Chapter 52 – Chapter 56

Chapter 52

CHAPTER 52

1 Awake, awake, O Zion! Be clothed with thy strength, Be clothed with the garments of thy beauty, O Jerusalem! the holy city; For there shall no longer come into thee, The uncircumcised And unclean.

2 Shake thyself from the dust; Arise, sit, O Jerusalem! Loose thyself from the chains of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion!

3 For rims saith Jehovah for naught were ye sold; Therefore shall ye be redeemed without money.

4 For thus saith the Lord Jehovah Into Egypt my people went down aforetime, That they might sojourn there; But Assyria hath oppressed them without cause.

5 And now, What have I here, saith Jehovah, That my people should be carried away for naught, And that they who rule over them should cause them to howl, Saith Jehovah, And that every day continually: My name should be exposed to reproach?

6 Therefore shall my people know my name; Therefore shall they know in that day That it is I who speak; Behold! I shall be present.

7 How beautiful upon the mountains Are the feet of him that bringeth tidings, That proclaimeth peace, That bringeth good tidings, That proclaimeth salvation, That saith to Zion, Thy God reigneth!

8 The voice of thy watchmen! They have lifted up the voice; They shall shout for joy together; For they shall see eye to eye, When Jehovah shall restore Zion.

9 Praise ye, And rejoice together, Ye wildernesses of Jerusalem; For Jehovah hath comforted his people; He hath redeemed Jerusalem.

10 Before the eyes of all the nations Jehovah hath made bare the arm of his holiness; And all the ends of the earth Shall see the salvation of our God.

11 Depart ye, depart ye; Go ye out thence; Touch not the unclean thing; Go ye out of the midst of her; Be clean, ye that bear the vessels of Jehovah.

12 For not in haste shall ye go out, And not in flight shall be your journey; For Jehovah shall go before you, And the God of Israel shall assemble you.

13 Behold! my servant shall have prosperous success, Shall be exalted, Shall be lifted up, And shall be very high.

14 As many were shocked at thee; (So much was his face disfigured by men, And his form by the sons of men;)

Note 238. Or, More than men.

Note 239. Or, More than the sons of men.

15 So shall he sprinkle many nations; Kings shall shut their mouths on him; For what had not been declared to them they shall see, And what they had not heard they shall understand.

Chapter 53

CHAPTER 53

1 Who will believe our report? And to whom hath the arm of Jehovah been revealed?

2 Yet he shall grow up before him as a twig, And as a root out of a desert land; He hath no form nor beauty; We will see him; And his countenance is not such that we should desire him.

3 Despised And rejected among men; A man of sorrows; Acquainted with infirmity; We hid, as it were, the face from him; And we did not at all esteem him.

4 Surely our sicknesses he bare; And our sorrows he carried; And we thought him to be smitten, Wounded by God And afflicted.

5 But he was wounded for our iniquities; He was bruised for our sins; The chastisement of our peace was upon him; And in his wound we have healing.

Note 240. Or, In his medicine.

6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray; Every one hath turned to his own way; And Jehovah hath laid upon him the iniquities of us all.

7 He was condemned And afflicted; And he opened not his mouth. As a lamb shall he be led to the slaughter; And as a sheep before her shearers shall he be dumb, And shall not open his mouth.

Note 241. Or, Oppressed.

8 From prison And judgment was he taken; And who shall relate his generation? For he was cut off out of the land of the living; For the transgression of my people was he wounded.

9 And he laid open to wicked men his grave, And to the rich man his death. Although he did no iniquity, And there was no deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet Jehovah was pleased to bruise him, And to subject him to infirmity. When he shall have offered his soul as a sacrifice, He shall see a seed; He shall prolong his days; And the will of Jehovah shall prosper in his hand.

Note 242. Or, He shall see posterity.

11 Of the labor of his soul he shall see, And shall be satisfied; And by his doctrine shall my righteous servant justify many; For he shall bear their iniquities.

Note 243. Or, By the knowledge of him.

12 Therefore will I divide to him a portion with the great; And he shall divide the spoil with the strong; Because he poured out his soul unto death, And was ranked with the transgressors; He bare the sin of many, And prayed for the transgressors.

Chapter 54

CHAPTER 54

1 Shout, O barrens that didst not bear; Shout And sing, thou that didst not conceive; For more are the children of the widow, Than the children of the married woman, saith Jehovah.

2 Widen the place of thy tabernacles; And let them stretch out the curtains of thy tents; Spare not; Lengthen thy cords; And strengthen thy stakes.

3 For on the right hand And on the left thou shalt be multiplied; And thy seed shall possess the Gentiles; And they shall inhabit the desolate cities.

4 Fear not, for thou shalt not be ashamed; And blush not, for thou shalt not be exposed to disgrace; Yea, the shame of thy youth thou shalt forget; And the reproach of thy widowhood thou shalt no longer remember.

5 For thy husband is thy Make, Whose name is Jehovah of hosts; And thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.

Note 244. Or, The Holy One of Israel shall be called the Redeemer And God of the whole earth.

6 For as a woman forsaken And broken in spirit Jehovah hath called thee; And a wife of youth, Who hadst been dismissed, Saith thy God.

7 For a little moment have I forsaken thee, And with great mercies will I gather thee.

8 In a moment of wrath I hid my face for a little from thee; But with everlasting kindness have I had compassion on thee, Saith Jehovah thy Redeemer.

9 For the waters of Noah this is to me; As I have sworn that the waters of Noah Shall no more pass over the earth; So have I sworn that I will not be wroth with thee, To rebuke thee.

Note 245. Or, As the days of Noah.

10 For the mountains shall indeed be shaken, And the hills shall tremble; But my mercy shall not depart from thee, And the covenant of my peace shall not waver, Saith Jehovah, who hath compassion on thee.

11 O thou wretched, tossed by a tempest, Destitute of consolation; Behold! I will build thy stones on carbuncles, And will found thee on sapphires.

12 And I will lay thy windows with pearls, And thy gates with shilling stone, And all thy borders with precious stone.

13 For all thy children shall be taught by Jehovah, And thy children shall have great peace.

14 In righteousness shalt thou be equipped; Thou shalt be far from oppression, for thou shalt not fear it; And from terror, for it shall not come near thee.

15 And he who assembleth shall assemble against thee without me; He who assembleth in thee shall fall against thee.

16 Behold! I have created the smith, That bloweth the coals in the fire, And bringeth out the instrument for his work; I have created the waster to destroy.

17 No instrument that hath been formed against thee shall prosper; And every tongue that hath risen against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the inheritance of the servants of Jehovah; And their righteousness is from me, saith Jehovah.

Chapter 55

CHAPTER 55

1 Ho! all that are thirsty, Come ye to the waters; And ye who have not money, Come ye, buy, And eat. Come ye, buy without money, And wine And milk without any price.

2 Wherefore do ye spend money, not for bread? And your labor, not so as to be satisfied, Hear ye by hearing me; And eat ye that which is good; And let your soul delight itself in fatness.

Note 246. Or, Weigh out.

3 Incline your ear, And come to me; Hear, And your soul shall live; And I will strike a covenant of eternity with you, The faithful mercies of David.

4 Behold I have given him a witness to the peoples, A leader And instructor to the peoples.

5 Behold! thou shalt call a nation which thou knowest not; And a nation that knew not thee shall run to thee; For the sake of Jehovah thy God, And of the Holy One of Israel; For he hath glorified thee.

6 Seek ye Jehovah, while he is found; Call upon him, while he is near.

7 Let the wicked man forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to Jehovah, And he will have compassion on him; To our God; for he aboundeth in pardoning.

8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, And my ways are not your ways, saith Jehovah.

9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So far do my ways exceed your ways, And my thoughts your thoughts.

10 Surely, as the rain cometh down, And the snow from heaven, And returneth not thither. But watereth the earth, And causeth it to bring forth And bud. That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater;

11 So shall be my word which shall go out of nay mouth It shall not return to me empty; Till it do what I wish, And accomplish that to which I sent it.

12 Therefore with peace shall ye go out, And with peace shall ye be led forth; The mountains And hills shall break out before you into joy, And all the trees of the fields shall clap their hands.

13 Instead of the bramble shall grow up the fir-tree; And instead of the nettle shall grow up the myrtle; And it shall be to Jehovah for a name; For an everlasting covenant, that shall not be cut off.

Note 247. Or, The thorn.

Note 248. Or, The Elm.

Chapter 56

CHAPTER 56

1 Thus saith Jehovah; Keep ye judgment, And do righteousness; For my salvation is near, that it may come; And my righteousness, that it may be revealed.

2 Happy is the man who shall do this, And the son of man who shall take hold of this; Keeping the Sabbath, so that he may not profane it; And keeping his hand, that he may abstain from all that is evil.

3 And let not the son, that is a foreigner, speak, That is joined to Jehovah, saying, By separating hath Jehovah separated me from his people; And let not the eunuch say, I am a dry tree.

4 For thus saith Jehovah to the eunuchs, Who keep my Sabbaths, And choose the things that please me, And take hold of my covenant;

5 In my house And within my walls, I will give to them a place And a name Better than of sons And of daughters; I will give to them an everlasting name, Which shall not be cut off.

6 The children, I say, of the foreigner, Who shall be joined to Jehovah? That they may minister to him, And may love the name of Jehovah; That they may be his servants; Whosoever shall keep the Sabbath, so that he may not profane it, And shall embrace my covenant:

7 Them will I bring into the mountain of my holiness, And will make them joyful in my house of prayer; Their burnt-offerings And sacrifices Shall be acceptable on mine altar; For my house shall be called A house of prayer to all peoples,

8 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Who gathereth the outcasts of Israel: Still more will I gather upon him his gathered.

9 O all ye beasts of the field! Come to devour; O all ye beasts of the forest!

10 His watchmen are blind; All are ignorant; All are dumb dogs, that cannot bark; They lie down And sleep; They love slumber.

11 And those dogs, strong of appetite, know not to be satisfied; The shepherds themselves know not? nor understand; All of them look to their own ways; Every one to his gain from his end.

12 Come ye, I will fletch wine; We shall drink strong liquor; As today, so shall be tomorrow, Or better, And more abundant.