your tormentors,
Who have commanded you,
“Get down, that we may walk over you”—
So that you made your back like the ground,
Like a street for passersby.
52 Awake, awake, O Zion!
Clothe yourself in splendor;
Put on your robes of majesty,
Jerusalem, holy city!
For the uncircumcised and the unclean
Shall never enter you again.
2Arise, shake off the dust,
Sit [on your throne], Jerusalem!
Loose the bonds from your neck,
O captive one, Fair Zion!
3For thus said the LORD:
You were sold for no price,
And shall be redeemed without money.
4For thus said the Lord GOD:
Of old, My people went down
To Egypt to sojourn there;
But Assyria has robbed them,
Giving nothing in return.a
5What therefore do I gain here?
—declares the LORD—
For My people has been carried off for nothing,
Their mockers howl
—declares the LORD—
And constantly, unceasingly,
My name is reviled.
6Assuredly, My people shall learn My name,
Assuredly [they shall learn] on that day
That I, the One who promised,
Am now at hand.
7How welcome on the mountain
Are the footsteps of the herald
Announcing happiness,
Heralding good fortune,
Announcing victory,
Telling Zion, “Your God is King!”
8Hark!
Your watchmen raise their voices,
As one they shout for joy;
For every eye shall behold
The LORD’s return to Zion.
9Raise a shout together,
O ruins of Jerusalem!
For the LORD will comfort His people,
Will redeem Jerusalem.
10The LORD will bare His holy arm
In the sight of all the nations,
And the very ends of earth shall see
The victory of our God.
11Turn, turn away, touch naught unclean
As you depart from there;
Keep pure, as you go forth from there,
You who bear the vessels of the LORD!b
12For you will not depart in haste,
Nor will you leave in flight;
For the LORD is marching before you,
The God of Israel is your rear guard.
13“Indeed, My servant shall prosper,
Be exalted and raised to great heights.
14Just as the many were appalled at himc—
So marred was his appearance, unlike that of man,
His form, beyond human semblance—
15Just so he shall startled many nations.
Kings shall be silenced because of him,
For they shall see what has not been told them,
Shall behold what they never have heard.”
53 “Who can believe what we have heard?
Upon whom has a-the arm of the LORD-a been revealed?
2For he has grown, by His favor, like a tree crown,
Like a tree trunk out of arid ground.
He had no form or beauty, that we should look at him:
No charm, that we should find him pleasing.
3He was despised, b-shunned by men,-b
A man of suffering, familiar with disease.
c-As one who hid his face from us,-c
He was despised, we held him of no account.
4Yet it was our sickness that he was bearing,
Our suffering that he endured.
We accounted him plagued,
Smitten and afflicted by God;
5But he was wounded because of our sins,
Crushed because of our iniquities.
He bore the chastisement that made us whole,
And by his bruises we were healed.
6We all went astray like sheep,
Each going his own way;
And the LORD visited upon him
The guilt of all of us.”
7He was maltreated, yet he was submissive,
He did not open his mouth;
Like a sheep being led to slaughter,
Like a ewe, dumb before those who shear her,
He did not open his mouth.
8By oppressive judgment he was taken away,
b-Who could describe his abode?-b
For he was cut off from the land of the living
Through the sin of my people, who deserved the punishment.
9And his grave was set among the wicked,
d-And with the rich, in his death-d—
Though he had done no injustice
And had spoken no falsehood.
10But the LORD chose to crush him b-by disease,
That, if he made himself an offering for guilt,-b
He might see offspringe and have long life,
And that through him the LORD’s purpose might prosper.
11Out of his anguish he shall see it;f
He shall enjoy it to the full through his devotion.g
“My righteous servant makes the many righteous,
It is their punishment that he bears;
12Assuredly, I will give him the many as his portion,
He shall receive the multitude as his spoil.
For he exposed himself to death
And was numbered among the sinners,
Whereas he bore the guilt of the many
And made intercession for sinners.”
54 Shout, O barren one,
You who bore no child!
Shout aloud for joy,
You who did not travail!
For the children of the wife forlorn
Shall outnumber those of the espoused
—said the LORD.
2Enlarge the site of your tent,
a-Extend the size of your dwelling,-a
Do not stint!
Lengthen the ropes, and drive the pegs firm.
3For you shall spread out to the right and the left;
Your offspring shall dispossess nationsb
And shall people the desolate towns.
4Fear not, you shall not be shamed;
Do not cringe, you shall not be disgraced.
For you shall forget
The reproach of your youth,
And remember no more
The shame of your widowhood.
5For He who made you will espouse you—
His name is “LORD of Hosts.”
The Holy One of Israel will redeem you—
He is called “God of all the Earth.”
6The LORD has called you back
As a wife forlorn and forsaken.
Can one cast off the wife of his youth?
—said your God.
7For a little while I forsook you,
But with vast love I will bring you back.
8In slight anger, for a moment,
I hid My face from you;
But with kindness everlasting
I will take you back in love
—said the LORD your Redeemer.
9For this to Me is like the watersc of Noah:
As I swore that the waters of Noah
Nevermore would flood the earth,
So I swear that I will not
Be angry with you or rebuke you.
10For the mountains may move
And the hills be shaken,
But my loyalty shall never move from you,
Nor My covenant of friendship be shaken
—said the LORD, who takes you back in love.
11Unhappy, storm-tossed one, uncomforted!
I will lay carbunclesd as your building stones
And make your foundations of sapphires.
12I will make your battlements of rubies,
Your gates of precious stones,
The whole encircling wall of gems.
13And all your children shall be disciples of the LORD,
And great shall be the happiness of your children;
14You shall be established through righteousness.
You shall be safe from oppression,
And shall have no fear;
From ruin, and it shall not come near you.
15eSurely no harm can be done
Without My consent:
Whoever would harm you
Shall fall because of you.
16It is I who created the smith
To fan the charcoal fire
And produce the tools for his work;
So it is I who create
The instruments of havoc.
17No weapon formed against you
Shall succeed,
And every tongue that contends with you at law
You shall defeat.
Such is the lot of the servants of the LORD,
Such their triumph through Me
—declares the LORD.
55 Ho, all who are thirsty,
Come for water,
Even if you have no money;
Come, buy food and eat:
Buy food without money,
Wine and milk without cost.
2Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
Your earnings for what does not satisfy?
Give heed to Me,
And you shall eat choice food
And enjoy the richest viands.
3Incline your ear and come to Me;
Hearken, and you shall be revived.
And I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
The enduring loyalty promised to David.
4a-As I made him a leaderb of peoples,
A prince and commander of peoples,
5So you shall summon a nation you did not know,
And a nation that did not know you
Shall come running to you-a—
For the sake of the LORD your God,
The Holy One of Israel who has glorified you.
6Seek the LORD while He can be found,
Call to Him while He is near.
7Let the wicked give up his ways,
The sinful man his plans;
Let him turn back to the LORD,
And He will pardon him;
To our God,
For he freely forgives.
8For My plans are not your plans,
Nor are My waysc your waysc
—declares the LORD.
9But as the heavens are high above the earth,
So are My waysc high above your waysc
And My plans above your plans.
10For as the rain or snow drops from heaven
And returns not there,
But soaks the earth
And makes it bring forth vegetation,
Yielding d-seed for sowing and bread for eating,-d
11So is the word that issues from My mouth:
It does not come back to Me unfulfilled,
But performs what I purpose,
Achieves what I sent it to do.
12Yea, you shall leavee in joy and be led home secure.
Before you, mount and hill shall shout aloud,
And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
13Instead of the brier, a cypress shall rise;
Instead of the nettle, a myrtle shall rise.
These shall stand as a testimony to the LORD,
As an everlasting sign that shall not perish.
56 Thus said the LORD:
Observe what is right and do what is just;
For soon My salvation shall come,
And my deliverance be revealed.
2Happy is the man who does this,
The man who holds fast to it:
Who keeps the sabbath and does not profane it,
And stays his hand from doing any evil.
3Let not the foreigner say,
Who has attached himself to the LORD,
“The LORD will keep me apart from His people”;
And let not the eunuch say,
“I am a withered tree.”
4For thus said the LORD:
“As for the eunuchs who keep My sabbaths,
Who have chosen what I desire
And hold fast to My covenant—
5I will give them, in My House
And within My walls,
A monument and a name
Better than sons or daughters.
I will give them an everlasting name
Which shall not perish.
6As for the foreigners
Who attach themselves to the LORD,
To minister to Him,
And to love the name of the LORD,
To be His servants—
All who keep the sabbath and do not profane it,
And who hold fast to My covenant—
7I will bring them to My sacred mount
And let them rejoice in My house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and sacrifices
Shall be welcome on My altar;
For My House shall be called
A house of prayer for all peoples.”
8Thus declares the Lord GOD,
Who gathers the dispersed of Israel:
“I will gather still more to those already gathered.”
9All you wild beasts, come and devour,
All you beasts of the forest!
10Thea watchmen are blind, all of them,
They perceive nothing.
They are all dumb dogs
That cannot bark;
They lie sprawling,b
They love to drowse.
11Moreover, the dogs are greedy;
They never know satiety.
c-As for the shepherds, they know not
What it is to give heed.-c
Everyone has turned his own way,
Every last one seeks his own advantage.
12“Come, I’ll get some wine;
Let us swill liquor.
And tomorrow will be just the same,
Or even much grander!”
57 The righteous man perishes,
And no one considers;
Pious men