who tore out my hair.
I did not hide my face
From insult and spittle.
7But the Lord GOD will help me—
Therefore I feel no disgrace;
Therefore I have set my face like flint,
And I know I shall not be shamed.
8My Vindicator is at hand—
Who dares contend with me?
Let us stand up together!d
Who would be my opponent?
Let him approach me!
9Lo, the Lord GOD will help me—
Who can get a verdict against me?
They shall all wear out like a garment,
The moth shall consume them.
10Who among you reveres the LORD
And heeds the voice of His servant?—
Though he walk in darkness
And have no light,
Let him trust in the name of the LORD
And rely upon his God.
11But you are all kindlers of fire,
e-Girding on-e firebrands.
Walk by the blaze of your fire,
By the brands that you have lit!
This has come to you from My hand:
e-You shall lie down in pain.-e
51 Listen to Me, you who pursue justice,
You who seek the LORD:
Look to the rock you were hewn from,
To the quarry you were dug from.
2Look back to Abraham your father
And to Sarah who brought you forth.
For he was only one when I called him,
But I blessed him and made him many.
3Truly the LORD has comforted Zion,
Comforted all her ruins;
He has made her wilderness like Eden,
Her desert like the Garden of the LORD.
Gladness and joy shall abide there,
Thanksgiving and the sound of music.
4Hearken to Me, a-My people,-a
And give ear to Me, O a-My nation,-a
For teaching shall go forthb from Me,
My way for the light of peoples.
In a moment I will bring it:
5The triumph I grant is near,
The success I give has gone forth.
My arms shall c-provide for-c the peoples;
The coastlands shall trust in Me,
They shall look to My arm.
6Raise your eyes to the heavens,
And look upon the earth beneath:
Though the heavens should melt away like smoke,
And the earth wear out like a garment,
And its inhabitants die out d-as well,-d
My victory shall stand forever,
My triumph shall remain unbroken.
7Listen to Me, you who care for the right,
O people who lay My instruction to heart!
Fear not the insults of men,
And be not dismayed at their jeers;
8For the moth shall eat them up like a garment,
The worme shall eat them up like wool.
But My triumph shall endure forever,
My salvation through all the ages.
9Awake, awake, clothe yourself with splendor.
O arm of the LORD!
Awake as in days of old,
As in former ages!
It was you that hacked Rahabf in pieces,
That pierced the Dragon.f
10It was you that dried up the Sea,
The waters of the great deep;
That made the abysses of the Sea
A road the redeemed might walk.
11So let the ransomed of the LORD return,
And come with shouting to Zion,
Crowned with joy everlasting.
Let them attain joy and gladness,
While sorrow and sighing flee.
12I, I am He who comforts you!
What ails you that you fear
Man who must die,
Mortals who fare like grass?
13You have forgotten the LORD your Maker,
Who stretched out the skies and made firm the earth!
And you live all day in constant dread
Because of the rage of an oppressor
Who is aiming to cut [you] down.
Yet of what account is the rage of an oppressor?
14gQuickly the crouching one is freed;
He is not cut down and slain,
And he shall not want for food.
15For I the LORD your God—
Who stir up the sea into roaring waves,
Whose name is LORD of Hosts—
16h-Have put My words in your mouth
And sheltered you with My hand;-h
I, who plantedi the skies and made firm the earth,
Have said to Zion: You are My people!
17Rouse, rouse yourself!
Arise, O Jerusalem,
You who from the LORD’s hand
Have drunk the cup of His wrath,
You who have drained to the dregs
The bowl, the cup of reeling!
18She has none to guide her
Of all the sons she bore;
None takes her by the hand,
Of all the sons she reared.j
19These two things have befallen you:
Wrack and ruin—who can console you?
Famine and sword—k-how shall I-k comfort you?
20Your sons lie in a swoon
At the corner of every street—
Like an antelope caught in a net—
Drunk with the wrath of the LORD,
With the rebuke of your God.
21Therefore,
Listen to this, unhappy one,
Who are drunk, but not with wine!
22Thus said the LORD, your Lord,
Your God who champions His people:
Herewith I take from your hand
The cup of reeling,l
The bowl, the cup of My wrath;
You shall never drink it again.
23I will put it in the hands of 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