Isaiah 49-53
New King James Version
The Servant, the Light to the Gentiles
49 “Listen, (A)O coastlands, to Me,
And take heed, you peoples from afar!
(B)The Lord has called Me from the womb;
From the [a]matrix of My mother He has made mention of My name.
2 And He has made (C)My mouth like a sharp sword;
(D)In the shadow of His hand He has hidden Me,
And made Me (E)a polished shaft;
In His quiver He has hidden Me.”
3 “And He said to me,
(F)‘You are My servant, O Israel,
(G)In whom I will be glorified.’
4 (H)Then I said, ‘I have labored in vain,
I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain;
Yet surely my [b]just reward is with the Lord,
And my [c]work with my God.’ ”
5 “And now the Lord says,
Who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant,
To bring Jacob back to Him,
So that Israel (I)is [d]gathered to Him
(For I shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord,
And My God shall be My strength),
6 Indeed He says,
‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant
To raise up the tribes of Jacob,
And to restore the preserved ones of Israel;
I will also give You as a (J)light to the Gentiles,
That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ”
7 Thus says the Lord,
The Redeemer of Israel, [e]their Holy One,
(K)To Him [f]whom man despises,
To Him whom the nation abhors,
To the Servant of rulers:
(L)“Kings shall see and arise,
Princes also shall worship,
Because of the Lord who is faithful,
The Holy One of Israel;
And He has chosen You.”
8 Thus says the Lord:
“In an (M)acceptable[g] time I have heard You,
And in the day of salvation I have helped You;
I will [h]preserve You (N)and give You
As a covenant to the people,
To restore the earth,
To cause them to inherit the desolate [i]heritages;
9 That You may say (O)to the prisoners, ‘Go forth,’
To those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’
“They shall feed along the roads,
And their pastures shall be on all desolate heights.
10 They shall neither (P)hunger nor thirst,
(Q)Neither heat nor sun shall strike them;
For He who has mercy on them (R)will lead them,
Even by the springs of water He will guide them.
11 (S)I will make each of My mountains a road,
And My highways shall be elevated.
12 Surely (T)these shall come from afar;
Look! Those from the north and the west,
And these from the land of Sinim.”
13 (U)Sing, O heavens!
Be joyful, O earth!
And break out in singing, O mountains!
For the Lord has comforted His people,
And will have mercy on His afflicted.
God Will Remember Zion
14 (V)But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me,
And my Lord has forgotten me.”
15 “Can(W) a woman forget her nursing child,
[j]And not have compassion on the son of her womb?
Surely they may forget,
(X)Yet I will not forget you.
16 See, (Y)I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands;
Your walls are continually before Me.
17 Your [k]sons shall make haste;
Your destroyers and those who laid you waste
Shall go away from you.
18 (Z)Lift up your eyes, look around and see;
All these gather together and come to you.
As I live,” says the Lord,
“You shall surely clothe yourselves with them all (AA)as an ornament,
And bind them on you as a bride does.
19 “For your waste and desolate places,
And the land of your destruction,
(AB)Will even now be too small for the inhabitants;
And those who swallowed you up will be far away.
20 (AC)The children you will have,
(AD)After you have lost the others,
Will say again in your ears,
‘The place is too small for me;
Give me a place where I may dwell.’
21 Then you will say in your heart,
‘Who has begotten these for me,
Since I have lost my children and am desolate,
A captive, and wandering to and fro?
And who has brought these up?
There I was, left alone;
But these, where were they?’ ”
22 (AE)Thus says the Lord God:
“Behold, I will lift My hand in an oath to the nations,
And set up My [l]standard for the peoples;
They shall bring your sons in their [m]arms,
And your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders;
23 (AF)Kings shall be your foster fathers,
And their queens your nursing mothers;
They shall bow down to you with their faces to the earth,
And (AG)lick up the dust of your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord,
(AH)For they shall not be ashamed who wait for Me.”
25 But thus says the Lord:
“Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away,
And the prey of the terrible be delivered;
For I will contend with him who contends with you,
And I will save your children.
26 I will (AJ)feed those who oppress you with their own flesh,
And they shall be drunk with their own (AK)blood as with sweet wine.
All flesh (AL)shall know
That I, the Lord, am your Savior,
And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”
The Servant, Israel’s Hope
50 Thus says the Lord:
“Where is (AM)the certificate of your mother’s divorce,
Whom I have put away?
Or which of My (AN)creditors is it to whom I have sold you?
For your iniquities (AO)you have sold yourselves,
And for your transgressions your mother has been put away.
2 Why, when I came, was there no man?
Why, when I called, was there none to answer?
Is My hand shortened at all that it cannot redeem?
Or have I no power to deliver?
Indeed with My (AP)rebuke I dry up the sea,
I make the rivers a wilderness;
Their fish stink because there is no water,
And die of thirst.
3 (AQ)I clothe the heavens with blackness,
(AR)And I make sackcloth their covering.”
4 “The(AS) Lord God has given Me
The tongue of the learned,
That I should know how to speak
A word in season to him who is (AT)weary.
He awakens Me morning by morning,
He awakens My ear
To hear as the learned.
5 The Lord God (AU)has opened My ear;
And I was not (AV)rebellious,
Nor did I turn away.
6 (AW)I gave My back to those who struck Me,
And (AX)My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard;
I did not hide My face from shame and (AY)spitting.
7 “For the Lord God will help Me;
Therefore I will not be disgraced;
Therefore (AZ)I have set My face like a flint,
And I know that I will not be ashamed.
8 (BA)He is near who justifies Me;
Who will contend with Me?
Let us stand together.
Who is [o]My adversary?
Let him come near Me.
9 Surely the Lord God will help Me;
Who is he who will condemn Me?
(BB)Indeed they will all grow old like a garment;
(BC)The moth will eat them up.
10 “Who among you fears the Lord?
Who obeys the voice of His Servant?
Who (BD)walks in darkness
And has no light?
(BE)Let him trust in the name of the Lord
And rely upon his God.
11 Look, all you who kindle a fire,
Who encircle yourselves with sparks:
Walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks you have kindled—
(BF)This you shall have from My hand:
You shall lie down (BG)in torment.
The Lord Comforts Zion(BH)
51 “Listen to Me, (BI)you who [p]follow after righteousness,
You who seek the Lord:
Look to the rock from which you were hewn,
And to the hole of the pit from which you were dug.
2 (BJ)Look to Abraham your father,
And to Sarah who bore you;
(BK)For I called him alone,
And (BL)blessed him and increased him.”
3 For the Lord will (BM)comfort Zion,
He will comfort all her waste places;
He will make her wilderness like Eden,
And her desert (BN)like the garden of the Lord;
Joy and gladness will be found in it,
Thanksgiving and the voice of melody.
4 “Listen to Me, My people;
And give ear to Me, O My nation:
(BO)For law will proceed from Me,
And I will make My justice rest
(BP)As a light of the peoples.
5 (BQ)My righteousness is near,
My salvation has gone forth,
(BR)And My arms will judge the peoples;
(BS)The coastlands will wait upon Me,
And (BT)on My arm they will trust.
6 (BU)Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
And look on the earth beneath.
For (BV)the heavens will vanish away like smoke,
(BW)The earth will grow old like a garment,
And those who dwell in it will die in like manner;
But My salvation will be (BX)forever,
And My righteousness will not be [q]abolished.
7 “Listen to Me, you who know righteousness,
You people (BY)in whose heart is My law:
(BZ)Do not fear the reproach of men,
Nor be afraid of their insults.
8 For (CA)the moth will eat them up like a garment,
And the worm will eat them like wool;
But My righteousness will be forever,
And My salvation from generation to generation.”
9 (CB)Awake, awake, (CC)put on strength,
O arm of the Lord!
Awake (CD)as in the ancient days,
In the generations of old.
(CE)Are You not the arm that cut (CF)Rahab apart,
And wounded the (CG)serpent?
10 Are You not the One who (CH)dried up the sea,
The waters of the great deep;
That made the depths of the sea a road
For the redeemed to cross over?
11 So (CI)the ransomed of the Lord shall return,
And come to Zion with singing,
With everlasting joy on their heads.
They shall obtain joy and gladness;
Sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
12 “I, even I, am He (CJ)who comforts you.
Who are you that you should be afraid
(CK)Of a man who will die,
And of the son of a man who will be made (CL)like grass?
13 And (CM)you forget the Lord your Maker,
(CN)Who stretched out the heavens
And laid the foundations of the earth;
You have feared continually every day
Because of the fury of the oppressor,
When he has prepared to destroy.
(CO)And where is the fury of the oppressor?
14 The captive exile hastens, that he may be loosed,
(CP)That he should not die in the pit,
And that his bread should not fail.
15 But I am the Lord your God,
Who (CQ)divided the sea whose waves roared—
The Lord of hosts is His name.
16 And (CR)I have put My words in your mouth;
(CS)I have covered you with the shadow of My hand,
(CT)That I may [r]plant the heavens,
Lay the foundations of the earth,
And say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’ ”
God’s Fury Removed
17 (CU)Awake, awake!
Stand up, O Jerusalem,
You who (CV)have drunk at the hand of the Lord
The cup of His fury;
You have drunk the dregs of the cup of trembling,
And drained it out.
18 There is no one to guide her
Among all the sons she has brought forth;
Nor is there any who takes her by the hand
Among all the sons she has brought up.
19 (CW)These two things have come to you;
Who will be sorry for you?—
Desolation and destruction, famine and sword—
(CX)By whom will I comfort you?
20 (CY)Your sons have fainted,
They lie at the head of all the streets,
Like an antelope in a net;
They are full of the fury of the Lord,
The rebuke of your God.
21 Therefore please hear this, you afflicted,
And drunk (CZ)but not with wine.
22 Thus says your Lord,
The Lord and your God,
Who (DA)pleads the cause of His people:
“See, I have taken out of your hand
The cup of trembling,
The dregs of the cup of My fury;
You shall no longer drink it.
23 (DB)But I will put it into the hand of those who afflict you,
Who have said to [s]you,
‘Lie down, that we may walk over you.’
And you have laid your body like the ground,
And as the street, for those who walk over.”
God Redeems Jerusalem
52 Awake, awake!
Put on your strength, O Zion;
Put on your beautiful garments,
O Jerusalem, the holy city!
For the uncircumcised (DC)and the unclean
Shall no longer come to you.
2 (DD)Shake yourself from the dust, arise;
Sit down, O Jerusalem!
(DE)Loose yourself from the bonds of your neck,
O captive daughter of Zion!
3 For thus says the Lord:
4 For thus says the Lord God:
“My people went down at first
Into (DH)Egypt to [t]dwell there;
Then the Assyrian oppressed them without cause.
5 Now therefore, what have I here,” says the Lord,
“That My people are taken away for nothing?
Those who rule over them
[u]Make them wail,” says the Lord,
“And My name is (DI)blasphemed continually every day.
6 Therefore My people shall know My name;
Therefore they shall know in that day
That I am He who speaks:
‘Behold, it is I.’ ”
7 (DJ)How beautiful upon the mountains
Are the feet of him who brings good news,
Who proclaims peace,
Who brings glad tidings of good things,
Who proclaims salvation,
Who says to Zion,
(DK)“Your God reigns!”
8 Your watchmen shall lift up their voices,
With their voices they shall sing together;
For they shall see eye to eye
When the Lord brings back Zion.
9 Break forth into joy, sing together,
You waste places of Jerusalem!
For the Lord has comforted His people,
He has redeemed Jerusalem.
10 (DL)The Lord has [v]made bare His holy arm
In the eyes of (DM)all the nations;
And all the ends of the earth shall see
The salvation of our God.
11 (DN)Depart! Depart! Go out from there,
Touch no unclean thing;
Go out from the midst of her,
(DO)Be clean,
You who bear the vessels of the Lord.
12 For (DP)you shall not go out with haste,
Nor go by flight;
(DQ)For the Lord will go before you,
(DR)And the God of Israel will be your rear guard.
The Sin-Bearing Servant
13 Behold, (DS)My Servant shall [w]deal prudently;
(DT)He shall be exalted and [x]extolled and be very high.
14 Just as many were astonished at you,
So His (DU)visage[y] was marred more than any man,
And His form more than the sons of men;
15 (DV)So shall He [z]sprinkle many nations.
Kings shall shut their mouths at Him;
For (DW)what had not been told them they shall see,
And what they had not heard they shall consider.
The Sin-Bearing Messiah
53 Who (DX)has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,
And as a root out of dry ground.
He has no [aa]form or [ab]comeliness;
And when we see Him,
There is no [ac]beauty that we should desire Him.
3 (DY)He is despised and [ad]rejected by men,
A Man of [ae]sorrows and (DZ)acquainted with [af]grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and (EA)we did not esteem Him.
4 Surely (EB)He has borne our [ag]griefs
And carried our [ah]sorrows;
Yet we [ai]esteemed Him stricken,
[aj]Smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But He was (EC)wounded[ak] for our transgressions,
He was [al]bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His (ED)stripes[am] we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the Lord [an]has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet (EE)He opened not His mouth;
(EF)He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.
8 He was (EG)taken from [ao]prison and from judgment,
And who will declare His generation?
For (EH)He was cut off from the land of the living;
For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.
9 (EI)And [ap]they made His grave with the wicked—
But with the rich at His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was any (EJ)deceit in His mouth.
10 Yet it pleased the Lord to [aq]bruise Him;
He has put Him to grief.
When You make His soul (EK)an offering for sin,
He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,
And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.
11 [ar]He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.
By His knowledge (EL)My righteous (EM)Servant shall (EN)justify many,
For He shall bear their iniquities.
12 (EO)Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great,
(EP)And He shall divide the [as]spoil with the strong,
Because He (EQ)poured out His soul unto death,
And He was (ER)numbered with the transgressors,
And He bore the sin of many,
And (ES)made intercession for the transgressors.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 49:1 Lit. inward parts
- Isaiah 49:4 justice
- Isaiah 49:4 recompense
- Isaiah 49:5 Qr., DSS, LXX gathered to Him; Kt. not gathered
- Isaiah 49:7 Lit. his or its
- Isaiah 49:7 Lit. who is despised of soul
- Isaiah 49:8 favorable
- Isaiah 49:8 keep
- Isaiah 49:8 inheritances
- Isaiah 49:15 Lit. From having compassion
- Isaiah 49:17 DSS, LXX, Tg., Vg. builders
- Isaiah 49:22 banner
- Isaiah 49:22 Lit. bosom
- Isaiah 49:24 So with MT, Tg.; DSS, Syr., Vg. of the mighty; LXX unjustly
- Isaiah 50:8 Lit. master of My judgment
- Isaiah 51:1 pursue
- Isaiah 51:6 broken
- Isaiah 51:16 establish
- Isaiah 51:23 Lit. your soul
- Isaiah 52:4 As resident aliens
- Isaiah 52:5 DSS Mock; LXX Marvel and wail; Tg. Boast themselves; Vg. Treat them unjustly
- Isaiah 52:10 Revealed His power
- Isaiah 52:13 prosper
- Isaiah 52:13 Lit. be lifted up
- Isaiah 52:14 appearance
- Isaiah 52:15 Or startle
- Isaiah 53:2 Stately form
- Isaiah 53:2 splendor
- Isaiah 53:2 Lit. appearance
- Isaiah 53:3 Or forsaken
- Isaiah 53:3 Lit. pains
- Isaiah 53:3 Lit. sickness
- Isaiah 53:4 Lit. sicknesses
- Isaiah 53:4 Lit. pains
- Isaiah 53:4 reckoned
- Isaiah 53:4 Struck down
- Isaiah 53:5 Or pierced through
- Isaiah 53:5 crushed
- Isaiah 53:5 Blows that cut in
- Isaiah 53:6 Lit. has caused to land on Him
- Isaiah 53:8 confinement
- Isaiah 53:9 Lit. he or He
- Isaiah 53:10 crush
- Isaiah 53:11 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; DSS, LXX From the labor of His soul He shall see light
- Isaiah 53:12 plunder
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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