and saying to Zion,
“Your God is king.”
8 Listen! Your watchmen raise a cry
and together they shout for joy,
for with their own eyes they clearly behold
the return of the Lord to Zion.
9 Burst forth together with songs of joy,
you ruins of Jerusalem.
For the Lord has comforted his people;
he has redeemed Jerusalem.
10 The Lord has bared his holy arm
in the sight of all the nations.
All the ends of the earth will see
the salvation of our God.
11 Depart, depart! Leave that place behind!
Touch nothing that is unclean.
Go forth from its midst and purify yourselves,
you who carry the vessels of the Lord.[a]
12 But you need not rush forth in haste,
nor should you take flight like fugitives.
For the Lord will go before you,
and your rear guard will be the God of Israel.
Humiliation and Triumph of the Lord’s Servant[b]
13 Behold, my servant will prosper;
he will be exalted and raised to great heights.
14 Just as many people recoiled at the sight of him—
he was so disfigured
that he no longer appeared to be human—
15 so will he startle many nations,
and kings will be speechless before him.
For they will see what they had not been told,
and they will contemplate
what they had not previously heard.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 52:11 Cyrus restored the sacred vessels of the temple, “the vessels of the house of the Lord” (Ezr 1:7-11).
- Isaiah 52:13 The song turns into a kind of dialogue in which two divine oracles frame the reflections of people astounded by what happens to the Servant.
But who is this suffering Servant? We have already seen his mysterious face in three other poetic compositions (Isa 42:1-7; 49:19a; 50:4-11). We think spontaneously of a wise man or a prophet, a man of God who disagrees with his compatriots on their very ideas of God’s plan. For the Servant, the success of God’s plan means something quite different from political success. But the people could not tolerate this criticism of their all too human hopes. The prophet was mistreated and condemned to death (Isa 53:7-8).
But the Servant is also Israel, whose destiny the prophet embodies. The chosen people, contaminated by pagan forms of worship, was almost eradicated by the Exile. But it carries out its mission as a people that bears witness to God who chose it and is bringing it back to life; in the radiance of its resurrection, pagans will be able to recognize that the Lord of Israel is the living God who loves his people without ever changing his mind, the Savior of the human race.
The experience of the suffering Just One, whether prophet or people of God, highlights the fundamental law governing the history of salvation and every spiritual life: the power of God is manifested in human weakness. What a paradox: the Servant succeeds where Cyrus failed, because salvation comes not from battles but from martyrdom!
Isaias 52
Ang Dating Biblia (1905)
52 Gumising ka, gumising ka, magsuot ka ng iyong kalakasan, Oh Sion; magsuot ka ng iyong mga magandang damit, Oh Jerusalem, na bayang banal: sapagka't mula ngayo'y hindi na papasok pa sa iyo ang hindi tuli at ang marumi.
2 Magpagpag ka ng alabok; ikaw ay bumangon, umupo ka sa iyong luklukan, Oh Jerusalem: magkalag ka ng mga tali ng iyong leeg, Oh bihag na anak na babae ng Sion.
3 Sapagka't ganito ang sabi ng Panginoon, Kayo'y naipagbili sa wala; at kayo'y matutubos ng walang salapi.
4 Sapagka't ganito ang sabi ng Panginoong Dios, Ang bayan ko ay bumaba noong una sa Egipto upang makipamayan doon: at pinighati sila ng mga taga Asiria ng walang kadahilanan.
5 Ngayon nga, anong ginagawa ko rito, sabi ng Panginoon, yamang ang aking bayan ay dinala ng walang anoano? silang nangagpupuno sa kanila ay nagsisiungal, sabi ng Panginoon, at ang aking pangalan ay natutungayaw na lagi buong araw,
6 Kaya't makikilala ng aking bayan ang aking pangalan: kaya't matatalastas nila sa araw na yaon, na ako yaong nagsasalita; narito, ako nga.
7 Anong pagkaganda sa mga bundok ng mga paa niyaong nagdadala ng mga mabuting balita, na naghahayag ng kapayapaan, na nangagdadala ng mga mabuting balita sa ikabubuti, na nagtatanyag ng kaligtasan, na nagsasabi sa Sion, Ang iyong Dios ay naghahari!
8 Ang tinig ng iyong mga bantay! sila'y naglalakas ng tinig, na magkakasamang nagsisiawit; sapagka't sila'y makakakita ng mukhaan pagka ang Panginoon ay bumalik sa Sion.
9 Kayo'y magbiglang magalak, kayo'y magsiawit na magkakasama, kayong mga sirang dako ng Jerusalem; sapagka't inaliw ng Panginoon ang kaniyang bayan, kaniyang tinubos ang Jerusalem.
10 Hinubdan ng Panginoon ang kaniyang banal na bisig sa harap ng mga mata ng lahat na bansa; at makikita ng lahat na wakas ng lupa ang pagliligtas ng ating Dios.
11 Kayo'y magsiyaon, kayo'y magsiyaon, kayo'y magsialis doon, huwag kayong magsisihipo ng maruming bagay; kayo'y magsilabas sa gitna niya; kayo'y mangagpakalinis, kayong nangagdadala ng mga sisidlan ng Panginoon.
12 Sapagka't kayo'y hindi magsisilabas na nagmamadali, o magsisilabas man kayo na takas: sapagka't ang Panginoon ay magpapauna sa inyo; at ang Dios ng Israel ay magiging inyong bantay likod.
13 Narito, ang lingkod ko ay gagawang may karunungan, siya'y mabubunyi, at malalagay na mataas, at magiging napakataas.
14 Kung paanong marami ang natigilan dahil sa iyo (ang kaniyang mukha ay napakakatuwa kay sa kaninomang lalake, at ang kaniyang anyo ay higit na kumatuwa kay sa mga anak ng mga tao),
15 Gayon siya magwiwisik sa maraming bansa; ang mga hari ay magtitikom ng kanilang mga bibig dahil sa kaniya: sapagka't ang hindi nasaysay sa kanila ay kanilang makikita; at ang hindi nila narinig ay kanilang mauunawa.
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
