52:1 Wake up! Wake up!

Clothe yourself with strength, O Zion!

Put on your beautiful clothes,

O Jerusalem, ¹  holy city!

For uncircumcised and unclean pagans

will no longer invade you.

52:2 Shake off the dirt! ² 

Get up, captive ³  Jerusalem!

Take off the iron chains around your neck,

O captive daughter Zion!

52:3 For this is what the Lord says:

“You were sold for nothing,

and you will not be redeemed for money.”

52:4 For this is what the sovereign Lord says:

“In the beginning my people went to live temporarily in Egypt;

Assyria oppressed them for no good reason.

52:5 And now, what do we have here?” ⁴  says the Lord.

“Indeed my people have been carried away for nothing,

those who rule over them taunt,” ⁵  says the Lord,

“and my name is constantly slandered ⁶  all day long.

52:6 For this reason my people will know my name,

for this reason they will know ⁷  at that time ⁸  that I am the one who says,

‘Here I am.’”

52:7 How delightful it is to see approaching over the mountains ⁹ 

the feet of a messenger who announces peace,

a messenger who brings good news, who announces deliverance,

who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!” ¹⁰ 

52:8 Listen, ¹¹  your watchmen shout;

in unison they shout for joy,

for they see with their very own eyes ¹² 

the Lord’s return to Zion.

52:9 In unison give a joyful shout,

O ruins of Jerusalem!

For the Lord consoles his people;

he protects ¹³  Jerusalem.

52:10 The Lord reveals ¹⁴  his royal power ¹⁵ 

in the sight of all the nations;

the entire ¹⁶  earth sees

our God deliver. ¹⁷ 

52:11 Leave! Leave! Get out of there!

Don’t touch anything unclean!

Get out of it!

Stay pure, you who carry the Lord’s holy items! ¹⁸ 

52:12 Yet do not depart quickly

or leave in a panic. ¹⁹ 

For the Lord goes before you;

the God of Israel is your rear guard.

52:13 “Look, my servant will succeed! ²⁰ 

He will be elevated, lifted high, and greatly exalted ²¹  –

52:14 (just as many were horrified by the sight of you) ²² 

he was so disfigured ²³  he no longer looked like a man; ²⁴ 

52:15 his form was so marred he no longer looked human ²⁵  –

so now ²⁶  he will startle ²⁷  many nations.

Kings will be shocked by his exaltation, ²⁸ 

for they will witness something unannounced to them,

and they will understand something they had not heard about.

53:1 Who would have believed ²⁹  what we ³⁰  just heard? ³¹ 

When ³²  was the Lord’s power ³³  revealed through him?

53:2 He sprouted up like a twig before God, ³⁴ 

like a root out of parched soil; ³⁵ 

he had no stately form or majesty that might catch our attention, ³⁶ 

no special appearance that we should want to follow him. ³⁷ 

53:3 He was despised and rejected by people, ³⁸ 

one who experienced pain and was acquainted with illness;

people hid their faces from him; ³⁹ 

he was despised, and we considered him insignificant. ⁴⁰ 

53:4 But he lifted up our illnesses,

he carried our pain; ⁴¹ 

even though we thought he was being punished,

attacked by God, and afflicted for something he had done. ⁴² 

53:5 He was wounded because of ⁴³  our rebellious deeds,

crushed because of our sins;

he endured punishment that made us well; ⁴⁴ 

because of his wounds we have been healed. ⁴⁵ 

53:6 All of us had wandered off like sheep;

each of us had strayed off on his own path,

but the Lord caused the sin of all of us to attack him. ⁴⁶ 

53:7 He was treated harshly and afflicted, ⁴⁷ 

but he did not even open his mouth.

Like a lamb led to the slaughtering block,

like a sheep silent before her shearers,

he did not even open his mouth. ⁴⁸ 

53:8 He was led away after an unjust trial ⁴⁹  –

but who even cared? ⁵⁰ 

Indeed, he was cut off from the land of the living; ⁵¹ 

because of the rebellion of his own ⁵²  people he was wounded.

53:9 They intended to bury him with criminals, ⁵³ 

but he ended up in a rich man’s tomb, ⁵⁴ 

because ⁵⁵  he had committed no violent deeds,

nor had he spoken deceitfully.

53:10 Though the Lord desired to crush him and make him ill,

once restitution is made, ⁵⁶ 

he will see descendants and enjoy long life, ⁵⁷ 

and the Lord’s purpose will be accomplished through him.

53:11 Having suffered, he will reflect on his work,

he will be satisfied when he understands what he has done. ⁵⁸ 

“My servant ⁵⁹  will acquit many, ⁶⁰ 

for he carried their sins. ⁶¹ 

53:12 So I will assign him a portion with the multitudes, ⁶² 

he will divide the spoils of victory with the powerful, ⁶³ 

because he willingly submitted ⁶⁴  to death

and was numbered with the rebels,

when he lifted up the sin of many

and intervened ⁶⁵  on behalf of the rebels.”