Isaiah 52-53

New International Reader's Version

52 Wake up! Zion, wake up!
    Dress yourself with strength as if it were your clothes.
Holy city of Jerusalem,
    put on your clothes of glory.
Those who haven’t been circumcised will never enter you again.
    Neither will those who are “unclean.”
² Get up, Jerusalem! Shake off your dust.
    Take your place on your throne.
Captured people of Zion,
    remove the chains from your neck.

“When you were sold as slaves, no one paid anything for you.
    Now no one will pay any money to set you free.”

“Long ago my people went down to Egypt.
    They lived there for a while.
    Later, Assyria crushed them without any reason.

“Once again my people have been taken away.
    And no one paid anything for them.
Those who rule over them brag about it,”
    announces the Lord.
“All day long without stopping,
    people speak evil things against my name.
⁶ So the day will come when my people will really know the meaning of my name.
    They will know what kind of God I am.
They will know that I told them ahead of time they would return to their land.
    They will know that it was I.”

⁷ What a beautiful sight it is
    to see messengers coming with good news!
How beautiful to see them coming down from the mountains
    with a message about peace!
How wonderful it is when they bring the good news
    that we are saved!
How wonderful when they say to Zion,
    “Your God rules!”
⁸ Listen! Those on guard duty are shouting out the message.
    With their own eyes
they see the Lord returning to Zion.
    So they shout for joy.
⁹ Burst into songs of joy together,
    you broken-down buildings in Jerusalem.
The Lord has comforted his people.
    He has set Jerusalem free.
¹⁰ The Lord will use the power of his holy arm to save his people.
    All the nations will see him do it.
    Everyone from one end of the earth to the other will see it.

¹¹ You who carry the objects that belong to the Lord’s temple, leave Babylon!
    Leave it! Get out of there!
Don’t touch anything that isn’t pure and “clean.”
    Come out of Babylon and be pure.
¹² But this time you won’t have to leave in a hurry.
    You won’t have to rush away.
The Lord will go ahead of you and lead you.
    The God of Israel will follow behind you and guard you.

53 Who has believed what we’ve been saying?
    Who has seen the Lord’s saving power?
² His servant grew up like a tender young plant.
    He grew like a root coming up out of dry ground.
He didn’t have any beauty or majesty that made us notice him.
    There wasn’t anything special about the way he looked that drew us to him.
³ People looked down on him. They didn’t accept him.
    He knew all about pain and suffering.
He was like someone people turn their faces away from.
    We looked down on him. We didn’t have any respect for him.

⁴ He suffered the things we should have suffered.
    He took on himself the pain that should have been ours.
But we thought God was punishing him.
    We thought God was wounding him and making him suffer.
⁵ But the servant was pierced because we had sinned.
    He was crushed because we had done what was evil.
He was punished to make us whole again.
    His wounds have healed us.
⁶ All of us are like sheep. We have wandered away from God.
    All of us have turned to our own way.
And the Lord has placed on his servant
    the sins of all of us.

⁷ He was treated badly and made to suffer.
    But he didn’t open his mouth.
He was led away like a lamb to be killed.
    Sheep are silent while their wool is being cut off.
    In the same way, he didn’t open his mouth.
⁸ He was arrested and sentenced to death.
    Then he was taken away.
    He was cut off from this life.
He was punished for the sins of my people.
    Who among those who were living at that time
    tried to stop what was happening?
⁹ He was given a grave with those who were evil.
    But his body was buried in the tomb of a rich man.
He was killed even though he hadn’t harmed anyone.
    And he had never lied to anyone.

¹⁰ The Lord says, “It was my plan to crush him
    and cause him to suffer.
    I made his life an offering to pay for sin.
But he will see all his children after him.
    In fact, he will continue to live.
    My plan will be brought about through him.
¹¹ After he has suffered, he will see the light of life.
    And he will be satisfied.
My godly servant will make many people godly
    because of what he will accomplish.
    He will be punished for their sins.
¹² So I will give him a place of honor among those who are great.
    He will be rewarded just like others who win the battle.
That’s because he was willing to give his life as a sacrifice.
    He was counted among those who had committed crimes.
He took the sins of many people on himself.
    And he gave his life for those who had done what is wrong.”