Isaiah 52 - 53

The Lord's Coming Salvation

1 c Awake, awake,
put on your strength, O Zion;
d put on your beautiful garments,
O Jerusalem, e the holy city;
f for there shall no more come into you
the uncircumcised and the unclean.
 2 g Shake yourself from the dust and arise;
be seated, O Jerusalem;
h loose the bonds from your neck,
O captive daughter of Zion.

3 For thus says the Lord: i "You were sold for nothing, and j you shall be redeemed without money." 4 For thus says the Lord God: k "My people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there, and the Assyrian oppressed them for nothing. 5 Now therefore what have I here," declares the Lord, "seeing that my people are taken away for nothing? Their rulers wail," declares the Lord, "and l continually all the day my name is despised. 6 Therefore my people shall know my name. m Therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here am I."

7 n How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of him who brings good news,
who publishes peace, o who brings good news of happiness,
who publishes salvation,
who says to Zion, "Your God reigns."
 8 The voice of p your watchmen - they lift up their voice;
together they sing for joy;
q for eye to eye they see
the return of the Lord to Zion.
 9 r Break forth together into singing,
s you waste places of Jerusalem,
for t the Lord has comforted his people;
he has redeemed Jerusalem.
 10 u The Lord has bared his holy arm
before the eyes of all the nations,
v and all the ends of the earth shall see
the salvation of our God.

11 w Depart, depart, go out from there;
touch no unclean thing;
go out from the midst of her; purify yourselves,
x you who bear the vessels of the Lord.
 12 For you shall not y go out in haste,
and you shall not go in flight,
z for the Lord will go before you,
a and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.

He Was Wounded for Our Transgressions

13 Behold, b my servant shall act wisely; 1
he shall be high and lifted up,
and shall be exalted.
 14 As many were astonished at you -
c his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,
and his form beyond that of the children of mankind -
15 so d shall he sprinkle 2 many nations;
e kings shall shut their mouths because of him;
f for that which has not been told them they see,
and that which they have not heard they understand.

Isaiah 53

1 g Who has believed what he has heard from us? 3
And to whom has h the arm of the Lord been revealed?
 2 For he grew up before him like a young plant,
i and like a root out of dry ground;
j he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.
 3 k He was despised and rejected 4 by men;
a man of sorrows, 5 and acquainted with 6 grief; 7
and as one from whom men hide their faces 8
he was despised, and l we esteemed him not.

4 m Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
n smitten by God, and afflicted.
 5 o But he was wounded for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
p and with his stripes we are healed.
 6 q All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned - every one - to his own way;
r and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
s yet he opened not his mouth;
t like a u lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
 8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
and as for his generation, v who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people?
 9 And they made his grave with the wicked
w and with a rich man in his death,
although x he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet y it was the will of the Lord to crush him;
he has put him to grief; 9
z when his soul makes 10 an offering for guilt,
he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
a the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
 11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see 11 and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall b the righteous one, my servant,
c make many to be accounted righteous,
d and he shall bear their iniquities.
 12 e Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, 12
f and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, 13
because he poured out his soul to death
and was numbered with the transgressors;
g yet he bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors.

  1. Cross References
    Isaiah 51:17
    Wake yourself, wake yourself, stand up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the Lord the cup of his wrath, who have drunk to the dregs the bowl, the cup of staggering.
  2. Cross References
    Exodus 28:2
    And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty.
    Exodus 28:40
    For Aaron's sons you shall make coats and sashes and caps. You shall make them for glory and beauty.
    Zechariah 3:1 - 4
    Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.
  3. Cross References
    Isaiah 48:2
    For they call themselves after the holy city, and stay themselves on the God of Israel; the Lord of hosts is his name.
    Nehemiah 11:1
    Now the leaders of the people lived in Jerusalem. And the rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of ten to live in Jerusalem the holy city, while nine out of ten remained in the other towns.
  4. Cross References
    Isaiah 60:21
    Your people shall all be righteous; they shall possess the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I might be glorified.
    Joel 3:17
    So you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who dwells in Zion, my holy mountain. And Jerusalem shall be holy, and strangers shall never again pass through it.
    Isaiah 35:8
    And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.
    Revelation 21:27
    But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.
  5. Cross References
    Isaiah 51:23
    And I will put it into the hand of your tormentors, who have said to you, 'Bow down, that we may pass over'; and you have made your back like the ground and like the street for them to pass over.
  6. Cross References
    Isaiah 51:14
    He who is bowed down shall speedily be released; he shall not die and go down to the pit, neither shall his bread be lacking.
  7. Cross References
    Isaiah 45:13
    I have stirred him up in righteousness, and I will make all his ways level; he shall build my city and set my exiles free, not for price or reward," says the Lord of hosts.
    Isaiah 50:1
    Thus says the Lord : "Where is your mother's certificate of divorce, with which I sent her away? Or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities you were sold, and for your transgressions your mother was sent away.
  8. Cross References
    1 Peter 1:18
    Knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold.
  9. Cross References
    Genesis 46:6
    They also took their livestock and their goods, which they had gained in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob and all his offspring with him.
  10. Cross References
    Romans 2:24
    For, as it is written, "The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.
    Ezekiel 36:20
    But when they came to the nations, wherever they came, they profaned my holy name, in that people said of them, 'These are the people of the Lord, and yet they had to go out of his land.
    Ezekiel 36:23
    And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.
  11. Cross References
    Isaiah 49:26
    I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh, and they shall be drunk with their own blood as with wine. Then all flesh shall know that I am the Lord your Savior, and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.
  12. Cross References
    Nahum 1:15
    Behold, upon the mountains, the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace! Keep your feasts, O Judah; fulfill your vows, for never again shall the worthless pass through you; he is utterly cut off.
    Romans 10:15
    And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!
  13. Cross References
    Isaiah 40:9
    Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, "Behold your God!
  14. Cross References
    Isaiah 62:6
    On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen; all the day and all the night they shall never be silent. You who put the Lord in remembrance, take no rest.
  15. Cross References
    Isaiah 33:17
    Your eyes will behold the king in his beauty; they will see a land that stretches afar.
    Isaiah 33:22
    For the Lord is our judge; the Lord is our lawgiver; the Lord is our king; he will save us.
    1 Corinthians 13:12
    For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
    1 John 3:2
    Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.
    Revelation 22:4
    They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.
  16. Cross References
    Psalms 98:4
    Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises!
  17. Cross References
    Isaiah 58:12
    And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in.
  18. Cross References
    Isaiah 40:1
    Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
    Isaiah 51:3
    For the Lord comforts Zion; he comforts all her waste places and makes her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the garden of the Lord ; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song.
    Isaiah 51:12
    I, I am he who comforts you; who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, of the son of man who is made like grass.
  19. Cross References
    Isaiah 51:9
    Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord ; awake, as in days of old, the generations of long ago. Was it not you who cut Rahab in pieces, who pierced the dragon?
  20. Cross References
    Psalms 98:3
    He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
    Luke 3:6
    And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'
  21. Cross References
    Isaiah 48:20
    Go out from Babylon, flee from Chaldea, declare...
    Jeremiah 50:8
    Flee from the midst of Babylon, and go out of t...
    Jeremiah 51:6
    Flee from the midst of Babylon; let every one s...
    Jeremiah 51:45
    Go out of the midst of her, my people! Let ever...
    Zechariah 2:6 - 7
    Up! Up! Flee from the land of the north, declar...
    2 Corinthians 6:17
    Therefore go out from their midst, and be separ...
    Revelation 18:4
    Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, ...
  22. Cross References
    Ezra 1:7 - 11
    Cyrus the king also brought out the vessels of the house of the Lord that Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his gods.
  23. Cross References
    Exodus 12:11
    In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord 's Passover.
    Exodus 12:33
    The Egyptians were urgent with the people to send them out of the land in haste. For they said, "We shall all be dead.
    Exodus 12:39
    And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough that they had brought out of Egypt, for it was not leavened, because they were thrust out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves.
  24. Cross References
    Micah 2:13
    He who opens the breach goes up before them; they break through and pass the gate, going out by it. Their king passes on before them, the Lord at their head.
    Exodus 14:19
    Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them.
  25. Cross References
    Isaiah 58:8
    Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
  26. Cross References
    Isaiah 42:1
    Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.
  27. Cross References
    Isaiah 53:2 - 3
    For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.
  28. Cross References
    Leviticus 4:6
    And the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle part of the blood seven times before the Lord in front of the veil of the sanctuary.
    Leviticus 4:17
    And the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times before the Lord in front of the veil.
  29. Cross References
    Isaiah 49:7
    Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation, the servant of rulers: "Kings shall see and arise; princes, and they shall prostrate themselves; because of the Lord, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.
    Isaiah 49:23
    Kings shall be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you, and lick the dust of your feet. Then you will know that I am the Lord ; those who wait for me shall not be put to shame.
  30. Cross References
    Romans 15:21
    But as it is written, "Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand.
    Romans 16:25
    Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages
  31. Cross References
    John 12:38
    So that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: "Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
    Romans 10:16
    But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?
  32. Cross References
    Isaiah 51:9
    Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord ; awake, as in days of old, the generations of long ago. Was it not you who cut Rahab in pieces, who pierced the dragon?
  33. Cross References
    Isaiah 11:1
    There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
  34. Cross References
    Isaiah 52:14
    As many were astonished at you - his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind -
  35. Cross References
    Isaiah 49:7
    Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation, the servant of rulers: "Kings shall see and arise; princes, and they shall prostrate themselves; because of the Lord, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.
    Psalms 22:6
    But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people.
    Mark 9:12
    And he said to them, "Elijah does come first to restore all things. And how is it written of the Son of Man that he should suffer many things and be treated with contempt?
  36. Cross References
    John 1:10 - 11
    He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.
  37. Cross References
    Matthew 8:17
    This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: "He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.
  38. Cross References
    Psalms 69:26
    For they persecute him whom you have struck down, and they recount the pain of those you have wounded.
  39. Cross References
    Romans 4:25
    Who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
  40. Cross References
    1 Peter 2:24
    He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
  41. Cross References
    1 Peter 2:25
    For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
    Jeremiah 50:6
    My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray, turning them away on the mountains. From mountain to hill they have gone. They have forgotten their fold.
    Jeremiah 50:17
    Israel is a hunted sheep driven away by lions. First the king of Assyria devoured him, and now at last Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has gnawed his bones.
  42. Cross References
    2 Corinthians 5:21
    For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
    Isaiah 53:10
    Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
    Colossians 2:14
    By canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
  43. Cross References
    Matthew 26:63
    But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to him, "I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.
    Mark 14:61
    But he remained silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?
    John 19:9
    He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, "Where are you from?" But Jesus gave him no answer.
    1 Peter 2:23
    When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.
  44. Cross References
    Acts 8:32
    Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this: "Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth.
  45. Cross References
    Jeremiah 11:19
    But I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter. I did not know it was against me they devised schemes, saying, "Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name be remembered no more.
  46. Cross References
    Isaiah 57:1
    The righteous man perishes, and no one lays it to heart; devout men are taken away, while no one understands. For the righteous man is taken away from calamity.
  47. Cross References
    Matthew 27:57
    When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus.
    Matthew 27:60
    And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away.
  48. Cross References
    1 Peter 2:22
    He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.
    Hebrews 4:15
    For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
    1 John 3:5
    You know that he appeared to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.
  49. Cross References
    Isaiah 53:4
    Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
  50. Cross References
    Isaiah 53:6
    All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned - every one - to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
  51. Cross References
    Isaiah 44:28
    Who says of Cyrus, 'He is my shepherd, and he shall fulfill all my purpose'; saying of Jerusalem, 'She shall be built,' and of the temple, 'Your foundation shall be laid.'
  52. Cross References
    1 John 2:1
    My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
  53. Cross References
    Acts 13:39
    And by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.
    Romans 5:18 - 19
    Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.
  54. Cross References
    Isaiah 53:5
    But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.
  55. Cross References
    Isaiah 52:13
    Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted.
    Philippians 2:9
    Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name.
  56. Cross References
    Colossians 2:15
    He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
  57. Cross References
    Isaiah 53:6
    All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned - every one - to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
    Isaiah 53:8
    By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?
    Isaiah 53:10
    Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.