Old/New Testament

¹ Who has believed what we have heard?
    And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
² He grew up before him like a sapling,
    like a shoot in arid ground.
He had no beauty or majesty
    that would cause us to look at him;
    nothing in his appearance would attract us to him.
³ He was despised and shunned by others,
    a man of sorrows who was no stranger to suffering.
We loathed him and regarded him as of no account,
    as one from whom men avert their gaze.
⁴ Although it was our afflictions that he bore,
    our sufferings that he endured,
we thought of him as stricken,
    as struck down by God and afflicted.
⁵ But he was pierced for our offenses
    and crushed for our iniquity;
the punishment that made us whole fell upon him,
    and by his bruises we have been healed.
⁶ We had all gone astray like sheep,
    each of us following his own way,
but the Lord laid upon him
    the guilt of us all.
⁷ Although harshly treated and afflicted,
    he did not open his mouth.
Like a lamb led to the slaughter
    and like a sheep that keeps silent before its shearers,
    he did not open his mouth.
⁸ Unjustly condemned, he was taken away,
    and who gave any thought to his future?
For he was cut off from the land of the living
    and stricken for the sins of his people.
⁹ They assigned him a grave with the wicked
    and a burial place with evildoers,
even though he had done no act of violence
    nor had he ever spoken deceitfully.
¹⁰ Yet it was the will of the Lord
    to crush him with pain.
For if he gives his life as a sacrifice for sin,
    he will see his offspring and prolong his life,
    and through him the will of the Lord will be accomplished.
¹¹ As a result of his anguish
    my servant will behold the light and be content.
Through his humiliation he will justify many,
    and their guilt he will bear.
¹² Therefore, I will allot him a portion among the great,
    and he will divide the spoils with the mighty,
because he exposed himself to death
    and was counted among the transgressors,
even though he bore the sins of many
    and interceded for the transgressors.

¹ Sing with happiness,
    you barren woman who never bore a child.
Burst forth in shouts of joy,
    you who never have been in labor.
For more numerous are the children of the deserted wife
    than are the children of the wedded wife,
    says the Lord.
² Enlarge the site for your dwelling
    and stretch out your tent curtains
    to the greatest possible extent.
Lengthen your ropes
    and strengthen your tent stakes.
³ For you will spread out
    to the right and to the left;
your descendants will dispossess the nations
    and settle in the desolate cities.
⁴ Have no fear, for you will not be put to shame;
    do not be discouraged, for you will not be humiliated.
You will forget the shame of your youth,
    and you will no longer remember
    the reproach of your widowhood.
⁵ For your Creator has now become your husband;
    his name is the Lord of hosts.
The Holy One of Israel is your redeemer;
    he is called the God of the entire world.
⁶ The Lord has called you back
    like a forsaken wife grieved in spirit,
like the repudiated wife of a man’s youth,
    says your God.
⁷ For a brief moment I did forsake you,
    but with great compassion I will take you back.
⁸ In an outburst of anger
    I hid my face from you for a moment,
but with everlasting love
    I will have compassion on you,
    says the Lord, your Redeemer.
⁹ This for me is like the days of Noah.
    Just as I swore that the waters of Noah
    would never again flood the earth,
so I have sworn that I never will be angry with you
    and that I will never rebuke you.
¹⁰ Although the mountains may be shaken
    and the hills may totter,
my steadfast love will not depart from you,
    and my covenant of peace will never be shaken,
    says the Lord who has compassion on you.
¹¹ O afflicted city, storm-battered and not comforted,
    I will build you with precious stones
    and lay your foundations with sapphires.
¹² I will use rubies to make your battlements,
    jewels for your gates,
    and precious stones for all your walls.
¹³ All of your sons will be taught by the Lord,
    and great will be their prosperity.
¹⁴ With justice you will be established;
    you will be free from the fear of oppression,
    and no terror will afflict you.
¹⁵ Should anyone attack you,
    it will not be my doing,
and anyone who does stir up strife
    will fall before you.
¹⁶ It was I who created the blacksmith
    to blow on the coals in the fire
    and produce a weapon suitable for its purpose.
I also created the ravager
    to destroy and wreak havoc.
¹⁷ No weapon used against you will prevail,
    and you will refute every accusation
    that is raised in court against you.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
    their vindication from me, says the Lord.

¹ All you who are thirsty,
    come to the water;
all you who have no money,
    come forward, buy, and eat.
Come, buy wine and milk,
    without money and without cost.
² Why spend money for that which is not bread,
    your wages for that which fails to satisfy.
Listen carefully to me, and you will eat well
    and delight in rich food.
³ Come to me and pay close attention;
    listen so that you may have life.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you
    to love you with the faithful love promised to David.
⁴ I appointed him to be a witness to the peoples,
    a leader and commander of nations.
⁵ You in turn will summon nations unknown to you,
    and nations that do not know you will hasten to you,
because of the Lord, your God,
    the Holy One of Israel,
    for he has glorified you.
⁶ Seek the Lord while he still may be found;
    call to him when he is close at hand.
⁷ Let the wicked abandon their ways
    and those who are evil their thoughts.
Let them return to the Lord
    so that he may have mercy upon them;
and to our God,
    for he is rich in forgiveness.
⁸ For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.
⁹ As the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts above your thoughts.
¹⁰ For just as the rain and the snow
    come down from the heavens
and do not return there
    until they have watered the earth,
making it fertile and fruitful,
    giving seed for the one who sows
    and bread for those who eat,
¹¹ so shall my word be
    that issues forth from my mouth.
It will not return to me unfulfilled,
    but it will accomplish my purpose
    and achieve what I sent it forth to do.
¹² Yes, you will go forth in joy,
    and you will be led back in peace.
The mountains and hills before you
    will burst forth into song,
and all the trees in the countryside
    will clap their hands.
¹³ A cypress will grow in place of the thornbush,
    and myrtles will come up instead of briars.
All this will increase the Lord’s renown,
    an everlasting sign that will not be cut off.