Isaiah 51-58
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Salvation for Zion
51 Listen to Me, you who pursue righteousness,
you who seek the Lord:
Look to the rock from which you were cut,
and to the quarry from which you were dug.
2 Look to Abraham your father,
and to Sarah who gave birth to you in pain.
When I called him, he was only one;
I blessed him and made him many.(A)
3 For the Lord will comfort Zion;(B)
He will comfort all her waste places,
and He will make her wilderness like Eden,(C)
and her desert like the garden of the Lord.(D)
Joy and gladness will be found in her,
thanksgiving and melodious song.
4 Pay attention to Me, My people,
and listen to Me, My nation;
for instruction will come from Me,
and My justice for a light to the nations.(E)
I will bring it about quickly.
5 My righteousness is near,(F)
My salvation appears,
and My arms will bring justice to the nations.(G)
The coastlands[a] will put their hope in Me,
and they will look to My strength.[b]
6 Look up to the heavens,
and look at the earth beneath;
for the heavens will vanish like smoke,
the earth will wear out like a garment,
and its inhabitants will die like gnats.[c](H)
But My salvation will last forever,(I)
and My righteousness will never be shattered.
7 Listen to Me, you who know righteousness,
the people in whose heart is My instruction:(J)
do not fear disgrace by men,
and do not be shattered by their taunts.
8 For the moth will devour them like a garment,(K)
and the worm will eat them like wool.(L)
But My righteousness will last forever,
and My salvation for all generations.
9 Wake up, wake up!
Put on the strength of the Lord’s power.
Wake up as in days past,
as in generations of long ago.
Wasn’t it You who hacked Rahab to pieces,(M)
who pierced the sea monster?(N)
10 Wasn’t it You who dried up the sea,(O)
the waters of the great deep,
who made the sea-bed into a road
for the redeemed to pass over?(P)
11 And the redeemed of the Lord will return(Q)
and come to Zion with singing,
crowned with unending joy.
Joy and gladness will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee.
12 I—I am the One who comforts you.
Who are you that you should fear man who dies,(R)
or a son of man who is given up like grass?(S)
13 But you have forgotten the Lord, your Maker,
who stretched out the heavens
and laid the foundations of the earth.(T)
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?(U)
14 The prisoner[d] 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 Yahweh your God
who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar(V)—
His name is Yahweh of Hosts.
16 I have put My words in your mouth,(W)
and covered you in the shadow of My hand,(X)
in order to plant[e] 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(Y)
from the hand of the Lord;
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:(Z)
devastation and destruction,
famine and sword.
Who will grieve for you?
How can I[f] 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, afflicted
and drunken one—but not with wine.(AA)
22 This is what your Lord says—
Yahweh, even your God,
who defends His people(AB)—
“Look, I have removed
the cup of staggering from your hand;
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:(AC)
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,(AD)
Jerusalem, the Holy City!(AE)
For the uncircumcised and the unclean
will no longer enter you.(AF)
2 Stand up, shake the dust off yourself!
Take your seat, Jerusalem.
Remove the bonds[g] 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.”(AG)
4 For this is what the Lord God says:
“At first My people went down to Egypt to live there,(AH)
then Assyria oppressed them without cause.[h]
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.(AI)
6 Therefore My people will know My name;(AJ)
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,(AK)
who proclaims salvation,
who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”(AL)
8 The voices of your watchmen(AM)—
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!(AN)
For the Lord has comforted His people;(AO)
He has redeemed Jerusalem.
10 The Lord has displayed His holy arm
in the sight of all the nations;(AP)
all the ends of the earth will see
the salvation of our God.(AQ)
11 Leave, leave, go out from there!(AR)
Do not touch anything unclean;
go out from her, purify yourselves,(AS)
you who carry the vessels of the Lord.
12 For you will not leave in a hurry,(AT)
and you will not have to take flight;
because the Lord is going before you,(AU)
and the God of Israel is your rear guard.(AV)
The Servant’s Suffering and Exaltation
13 See, My Servant[i](AW) will act wisely;[j]
He will be raised and lifted up and greatly exalted.(AX)
14 Just as many were appalled at You[k]—
His appearance was so disfigured
that He did not look like a man,
and His form did not resemble a human being—
15 so He will sprinkle[l][m] many nations.[n](AY)
Kings will shut their mouths because of Him,
For they will see what had not been told them,
and they will understand what they had not heard.(AZ)
53 Who has believed what we have heard?[o]
And who has the arm of the Lord(BA) been revealed to?(BB)
2 He grew up before Him like a young plant(BC)
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.(BD)
3 He was despised and rejected by men,(BE)
a man of suffering who knew what sickness was.(BF)
He was like someone people turned away from;[p]
He was despised, and we didn’t value Him.
4 Yet He Himself bore our sicknesses,
and He carried our pains;(BG)
but we in turn regarded Him stricken,
struck down by God,(BH) and afflicted.
5 But He was pierced because of our transgressions,(BI)
crushed because of our iniquities;(BJ)
punishment(BK) for our peace was on Him,
and we are healed by His wounds.(BL)
6 We all went astray like sheep;(BM)
we all have turned to our own way;
and the Lord has punished Him
for[q] the iniquity(BN) of us all.(BO)
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.(BP)
8 He was taken away because of oppression and judgment;
and who considered His fate?[r]
For He was cut off from the land of the living;
He was struck because of my people’s rebellion.
9 They[s] made His grave with the wicked
and with a rich man at His death,(BQ)
although He had done no violence
and had not spoken deceitfully.(BR)
10 Yet the Lord was pleased(BS) to crush Him severely.[t](BT)
When[u] You make Him a restitution offering,(BU)
He will see His seed, He will prolong His days,
and by His hand, the Lord’s pleasure will be accomplished.(BV)
11 He will see it[v] out of His anguish,
and He will be satisfied with His knowledge.
My righteous(BW) Servant(BX) will justify many,(BY)
and He will carry their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will give Him[w] the many as a portion,
and He will receive[x] the mighty as spoil,
because He submitted Himself to death,(BZ)
and was counted among the rebels;(CA)
yet He bore the sin of many(CB)
and interceded for the rebels.(CC)
Future Glory for Israel
54 “Rejoice, childless one, who did not give birth;
burst into song and shout,
you who have not been in labor!(CD)
For the children of the forsaken one will be more
than the children of the married woman,”(CE)
says the Lord.
2 “Enlarge the site of your tent,
and let your tent curtains be stretched out;(CF)
do not hold back;
lengthen your ropes,
and drive your pegs deep.
3 For you will spread out to the right and to the left,(CG)
and your descendants will dispossess nations
and inhabit the desolate cities.
4 “Do not be afraid, for you will not be put to shame;(CH)
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.(CI)
5 Indeed, your husband is your Maker(CJ)—
His name is Yahweh of Hosts—
and the Holy One of Israel(CK) is your Redeemer;(CL)
He is called the God of all the earth.
6 For the Lord has called you,
like a wife deserted and wounded in spirit,(CM)
a wife of one’s youth(CN) when she is rejected,”
says your God.
7 “I deserted you for a brief moment,(CO)
but I will take you back with great compassion.
8 In a surge of anger
I hid My face(CP) from you for a moment,
but I will have compassion on you
with everlasting love,”(CQ)
says the Lord your Redeemer.
9 “For this is like the days[y] of Noah to Me:
when I swore that the waters of Noah
would never flood the earth again,(CR)
so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you
or rebuke you.(CS)
10 Though the mountains move
and the hills shake,
My love will not be removed from you
and My covenant of peace(CT) will not be shaken,”
says your compassionate Lord.
11 “Poor Jerusalem, storm-tossed, and not comforted,
I will set your stones in black mortar,[z]
and lay your foundations in sapphires.[aa](CU)
12 I will make your fortifications[ab] 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,(CV)
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[ac]
raised against you in court.
This is the heritage of the Lord’s servants,(CW)
and their righteousness is from Me.”(CX)
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Come to the Lord
55 “Come, everyone who is thirsty,(CY)
come to the waters;
and you without money,
come, buy, and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost!
2 Why do you spend money on what is not food,
and your wages on what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
and you will enjoy the choicest of foods.[ad]
3 Pay attention and come to Me;
listen, so that you will live.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you,(CZ)
the promises assured to David.(DA)
4 Since I have made him a witness to the peoples,(DB)
a leader and commander for the peoples,(DC)
5 so you will summon a nation you do not know,(DD)
and nations who do not know you will run to you.(DE)
For the Lord your God,
even the Holy One of Israel,(DF)
has glorified you.”(DG)
6 Seek the Lord while He may be found;
call to Him while He is near.(DH)
7 Let the wicked one abandon his way
and the sinful one his thoughts;(DI)
let him return to the Lord,
so He may have compassion on him,
and to our God, for He will freely forgive.(DJ)
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,(DK)
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,(DL)
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.”(DM)
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.(DN)
13 Instead of the thornbush, a cypress will come up,
and instead of the brier, a myrtle will come up;(DO)
it will make a name for Yahweh(DP)
as an everlasting sign that will not be destroyed.
A House of Prayer for All
56 This is what the Lord says:
Preserve justice and do what is right,(DQ)
for My salvation is coming soon,
and My righteousness will be revealed.(DR)
2 Happy is the man who does this,
anyone who maintains this,
who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it,
and keeps his hand from doing any evil.(DS)
3 No foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord
should say,
“The Lord will exclude me from His people”;(DT)
and the eunuch should not say,
“Look, I am a dried-up tree.”(DU)
4 For the Lord says this:
“For the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths,
and choose what pleases Me,
and hold firmly to My covenant,
5 I will give them, in My house and within My walls,
a memorial and a name
better than sons and daughters.
I will give each of them an everlasting name
that will never be cut off.(DV)
6 And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord
minister to Him, love the name of Yahweh
and become His servants,
all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it
and who hold firmly to My covenant—
7 I will bring them to My holy mountain(DW)
and let them rejoice in My house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and sacrifices
will be acceptable on My altar,(DX)
for My house will be called a house of prayer
for all nations.”(DY)
8 This is the declaration of the Lord God,
who gathers the dispersed of Israel:
“I will gather to them still others
besides those already gathered.”(DZ)
Unrighteous Leaders Condemned
9 All you animals of the field and forest,
come and eat!
10 Israel’s[ae] watchmen are blind, all of them,
they know nothing;
all of them are mute dogs,
they cannot bark;
they dream, lie down,
and love to sleep.
11 These dogs have fierce appetites;
they never have enough.
And they are shepherds
who have no discernment;
all of them turn to their own way,
every last one for his own gain.(EA)
12 “Come, let me get some wine,
let’s guzzle some beer;
and tomorrow will be like today,
only far better!”(EB)
57 The righteous one perishes,
and no one takes it to heart;
faithful men are swept away,
with no one realizing
that the righteous one is swept away
from the presence[af] of evil.
2 He will enter into peace—
they will rest on their beds[ag]—
everyone who lives uprightly.
Pagan Religion Denounced
3 But come here,
you sons of a sorceress,
offspring of an adulterer and a prostitute![ah]
4 Who is it you are mocking?
Who is it you are opening your mouth
and sticking out your tongue at?
Isn’t it you, you rebellious children,(EC)
you race of liars,
5 who burn with lust among the oaks,
under every green tree,(ED)
who slaughter children in the wadis
below the clefts of the rocks?(EE)
6 Your portion is among the smooth stones of the wadi;
indeed, they are your lot.
You have even poured out a drink offering to them;
you have offered a grain offering;
should I be satisfied with these?
7 You have placed your bed
on a high and lofty mountain;(EF)
you also went up there to offer sacrifice.
8 You have set up your memorial
behind the door and doorpost.
For away from Me, you stripped,
went up, and made your bed wide,(EG)
and you have made a bargain[ai] for yourself with them.
You have loved their bed;
you have gazed on their genitals.[aj][ak]
9 You went to the king with oil
and multiplied your perfumes;
you sent your couriers far away(EH)
and sent them down even to Sheol.
10 You became weary on your many journeys,
but you did not say, “I give up!”(EI)
You found a renewal of your strength;[al]
therefore you did not grow weak.
11 Who was it you dreaded and feared,
so that you lied and didn’t remember Me
or take it to heart?
Have I not kept silent for such a long time[am](EJ)
and you do not fear Me?
12 I will expose your righteousness,
and your works—they will not profit you.
13 When you cry out,
let your collection of idols deliver you!
The wind will carry all of them off,
a breath will take them away.
But whoever takes refuge in Me
will inherit the land(EK)
and possess My holy mountain.(EL)
Healing and Peace
14 He said,
“Build it up, build it up, prepare the way,
remove every obstacle from My people’s way.”(EM)
15 For the High and Exalted One
who lives forever, whose name is Holy(EN) says this:
“I live in a high and holy place,
and with the oppressed and lowly of spirit,(EO)
to revive the spirit of the lowly
and revive the heart of the oppressed.(EP)
16 For I will not accuse you forever,
and I will not always be angry;(EQ)
for then the spirit would grow weak before Me,
even the breath of man, which I have made.
17 Because of his sinful greed I was angry,(ER)
so I struck him; I was angry and hid;[an]
but he went on turning back to the desires of his heart.
18 I have seen his ways, but I will heal him;
I will lead him and restore comfort
to him and his mourners,(ES)
19 creating words of praise.”[ao](ET)
The Lord says,
“Peace, peace to the one who is far or near,(EU)
and I will heal him.
20 But the wicked are like the storm-tossed sea,(EV)
for it cannot be still,
and its waters churn up mire and muck.
21 There is no peace for the wicked,”
says my God.(EW)
True Fasting
58 “Cry out loudly,[ap] don’t hold back!
Raise your voice like a trumpet.
Tell My people their transgression
and the house of Jacob their sins.
2 They seek Me day after day
and delight to know My ways,
like a nation that does what is right
and does not abandon the justice of their God.
They ask Me for righteous judgments;
they delight in the nearness of God.”(EX)
3 “Why have we fasted, but You have not seen?(EY)
We have denied ourselves, but You haven’t noticed!”[aq]
“Look, you do as you please on the day of your fast,
and oppress all your workers.(EZ)
4 You fast with contention and strife
to strike viciously with your fist.
You cannot fast as you do today,
hoping to make your voice heard on high.
5 Will the fast I choose be like this:
A day for a person to deny himself,
to bow his head like a reed,
and to spread out sackcloth and ashes?(FA)
Will you call this a fast
and a day acceptable to the Lord?
6 Isn’t the fast I choose:
To break the chains of wickedness,(FB)
to untie the ropes of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free,
and to tear off every yoke?(FC)
7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,(FD)
to bring the poor and homeless into your house,
to clothe the naked when you see him,(FE)
and not to ignore[ar] your own flesh and blood?(FF)
8 Then your light will appear like the dawn,
and your recovery will come quickly.(FG)
Your righteousness will go before you,(FH)
and the Lord’s glory will be your rear guard.(FI)
9 At that time, when you call, the Lord will answer;(FJ)
when you cry out, He will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you get rid of the yoke among you,[as]
the finger-pointing and malicious speaking,(FK)
10 and if you offer yourself[at] to the hungry,
and satisfy the afflicted one,
then your light will shine in the darkness,(FL)
and your night will be like noonday.
11 The Lord will always lead you,
satisfy you in a parched land,
and strengthen your bones.
You will be like a watered garden(FM)
and like a spring whose waters never run dry.(FN)
12 Some of you will rebuild the ancient ruins;(FO)
you will restore the foundations laid long ago;[au](FP)
you will be called the repairer of broken walls,
the restorer of streets where people live.
13 “If you keep from desecrating[av] the Sabbath,(FQ)
from doing whatever you want on My holy day;
if you call the Sabbath a delight,
and the holy day of the Lord honorable;
if you honor it, not going your own ways,(FR)
seeking your own pleasure, or talking too much;[aw]
14 then you will delight yourself in the Lord,(FS)
and I will make you ride over the heights of the land,(FT)
and let you enjoy the heritage of your father Jacob.”
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.(FU)
Notas al pie
- Isaiah 51:5 Or islands
- Isaiah 51:5 Lit arm
- Isaiah 51:6 Or die in like manner
- Isaiah 51:14 Hb obscure
- Isaiah 51:16 Syr reads to stretch out
- Isaiah 51:19 DSS, LXX, Syr, Vg read you? Who can
- Isaiah 52:2 Alt Hb tradition reads The bonds are removed
- Isaiah 52:4 Or them at last, or them for nothing
- Isaiah 52:13 Tg adds the Messiah
- Isaiah 52:13 Or will be successful
- Isaiah 52:14 Some Hb mss, Syr, Tg read Him
- Isaiah 52:15 Or startle
- Isaiah 52:15 As the blood of a sacrifice is sprinkled on the altar on behalf of the people
- Isaiah 52:15 LXX reads so many nations will marvel at Him
- Isaiah 53:1 Or believed our report
- Isaiah 53:3 Lit And like a hiding of faces from Him
- Isaiah 53:6 Or has placed on Him; lit with
- Isaiah 53:8 Or and as for His generation, who considered [Him]?
- Isaiah 53:9 DSS; MT reads He
- Isaiah 53:10 Or Him; He made Him sick.
- Isaiah 53:10 Or If
- Isaiah 53:11 DSS, LXX read see light
- Isaiah 53:12 Or Him with
- Isaiah 53:12 Or receive with
- Isaiah 54:9 DSS, Cairo Geniza; MT, LXX read waters
- Isaiah 54:11 Lit in antimony
- Isaiah 54:11 Or lapis lazuli
- Isaiah 54:12 Lit suns; perhaps shields; Ps 84:11
- Isaiah 54:17 Lit refute every tongue
- Isaiah 55:2 Lit enjoy fatness
- Isaiah 56:10 Or His, or Its
- Isaiah 57:1 Or away because
- Isaiah 57:2 Either their deathbeds or their graves
- Isaiah 57:3 Lit and she acted as a prostitute
- Isaiah 57:8 Lit you cut
- Isaiah 57:8 Lit hand
- Isaiah 57:8 In Hb, the word hand is probably a euphemism for “genitals.”
- Isaiah 57:10 Lit found life of your hand
- Isaiah 57:11 LXX reads And I, when I see you, I pass by
- Isaiah 57:17 Lit him; hiding and I am angry
- Isaiah 57:19 Lit creating fruit of the lips
- Isaiah 58:1 Lit with throat
- Isaiah 58:3 These are Israel’s words to God.
- Isaiah 58:7 Lit not hide yourself from
- Isaiah 58:9 Lit yoke from your midst
- Isaiah 58:10 Some Hb mss, LXX, Syr read offer your bread
- Isaiah 58:12 Lit foundations generation and generation
- Isaiah 58:13 Lit keep your foot from
- Isaiah 58:13 Lit or speak a word
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