Old/New Testament

53 Indeed, who would ever believe it?
    Who would possibly accept what we’ve been told?^[a]
    Who has witnessed the awesome power and plan of the Eternal in action?^[b]
2 Out of emptiness he came, like a tender shoot from rock-hard ground.
He didn’t look like anything or anyone of consequence—
    he had no physical beauty to attract our attention.
³ So he was despised and forsaken by men,
    this man of suffering, grief’s patient friend.
As if he was a person to avoid, we looked the other way;
    he was despised, forsaken, and we took no notice of him.
⁴ Yet it was our suffering he carried,
    our pain^[c] and distress, our sick-to-the-soul-ness.
We just figured that God had rejected him,
    that God was the reason he hurt so badly.
⁵ But he was hurt because of us; he suffered so.
    Our wrongdoing wounded and crushed him.
He endured the breaking that made us whole.
    The injuries he suffered became our healing.
⁶ We all have wandered off, like shepherdless sheep,
    scattered by our aimless striving and endless pursuits;
The Eternal One laid on him, this silent sufferer,
    the sins of us all.

⁷ And in the face of such oppression and suffering—silence.
    Not a word of protest, not a finger raised to stop it.
Like a sheep to a shearing, like a lamb to be slaughtered,
    he went—oh so quietly, oh so willingly.
⁸ Oppressed and condemned, he was taken away.
    From this generation, who was there to complain?
Who was there to cry “Foul”?
    He was, after all, cut off from the land of the living,
Smacked and struck, not on his account,
    because of how my people (my people!)
Disregarded the lines between right and wrong.
    They snuffed out his life.^[d]
9 And when he was dead, he was buried with the disgraced
    in borrowed space (among the rich),
Even though he did no wrong by word or deed.^[e]

¹⁰ Yet the Eternal One planned to crush him all along,
    to bring him to grief, this innocent servant of God.
When he puts his life in sin’s dark place, in the pit of wrongdoing,
    this servant of God will see his children and have his days prolonged.
For in His servant’s hand, the Eternal’s deepest desire will come to pass and flourish.
¹¹ As a result of the trials and troubles that wrack his soul,
    God’s servant will see light and be content
Because He knows, really understands, what it’s about; as God says,
    “My just servant will justify countless others by taking on their punishment and bearing it away.
¹² Because he exposed his very self—
    laid bare his soul to the vicious grasping of death—
And was counted among the worst, I will count him among the best.
    I will allot this one, My servant, a share in all that is of any value,
Because he took on himself the sin of many
    and acted on behalf of those who broke My law.”

54 Eternal One: Sing, childless woman, you who have never given birth.
        Raise a joyful shout, you who have never gone through labor.
    You, whose husband is dead, will bring forth much more than the fertile one who has a husband.^[f]
2     Enlarge your house. You are going to need a bigger place;
        don’t underestimate the amount of room that you’ll need. So build, build, build.
³     You will increase in every direction to fill the world.
        Your offspring will take over the nations;
    Your people will revitalize long-abandoned towns.

⁴ Don’t be afraid, for there is no one to shame you.
    Don’t fear humiliation, for there is no one to disgrace you.
The shame of your younger years and the sorrow of your widowhood are over.
    You’ll forget those days as if they never happened.
⁵ Because the One who made you will be your husband;
    the One called Commander of heavenly armies
Will set you right again, the Holy One of Israel.
    It’s not for nothing that He is called “God of all the earth.”

⁶ For the Eternal has called you to come back home,
    like a young wife, once deserted and deeply injured.
Now God is pulling you close again. Like a spouse forgives,
    He will take you back and be reconciled.
The Eternal, your Redeemer, says this:

⁷ Eternal One: Yes, I was angry for a moment, and I rejected you,
        but My love endures, and I want you back.
⁸     For that moment, when I was so mad,
        I made it impossible for you to see Me, to find Me,
    But with great tenderness, I will take you back in love.

⁹     I think this is like the time when Noah lived.
        I promised that I would never again destroy the world by a flood.
    So now I am promising never again to be so angry
        and punishing as I was when I sent you away.
¹⁰     Even if the mountains heave up from their anchors,
        and the hills quiver and shake, I will not desert you.
    You can rely on My enduring love;
        My covenant of peace will stand forever.

¹¹ Eternal One: Ah, Jerusalem, so miserable and distressed! I will rebuild you
        with floors of shimmering mosaics, set sapphires in your foundations.
¹²     I will decorate your towers with rubies,
        and your gates will sparkle with all manner of precious gems.
    Costly jewels will adorn the entire wall that circles your precincts.
¹³     Every one of your children, the people who call you home,
        will be students of the Eternal; oh, they’ll be so happy and live in peace!
¹⁴     This time, you will be founded and grounded
        on right thought, speech, and action.
    And no one will trouble you, abuse or oppress you;
        you will know no fear and have no worries.
¹⁵     If a nation marches against you,
        know that I am not behind it.
    Anyone foolish enough to challenge you will fall to you.
¹⁶     I have created the blacksmith
        who readies the fire and forges weapons for wars;
    And I have created the destroyer to ravage and ruin.
¹⁷     But no instrument forged against you will be allowed to hurt you,
        and no voice raised to condemn you will successfully prosecute you.
    It’s that simple; this is how it will be for the servants of the Eternal;
        I will vindicate them.

55 Eternal One: If you are thirsty, come here;
        come, there’s water for all.
    Whoever is poor and penniless can still
        come and buy the food I sell.
    There’s no cost—here, have some food, hearty and delicious,
        and beverages, pure and good.
²     I don’t understand why you spend your money for things that don’t nourish
        or work so hard for what leaves you empty.
    Attend to Me and eat what is good;
        enjoy the richest, most delectable of things.
³     Listen closely, and come even closer. My words will give life,
        for I will make a covenant with you that cannot be broken, a promise
    Of My enduring presence and support like I gave to David.^[g]
4     See, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander among the nations.
⁵     Now you will issue a call to nations from all over the world—
        people whom you do not know and who do not know you.
    They will come running, because of Me, your God
        because the Eternal, the Holy One of Israel, has made you beautiful.

⁶ So turn your attention and seek the Eternal One while it is still possible;
    call on Him while He is nearby.
⁷ Let those who are busy plotting violence and doing wrong
    stop right now, turn, and do right.
Let them turn back to the Eternal so they can experience His compassion.
    God will excuse our past wrongs. Our God’s forgiveness is inexhaustible.

Eternal One: ⁸ My intentions are not always yours,
        and I do not go about things as you do.
⁹     My thoughts and My ways are above and beyond you,
        just as heaven is far from your reach here on earth.
¹⁰     For as rain and snow can’t go back once they’ve fallen,
        but soak into the ground
    And nourish the plants that grow,
        providing seed to the farmer and bread for the hungry,
¹¹     So it is when I declare something.
        My word will go out and not return to Me empty,
    But it will do what I wanted;
        it will accomplish what I determined.
¹²     For you will go out in joy, be led home in peace.
        And as you go the land itself will break out in cheers;
    The mountains and the hills will erupt in song,
        and the trees of the field will clap their hands.
¹³     Prickly thorns and nasty briers will give way
        to luxurious shade trees, sweet and good.
    And they’ll remind you of the Eternal One
        and how God can be trusted absolutely and forever.