Isaiah
Chapter 52

1

Awake, awake! Put on your strength, O Zion; Put on your glorious garments, O Jerusalem, holy city. No longer shall the uncircumcised or the unclean enter you.

2

Shake off the dust, ascend to the throne, Jerusalem; Loose the bonds from your neck, O captive daughter Zion!

3

For thus says the LORD: You were sold for nothing, and without money you shall be redeemed.

4

Thus says the Lord GOD: To Egypt in the beginning my people went down, to sojourn there; Assyria, too, oppressed them for nought.

5

But now, what am I to do here? says the LORD. My people have been taken away without redress; their rulers make a boast of it, says the LORD; all the day my name is constantly reviled.

6

Therefore on that day my people shall know my renown, that it is I who have foretold it. Here I am!

7

¹ How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings glad tidings, Announcing peace, bearing good news, announcing salvation, and saying to Zion, "Your God is King!"

8

Hark! Your watchmen raise a cry, together they shout for joy, For they see directly, before their eyes, the LORD restoring Zion.

9

Break out together in song, O ruins of Jerusalem! For the LORD comforts his people, he redeems Jerusalem.

10

The LORD has bared his holy arm in the sight of all the nations; All the ends of the earth will behold the salvation of our God.

11

² Depart, depart, come forth from there, touch nothing unclean! Out from there! Purify yourselves, you who carry the vessels of the LORD.

12

Yet not in fearful haste will you come out, nor leave in headlong flight, For the LORD comes before you, and your rear guard is the God of Israel.

13

³ See, my servant shall prosper, he shall be raised high and greatly exalted.

14

Even as many were amazed at him-- so marred was his look beyond that of man, and his appearance beyond that of mortals--

15

So shall he startle many nations, because of him kings shall stand speechless; For those who have not been told shall see, those who have not heard shall ponder it.

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Footnotes

¹ [7-10] God leads his people back from Babylon to Zion, from whose ruined walls watchmen . . . shout for joy; cf Romans 10:15.

² [11] From there: from Babylon. Vessels of the LORD: taken to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, now carried back by the exiled priests returning in procession to Zion; cf Ezra 1:7.

³ [52:13-53:12] The last of the four "Servant-of-the-Lord" oracles. An extraordinary description of the sinless Servant, who by his voluntary suffering atones for the sins of his people, and saves them from just punishment at the hands of God. Only in Jesus Christ is the prophecy perfectly fulfilled.

New American Bible Copyright © 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

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