7
How beautiful on the mountains
are the feet of the herald,
who proclaims peace,
who brings news of good things,
who proclaims salvation,
who says to Zion, “Your God reigns! ”
8
The voices of your watchmen —
they lift up their voices,
shouting for joy together;
for every eye will see
when the
Lord
returns to Zion.
9
Be joyful, rejoice together,
you ruins of Jerusalem!
For the
Lord
has comforted His people;
He has redeemed Jerusalem.
10
The
Lord
has displayed His holy arm
in the sight of all the nations;
all the ends of the earth will see
the salvation of our God.
11
Leave, leave, go out from there!
Do not touch anything unclean;
go out from her, purify yourselves,
you who carry the vessels of the
Lord
.
12
For you will not leave in a hurry,
and you will not have to take flight;
because the
Lord
is going before you,
and the God of Israel is your rear guard.
The Servant's Suffering and Exaltation
13
See, My Servant will act wisely;
He will be raised and lifted up and greatly exalted.
14
Just as many were appalled at You —
His appearance was so disfigured
that He did not look like a man,
and His form did not resemble a human being —
15
so He will sprinkle many nations.
Kings will shut their mouths because of Him,
For they will see what had not been told them,
and they will understand what they had not heard.
Isaiah
53
Who has believed what we have heard?
And who has the arm of the
Lord
been revealed to?
2
He grew up before Him like a young plant
and like a root out of dry ground.
He didn't have an impressive form
or majesty that we should look at Him,
no appearance that we should desire Him.
3
He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of suffering who knew what sickness was.
He was like someone people turned away from;
He was despised, and we didn't value Him.
4
Yet He Himself bore our sicknesses,
and He carried our pains;
but we in turn regarded Him stricken,
struck down by God, and afflicted.
5
But He was pierced because of our transgressions,
crushed because of our iniquities;
punishment for our peace was on Him,
and we are healed by His wounds.
6
We all went astray like sheep;
we all have turned to our own way;
and the
Lord
has punished Him
for the iniquity of us all.
7
He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet He did not open His mouth.
Like a lamb led to the slaughter
and like a sheep silent before her shearers,
He did not open His mouth.
8
He was taken away because of oppression and judgment;
and who considered His fate?
For He was cut off from the land of the living;
He was struck because of my people's rebellion.
9
They made His grave with the wicked
and with a rich man at His death,
although He had done no violence
and had not spoken deceitfully.
10
Yet the
Lord
was pleased to crush Him severely.
When You make Him a
•restitution
offering,
He will see His
•seed
, He will prolong His days,
and by His hand, the
Lord
's pleasure will be accomplished.
11
He will see it out of His anguish,
and He will be satisfied with His knowledge.
My righteous Servant will justify many,
and He will carry their iniquities.
12
Therefore I will give Him the many as a portion,
and He will receive the mighty as spoil,
because He submitted Himself to death,
and was counted among the rebels;
yet He bore the sin of many
and interceded for the rebels.
Isaiah
Future Glory for Israel
54
“Rejoice, childless one, who did not give birth;
burst into song and shout,
you who have not been in labor!
For the children of the forsaken one will be more
than the children of the married woman,”
says the
Lord
.
2
“Enlarge the site of your tent,
and let your tent curtains be stretched out;
do not hold back;
lengthen your ropes,
and drive your pegs deep.
3
For you will spread out to the right and to the left,
and your descendants will dispossess nations
and inhabit the desolate cities.
4
“Do not be afraid, for you will not be put to shame;
don't be humiliated, for you will not be disgraced.
For you will forget the shame of your youth,
and you will no longer remember
the disgrace of your widowhood.
5
Indeed, your husband is your Maker —
His name is
•Yahweh
of
•Hosts
—
and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer;
He is called the God of all the earth.
6
For the
Lord
has called you,
like a wife deserted and wounded in spirit,
a wife of one's youth when she is rejected,”
says your God.
7
“I deserted you for a brief moment,
but I will take you back with great compassion.
8
In a surge of anger
I hid My face from you for a moment,
but I will have compassion on you
with everlasting love,”
says the
Lord
your Redeemer.
9
“For this is like the days of Noah to Me:
when I swore that the waters of Noah
would never flood the earth again,
so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you
or rebuke you.
10
Though the mountains move
and the hills shake,
My love will not be removed from you
and My covenant of peace will not be shaken,”
says your compassionate
Lord
.
11
“Poor Jerusalem, storm-tossed, and not comforted,
I will set your stones in black mortar,
and lay your foundations in sapphires.
12
I will make your fortifications out of rubies,
your gates out of sparkling stones,
and all your walls out of precious stones.
13
Then all your children will be taught by the
Lord
,
their prosperity will be great,
14
and you will be established
on a foundation of righteousness.
You will be far from oppression,
you will certainly not be afraid;
you will be far from terror,
it will certainly not come near you.
15
If anyone attacks you,
it is not from Me;
whoever attacks you
will fall before you.
16
Look, I have created the craftsman
who blows on the charcoal fire
and produces a weapon suitable for its task;
and I have created the destroyer to cause havoc.
17
No weapon formed against you will succeed,
and you will refute any accusation
raised against you in court.
This is the heritage of the
Lord
's servants,
and their righteousness is from Me.”
This is the
Lord
's declaration.
Isaiah
Come to the
Lord
55
“Come, everyone who is thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you without money,
come, buy, and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost!
2
Why do you spend money on what is not food,
and your wages on what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
and you will enjoy the choicest of foods.
3
Pay attention and come to Me;
listen, so that you will live.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
the promises assured to David.
4
Since I have made him a witness to the peoples,
a leader and commander for the peoples,
5
so you will summon a nation you do not know,
and nations who do not know you will run to you.
For the
Lord
your God,
even the Holy One of Israel,
has glorified you.”
6
Seek the
Lord
while He may be found;
call to Him while He is near.
7
Let the wicked one abandon his way
and the sinful one his thoughts;
let him return to the
Lord
,
so He may have compassion on him,
and to our God, for He will freely forgive.
8
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
and your ways are not My ways.”
This is the
Lord
's declaration.
9
“For as heaven is higher than earth,
so My ways are higher than your ways,
and My thoughts than your thoughts.
10
For just as rain and snow fall from heaven
and do not return there
without saturating the earth
and making it germinate and sprout,
and providing seed to sow
and food to eat,
11
so My word that comes from My mouth
will not return to Me empty,
but it will accomplish what I please
and will prosper in what I send it to do.”
12
You will indeed go out with joy
and be peacefully guided;
the mountains and the hills will break into singing before you,
and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.
13
Instead of the thornbush, a cypress will come up,
and instead of the brier, a myrtle will come up;
it will make a name for
•Yahweh
as an everlasting sign that will not be destroyed.
Isaiah
A House of Prayer for All
56
This is what the
Lord
says:
Preserve justice and do what is right,
for My salvation is coming soon,
and My righteousness will be revealed.
2
Happy is the man who does this,
anyone who maintains this,
who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it,
and keeps his hand from doing any evil.
3
No foreigner who has joined himself to the
Lord
should say,
“The
Lord
will exclude me from His people”;
and the eunuch should not say,
“Look, I am a dried-up tree.”
4
For the
Lord
says this:
“For the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths,
and choose what pleases Me,
and hold firmly to My covenant,
5
I will give them, in My house and within My walls,
a memorial and a name
better than sons and daughters.
I will give each of them an everlasting name
that will never be cut off.
6
And the foreigners who join themselves to the
Lord
minister to Him, love the name of
•Yahweh
and become His servants,
all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it
and who hold firmly to My covenant —
7
I will bring them to My holy mountain
and let them rejoice in My house of prayer.
Their
•burnt
offerings and sacrifices
will be acceptable on My altar,
for My house will be called a house of prayer
for all nations.”
8
This is the declaration of the Lord
God
,
who gathers the dispersed of Israel:
“I will gather to them still others
besides those already gathered.”