Beginning

49 Isles, hear ye, and peoples afar, perceive ye; the Lord called me from the womb, he thought on my name from the womb of my mother. (Islands, hear ye, and peoples afar off, understand ye; the Lord called me from the womb, he thought about me from my mother’s womb.)

² And he hath set my mouth as a sharp sword, he defended me in the shadow of his hand, and setted me as a chosen arrow; he hid me in his arrow case, (And he made my tongue/my words like a sharp sword, he hid me under the shadow of his hand, and he made me like a chosen arrow; yea, he hid me in his quiver,)

³ and said to me, Israel, thou art my servant, for I shall have glory in thee. (and said to me, Israel, thou art my servant, through whom I shall be glorified.)

⁴ And I said, I travailed in vain, I wasted my strength without cause, and vainly; therefore my doom is with the Lord, and my work is with my God. (And I said, I have laboured in vain, I have wasted my strength for nothing, and in vain; and yet my judgement, or my justice, is still with the Lord, and my reward is with my God.)

⁵ And now the Lord, forming me a servant to himself from the womb, saith these things, that I bring again Jacob to him. And Israel shall not be gathered together; and I am glorified in the eyes of the Lord, and my God is made my strength. (And now the Lord, who formed me in the womb to be his servant, saith these things, so that I bring back Jacob to him, and that Israel be gathered to him; I am honoured before the Lord, and my God is made my strength.)

⁶ And he said, It is little, that thou be a servant to me, to raise the lineages of Jacob, and to convert the dregs of Israel; I gave thee into the light of heathen men, that thou be mine health till to the last part of [the] earth. (And he said, It is too little a thing, that thou be my servant only to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to bring back the descendants of Israel; I shall make you also to be a light unto the heathen, so that thou can be my salvation unto the ends of the earth.)

⁷ The Lord, [the] again-buyer of Israel, the Holy thereof, saith these things to a despisable soul, and to a folk had in abomination, to the servant of lords, Kings shall see, and princes shall rise together, and shall worship, for the Lord, for he is faithful, and for the Holy of Israel, that chose thee. (The Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, its Holy One, saith these things to a despised soul, to a nation had in abomination, to the servant of lords, Kings and princes shall see thee, and shall rise up, and shall honour thee, because of the Lord, for he is faithful, yea, because of the Holy One of Israel, who chose thee.)

⁸ The Lord saith these things, In a pleasant time I heard thee, and in the day of health I helped thee; and I kept thee, and gave thee into a bond of peace of the people, that thou shouldest raise (tillage upon) the earth, and have in possession heritages, that be destroyed; (The Lord saith these things, At the time of my favour I heard thee, and in the day of deliverance I helped thee; and I kept thee safe, and gave thee for a covenant to the people, so that thou couldest raise tillage upon the earth, and have in possession the land that is now laid waste;)

⁹ that thou shouldest say to them that be bound, Go ye out, and to them that be in darknesses, Be ye showed. They shall be fed in ways, and the pastures of them shall be in all plain things. (and that thou shouldest say to them who be bound, Go ye out, and to them who be in darkness, Be ye seen. They shall be fed on the ways, and their pastures shall be on all the hills.)

¹⁰ They shall not hunger, and they shall no more thirst; and heat, and the sun shall not smite them (and heat, and the sun shall not strike them); for the merciful doer of them shall govern them, and shall give drink to them at the wells of waters.

¹¹ And I shall set all mine hills into [a] way, and my paths shall be enhanced. (And I shall make a way through all my hills, and my paths shall be raised up high.)

¹² Lo! these men shall come from [a]far, and lo! they shall come from the north, and from the sea, and these from the south land. (Lo! these men shall come from afar, and lo! they shall come from the north, and from the west, and from the land of Sinim/and from the land of Syene, that is, from Aswan in the south.)

¹³ Heavens, praise ye, and thou earth, make full out joy; hills, sing ye heartily praising (hills, heartily sing ye praises); for the Lord [hath] comforted his people, and shall have mercy on his poor men.

¹⁴ And Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and the Lord hath forgotten me.

¹⁵ Whether a woman may forget her young child, that she have not mercy on the son of her womb? (yea,) though she (may) forget, nevertheless I shall not forget thee.

¹⁶ Lo! I have written thee in mine hands; thy walls, be ever before mine eyes. (Lo! I have written thee upon my hands; thy walls, Jerusalem, be ever before my eyes.)

¹⁷ The builders be come; (and) they that destroy thee, and scatter (thee), shall (now) go (far) away from thee.

¹⁸ Raise [up] thine eyes in compass, and see (Raise up thine eyes, and look all around); all these men be gathered together, they be come to thee. (As) I live, saith the Lord, for thou shalt be clothed with all these as with an ornament, and thou as a spousess shalt bind them to thee.

¹⁹ For why thy deserts, and thy wildernesses, and the land of thy falling, now shall be strait for [the] inhabiters; and they shall be driven away far, that swallowed thee. (For thy deserts, and thy wildernesses, and the land of thy falling, shall now be too narrow for your inhabitants; and they who swallowed thee up shall be driven far away.)

²⁰ Yet the sons of thy barrenness shall say in thine ears, The place is (too) strait to me, make thou a space to me for to dwell. (Yet the children born in thy barrenness shall say in thy ears, This place is too narrow for us, make thou a space for us to live in.)

²¹ And thou shalt say in thine heart, Who engendered these sons to me? I am barren, not bearing child; I am led over, and (a) prisoner; and who nourished these sons? I am destitute, and alone; and where were these? (And thou shalt say in thy heart, Who begat these children for me? for I am barren, and have not given birth to any children; yea, I am led over, and a prisoner; and who nourished these children? for I am destitute, and alone; where did they all come from?)

²² The Lord God saith these things, Lo! I raise mine hand to heathen men, and I shall enhance my sign to peoples (The Lord God saith these things, Lo! I shall raise up my hand to the heathen, and I shall exalt my sign to the peoples); and they shall bring thy sons in (their) arms, and they shall bear thy daughters on (their) shoulders.

²³ And kings shall be thy nursers, and queens shall be thy nurses; with cheer cast down into [the] earth they shall worship thee, and they shall lick the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know, that I am the Lord, on whom they shall not be shamed, that abide him. (And kings and queens shall be thy nurses; they shall worship thee with faces cast down to the ground, and they shall lick the dust off thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord, and that none who wait for me, shall be ashamed.)

²⁴ Whether prey shall be taken away from a strong man? either that that is taken of a stalworthy man, may be safe? (Shall spoils be taken away from the strong? or can a captive be set free from a tyrant?)

²⁵ For the Lord saith these things, Soothly and [the] captivity shall be taken away from the strong man, and that that is taken away of a stalworthy man, shall be saved. Forsooth I shall deem them that deemed thee, and I shall save thy sons. (For the Lord saith these things, Truly, the captives shall be taken away from the strong, and spoils shall be taken away from a tyrant. For I shall judge them who judged thee, and I shall save thy children.)

²⁶ And I shall feed thine enemies with their fleshes, and they shall be greatly filled with their blood, as with must; and each man shall know, that I am the Lord, saving thee, and thine again-buyer, the Strong of Jacob. (And I shall feed thy enemies with their own flesh, and they shall be greatly filled with their own blood, like with wine; and everyone shall know, that I am the Lord, who saveth thee, and thy Redeemer, the Strong One of Jacob.)

50 The Lord saith these things, What is this book of forsaking of your mother, by which I let go her? either who is he, to whom I owe, to whom I sold you? [or whom is my creancer (or who is my creditor), to whom I sold you?] For lo! ye be sold for your wickednesses, and for your great trespasses I let go your mother. (The Lord saith these things, Where is the book of the forsaking, or for the divorcing, of your mother, by which I let her go? or who is he to whom I owed, and so to whom I sold you? For lo! ye were sold because of your wickednesses, and because of your great trespasses, I let your mother go.)

² For I came, and no man was; I called, and none was that heard. Whether mine hand is abridged, and made little, that I may not again-buy? either strength is not in me for to deliver? Lo! in my blaming I shall make the sea forsaken, either desert, I shall set floods in(to) the dry place; fishes without water shall wax rotten, and shall die for thirst. (For I came, but there was no one there; I called, but no one heard me. Is my hand shortened, yea, is my power made so little, that I cannot redeem, or cannot rescue, you? or is strength not in me to save you? Lo! by my command I can make the sea into a desert, and I can make rivers into a dry place, and the fish grow rotten for a lack of water, and die of thirst.)

³ I shall clothe (the) heavens with darknesses, and I shall set a sackcloth (to be) the covering of them.

⁴ The Lord gave to me a learned tongue, that I know how to sustain him by (a) word that failed; early the father raiseth [up], early he raiseth [up] an ear to me, that I hear as a master. (The Lord gave me a learned tongue, so that I know how to sustain with a word him who faileth; early the Father raiseth up, yea, early he raiseth up an ear for me, so that I might hear like a master.)

⁵ The Lord God opened an ear to me; forsooth I against-say not, I went not aback. (The Lord God opened my ears; and I did not rebel, nor did I turn away from him.)

⁶ I gave my body to [the] smiters, and my cheeks to [the] pullers; I turned not away my face from men blaming, and spitting on me. (I gave my body to the strikers, and my cheeks to the hair-pullers; I did not turn my face away from those who shamed me, and who spat upon me.)

⁷ The Lord God is mine helper, and therefore I am not shamed; therefore I have set my face as a stone made hard, and I know that I shall not be shamed.

⁸ He is nigh, that justifieth me (He is near, who justifieth me); who against-saith me? stand we together. Who is mine adversary? nigh he to me.

⁹ Lo! the Lord God is mine helper; who therefore is he that condemneth me? Lo! all shall be defouled as a cloth, and a moth shall eat them (Lo! they all shall be defiled like a cloak, and a moth shall eat them up).

¹⁰ Who of you dreadeth the Lord, and heareth the voice of his servant? Who(ever) went in darknesses, and light is not to him, hope he in the name of the Lord, and trust he on his God (and trust he in his God).

¹¹ Lo! all ye kindling fire, and gird with flames, go in the light of your fire, and in the flames which ye have kindled to you. This is made of mine hand to you, ye shall sleep in sorrows. (Lo! all ye kindling a fire, and gird with flames, go in the light of your own fire, and in the flames which ye have kindled for yourselves. This is made by my hand for you, and ye shall sleep in sorrows.)

51 Hear ye me, that follow that that is just, and seek the Lord (Listen ye to me, ye who follow what is right, and seek the Lord). Take ye heed to the stone, from whence ye be hewn down, and to the cave of the pit, from which ye be cut down.

² Take ye heed to Abraham, your father, and to Sarah, that childed you (who gave birth to you); for I called him, (when he was but) one, (or without an heir,) and I blessed him, and I multiplied him.

³ Therefore the Lord shall comfort Zion, and he shall comfort all the fallings thereof; and he shall set the desert thereof in delights, and the wilderness thereof as a garden of the Lord; joy and gladness shall be found therein, the doing of thankings and the voice of praising. (And so the Lord shall comfort Zion, and he shall comfort all who live in its fallings, or in its ruins; and he shall turn its desert into an Eden, and its wilderness into a garden of the Lord; joy and happiness shall be found there, and thanksgiving and praising.)

⁴ My people, take ye heed to me, and, my lineage, hear ye me; for why a law shall go out from me, and my doom shall rest into the light of peoples. (My people, take ye heed to me, and, my tribe, listen ye to me; for the Law shall go out from me, and my judgement shall be a light for the peoples, or for the nations.)

⁵ My just man is nigh, my saviour is gone out, and mine arms shall deem peoples; isles shall abide me, and shall suffer mine arm. (My justice is near, my salvation hath gone out, and my arm shall rule the peoples; the islands shall wait for me, and shall have trust in my arm.)

⁶ Raise your eyes to heaven, and see ye under earth beneath; for why heavens shall melt away as smoke, and the earth shall be all-broken as a cloth, and the dwellers thereof shall perish as these things; but mine health shall be without end, and my rightfulness shall not fail. (Raise up your eyes to the heavens, and see ye under the earth beneath; for the heavens shall melt away like smoke, and the earth shall be torn like a cloak, and its inhabitants shall perish like these things; but my deliverance, or my salvation, shall be forever, and my justice, or my judgement, shall not fail.)

⁷ Ye people, that know the just man, hear me, my law is in the heart of them; do not ye dread the shame of men, and dread ye not the blasphemies of them. (Ye people, who know what is just, hear me, for my Law is in your hearts; do not ye fear the shame of men, and fear ye not their blasphemies.)

⁸ For why a worm shall eat them so as a cloth, and a moth shall devour them so as wool; but mine health shall be without end, and my rightfulness into generations of generations. (For a worm shall eat them up like a cloak, and a moth shall devour them like wool; but my deliverance, or my salvation, shall be forever, and my justice, or my victory, for all generations.)

⁹ Rise thou, rise thou, arm of the Lord, be thou clothed in strength; rise thou, as in [the] eld days, in generations of worlds. Whether thou smitedest not the proud man (Strikedest thou not Rahab), woundedest not the dragon?

¹⁰ Whether thou driedest not the sea, the water of the great depth, which settedest the depth of the sea to be a way, that men that were delivered, should pass [over]? (Didest thou not dry up the sea, the water of the great depth, and make the depth of the sea to be a way, so that those who were delivered, or saved, could cross over it?)

¹¹ And now they that be again-bought of the Lord shall turn again, and shall come praising into Zion, and everlasting gladness on the heads of them; they shall hold joy and gladness, and sorrow and wailing shall flee away. (And now they who be redeemed, or who be rescued, by the Lord shall return, and shall come with praising into Zion, and everlasting happiness shall be upon them; they shall hold onto joy and happiness, and sorrow and wailing shall flee away.)

¹² I, I myself, that is, I am he, I am he, that shall comfort you; who art thou, that thou dreadest of a deadly man, and of the son of man, that shall wax dry so as hay? (I, I myself, shall comfort you; so why then fearest thou any mortal, yea, the son of a man, who shall grow as dry as grass, or like straw?)

¹³ And thou hast forgotten the Lord, thy Creator, that stretched abroad (the) heavens, and founded the earth; and thou dreadedest continually all day of the face of his strong vengeance, that did tribulation to thee, and made ready for to lose. Where is now the strong vengeance of the troubler? (But thou hast forgotten the Lord, thy Creator, who stretched abroad the heavens, and founded the earth; and, instead, all day long, thou hast continually feared the strong vengeance of the one who gave thee trials and tribulation, and who is ready to destroy thee. But now, where is the strong vengeance of the troubler?)

¹⁴ Soon he shall come, going for to open; and he shall not slay till to death, neither his bread shall fail. (Yea, he who now is captive of this fear, shall soon be set free; and he shall live a long life, and his food shall not fail.)

¹⁵ Forsooth I am thy Lord God, that trouble the sea, and the waves thereof wax great; the Lord of hosts is my name. (For I am the Lord thy God, who troubleth the sea, and its waves grow great; the Lord of hosts is my name.)

¹⁶ I have put my words in thy mouth, and I defended thee in the shadow of mine hand; that thou plant (the) heavens, and found the earth, and say to Zion, Thou art my people. (I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have hid thee under the shadow of my hand; so that I might firmly plant the heavens, and found, or form, the earth, and say to Zion, Thou art my people.)

¹⁷ Be thou raised (up), be thou raised (up), rise thou, Jerusalem, that hast drunk of the hand of the Lord the cup of his wrath (that hast drunk from the hand of the Lord the cup of his anger); thou hast drunk unto the bottom of the cup of sleep, thou hast drunk of (it) unto the dregs.

¹⁸ None there is that sustaineth it, of all the sons which it engendered; and none there is that taketh the hand thereof, of all the sons which it nourished. (There is no one who sustaineth thee, of all those whom thou hath begat; and there is no one who taketh thy hand, of all those whom thou hath nourished.)

¹⁹ Two things there be that came to thee; who shall be sorry on thee? (There be two things that came to thee; who shall be sorry for thee?) destroying, and defouling, and hunger, and sword. Who shall comfort thee?

²⁰ Thy sons be cast forth, they slept in the head of all (the) ways, as the beast oryx (like the oryx beast, or the antelope), taken with a snare; they be full of [the] indignation of the Lord, of the blaming of thy God.

²¹ Therefore thou poor, and drunken, not of wine, hear these things. (And so O poor and drunken one, but not of wine, listen to these things.)

²² The Lordly Governor, thy Lord, and thy God, that fought for his people, saith these things, Lo! I have taken from thine hand the cup of sleep, the bottom of the cup of mine indignation (yea, the dregs of the cup of my anger); I shall not lay to, that thou drink it any more.

²³ And I shall set it in the hand of them that made thee low, and said to thy soul, Be thou bowed, that we pass; and thou hast set thy body as (the) earth, and as a way to them that go forth. (And I shall put it in the hand of them who made thee low, and who said to thee, Be thou bowed down, so that we can trample upon thee; and thou hast made thy body like the ground, and a way for them to go upon.)

52 Rise thou, Zion, rise thou, be thou clothed in thy strength; Jerusalem, the city of the Holy (One), be thou clothed in the clothes of thy glory; for a man uncircumcised and a man unclean shall no more lay to, that he pass by thee (for the uncircumcised, and the unclean, shall never again enter thy gates).

² Jerusalem, be thou shaken out of [the] dust; rise thou, (and) sit thou (down); thou daughter of Zion, (thou) prisoner, unbind the bonds of thy neck.

³ For the Lord saith these things, Ye be sold without cause, and ye shall be again-bought without silver. (For the Lord saith these things, Ye were sold for nothing, and ye shall be bought back without any silver.)

⁴ For the Lord God saith these things, My people in the beginning went down into Egypt, that it should be there an earth-tiller, either a comeling, and Assur falsely challenged it without any cause. (For the Lord God saith these things, In the beginning my people went down to Egypt, so that they could be earth-tillers, or newcomers, there, and the Assyrians oppressed them without any cause.)

⁵ And now what is to me here? saith the Lord; for my people is taken away without cause; the lords thereof do wickedly, saith the Lord, and my name is blasphemed continually all day (and my name is continually blasphemed all day long).

⁶ For this thing my people shall know my name in that day, for lo! I myself that spake, am present. (For this thing my people shall know my name on that day, for lo! I am he who spoke, and I am present.)

⁷ Full fair be the feet of him that telleth, and preacheth peace on hills, of him that telleth good (tidings), of him that preacheth health, and saith, Zion, thy God shall reign. (How beautiful on the mountains, be the feet of him who telleth, and preacheth peace, of him who telleth good news, of him who preacheth deliverance, or salvation, and saith, Zion, thy God reigneth.)

⁸ The voice of thy beholders; they raised the voice, they shall praise together; for they shall see with eye to eye, when the Lord hath converted Zion. (The voice of thy watchmen; they shall raise up their voices, they shall praise together; for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring back Zion/for they shall see with their own eyes, when the Lord shall return to Zion.)

⁹ The desert(ed), either forsaken, things of Jerusalem, make ye joy, and praise ye together; for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath again-bought Jerusalem (he hath rescued Jerusalem).

¹⁰ The Lord hath made ready his holy arm in the eyes of all folks, and all the ends of the earth shall see the health of our God. (The Lord hath bared his holy arm before all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the deliverance of our God.)

¹¹ Go ye away, go ye away, go ye out from thence; do not ye touch [the] defouled thing, go ye out from the midst thereof; be ye cleansed, that bear the vessels of the Lord.

¹² For ye shall not go out in noise, neither ye shall haste in flying away; for why the Lord shall go before you, and the God of Israel shall gather you together. (For ye shall not go out in haste, nor shall ye leave by fleeing away; because the Lord shall go before you, and the God of Israel shall gather you together.)

¹³ Lo! my servant shall understand, and he shall be enhanced (and he shall be exalted), and he shall be raised (up), and he shall be full high.

¹⁴ As many men wondered on him, so his beholding shall be without glory among men, and the form, either shape, of him among the sons of men. (But many wondered about him, for his appearance was without glory, or without comeliness, among people, and the form, or the shape, of him, among the sons and daughters of men.)

¹⁵ He shall besprinkle many folks; kings shall hold together their mouth on him; for they shall see, to which it was not told of him, and they that heard not, beheld. (But he shall startle many nations; kings shall shut, or shall close, their mouths before him; for they shall see, what they had not been told of before, and they shall consider, what they had not heard of before.)

53 Who believed to our hearing? (Who hath believed our report?) and to whom is the arm of the Lord showed?

² And he shall go up as a rod before him, and as a root from [the] thirsty land. And neither shape neither fairness was to him; and we saw him, and no beholding was; and we desired him, (And he shall grow up like a rod before the Lord, and like a root from the thirsty land. And neither shape nor beauty was to him; and when we saw him, there was no comeliness to him, so that we would desire him;)

³ despised, and the last of men, a man of sorrows, and knowing sickness. And his cheer was as hid (from us,) and despised; wherefore and we areckoned not him. (he was despised, and the last of men, a man of sorrows, and knowing of suffering. And we hid our faces from him, for we despised him, and regarded him as if he was nothing, or of no account.)

⁴ Verily he suffered our sicknesses, and he bare our sorrows; and we areckoned him as a mesel, and smitten of God, and made low. (Truly he suffered our sicknesses, and he carried our sorrows; but we reckoned him like a leper, and struck by God, and abased, or made low.)

⁵ Forsooth he was wounded for our wickednesses, he was defouled for our great trespasses; the learning of our peace was on him, and we be made whole by his wanness. (And he was wounded for our wickednesses, he was defiled for our great trespasses; he suffered what should have been our chastising, or our punishment, and we be healed, or made whole, by his scourgings.)

⁶ All we erred as sheep, each man bowed into his own way, and the Lord putted in him the wickedness of us all. (We have all wandered astray like sheep, each one turned to his own way, but the Lord put on him all of our wickednesses.)

⁷ He was offered, for he would, and he opened not his mouth; as a sheep he shall be led to slaying, and he shall be dumb as a lamb before him that clippeth it, and he shall not open his mouth. (He was offered up, and he bare it, and he did not open his mouth; like a sheep he was led to his killing, and he was as silent as a lamb before him who clippeth it, yea, he did open his mouth.)

⁸ He is taken away from anguish and from doom; who shall tell out the generation of him? For he was cut down from the land of livers. I smote him for the great trespass of my people. (He was brought to trial and to judgement; and who shall tell out his future? And then he was cut down from the land of the living. I struck him down for the great trespass of my people.)

⁹ And he shall give unfaithful men for burying, and rich men for his death; for he did not wickedness, neither guile was in his mouth; (And in his death he was buried with the unfaithful, and with the rich, though he did not do any wickedness, nor any deceit, or lies, came out of his mouth;)

¹⁰ and the Lord would defoul him in sickness. If he putteth his life for sin, he shall see (his) seed long enduring, and the will of the Lord shall be (ad)dressed in his hand. (yet the Lord defiled him with suffering. He made his life an offering for sin; and so he shall see his children, or his descendants, and he shall long endure, or he shall live a long life, and in his hand the purpose of the Lord shall prosper.)

¹¹ For that that his soul travailed, he shall see, and shall be filled [For-thy that he travailed, his soul shall see, and be fulfilled]. (So) That my just servant shall justify many men in his knowing, and he shall bear the wickednesses of them. (Because of what he suffered/Because he suffered, he shall see, and shall be fulfilled. Yea, my righteous servant shall justify many people by his suffering, and he shall carry their wickednesses.)

¹² Therefore I shall yield, either deal, to him full many men, and he shall part the spoils of the strong fiends; for that that he gave his life into death, and was areckoned with felonious men; and he did away the sin of many men, and he prayed for trespassers. (And so I shall give to him a portion with the great, and he shall part the spoils with the strong; for he gave his life unto death, and was reckoned with criminals; and he did away the sin of many, and he prayed for trespassers.)