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53 But, oh, how few believe it! Who will listen? To whom will God reveal his saving power? In God’s eyes[a] he was like a tender green shoot, sprouting from a root in dry and sterile ground. But in our eyes there was no attractiveness at all, nothing to make us want him. We despised him and rejected him—a man of sorrows, acquainted with bitterest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way when he went by. He was despised, and we didn’t care.

Yet it was our grief he bore, our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, for his own sins! But he was wounded and bruised for our sins. He was beaten that we might have peace; he was lashed—and we were healed! We—every one of us—have strayed away like sheep! We, who left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet God laid on him the guilt and sins of every one of us!

He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he never said a word. He was brought as a lamb to the slaughter; and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he stood silent before the ones condemning him. From prison and trial they led him away to his death. But who among the people of that day realized it was their sins that he was dying for—that he was suffering their punishment? He was buried like a criminal, but in a rich man’s grave; but he had done no wrong and had never spoken an evil word.

10 But it was the Lord’s good plan to bruise him and fill him with grief. However, when his soul has been made an offering for sin, then he shall have a multitude of children, many heirs. He shall live again,[b] and God’s program shall prosper in his hands. 11 And when he sees all that is accomplished by the anguish of his soul, he shall be satisfied; and because of what he has experienced, my righteous Servant shall make many to be counted righteous before God, for he shall bear all their sins. 12 Therefore, I will give him the honors of one who is mighty and great because he has poured out his soul unto death. He was counted as a sinner, and he bore the sins of many, and he pled with God for sinners.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 53:2 In God’s eyes, literally, “Before him.”
  2. Isaiah 53:10 He shall live again, literally, “He shall prolong his days.”

53 Who has believed what we have heard?[a]
And who has the arm of the Lord(A) been revealed to?(B)
He grew up before Him like a young plant(C)
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.(D)
He was despised and rejected by men,(E)
a man of suffering who knew what sickness was.(F)
He was like someone people turned away from;[b]
He was despised, and we didn’t value Him.

Yet He Himself bore our sicknesses,
and He carried our pains;(G)
but we in turn regarded Him stricken,
struck down by God,(H) and afflicted.
But He was pierced because of our transgressions,(I)
crushed because of our iniquities;(J)
punishment(K) for our peace was on Him,
and we are healed by His wounds.(L)
We all went astray like sheep;(M)
we all have turned to our own way;
and the Lord has punished Him
for[c] the iniquity(N) of us all.(O)

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.(P)
He was taken away because of oppression and judgment;
and who considered His fate?[d]
For He was cut off from the land of the living;
He was struck because of my people’s rebellion.
They[e] made His grave with the wicked
and with a rich man at His death,(Q)
although He had done no violence
and had not spoken deceitfully.(R)

10 Yet the Lord was pleased(S) to crush Him severely.[f](T)
When[g] You make Him a restitution offering,(U)
He will see His seed, He will prolong His days,
and by His hand, the Lord’s pleasure will be accomplished.(V)
11 He will see it[h] out of His anguish,
and He will be satisfied with His knowledge.
My righteous(W) Servant(X) will justify many,(Y)
and He will carry their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will give Him[i] the many as a portion,
and He will receive[j] the mighty as spoil,
because He submitted Himself to death,(Z)
and was counted among the rebels;(AA)
yet He bore the sin of many(AB)
and interceded for the rebels.(AC)

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 53:1 Or believed our report
  2. Isaiah 53:3 Lit And like a hiding of faces from Him
  3. Isaiah 53:6 Or has placed on Him; lit with
  4. Isaiah 53:8 Or and as for His generation, who considered [Him]?
  5. Isaiah 53:9 DSS; MT reads He
  6. Isaiah 53:10 Or Him; He made Him sick.
  7. Isaiah 53:10 Or If
  8. Isaiah 53:11 DSS, LXX read see light
  9. Isaiah 53:12 Or Him with
  10. Isaiah 53:12 Or receive with