Isaiah 42:1–9; Isaiah 49:1–7; Isaiah 50; Isaiah 52:13–53:12

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Isaiah 42:1–9

The Lord’s Chosen Servant

eBehold fmy servant, whom I uphold,

my chosen, gin whom my soul delights;

hI have put my Spirit upon him;

ihe will bring forth justice to the nations.

He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice,

or make it heard in the street;

ja bruised reed he will not break,

and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;

khe will faithfully bring forth justice.

He will not grow faint or be discouraged1

till he has established justice in the earth;

and lthe coastlands wait for his law.

Thus says God, the Lord,

who created the heavens mand stretched them out,

who spread out the earth and what comes from it,

nwho gives breath to the people on it

and spirit to those who walk in it:

I am the Lord; oI have called you2 in righteousness;

I will take you by the hand and keep you;

I will give you pas a covenant for the people,

qa light for the nations,

rto open the eyes that are blind,

to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,

sfrom the prison those who sit in darkness.

I am the Lord; that is my name;

tmy glory I give to no other,

nor my praise to carved idols.

Behold, the former things have come to pass,

uand new things I now declare;

before they spring forth

I tell you of them.


Isaiah 49:1–7

The Servant of the Lord

Listen to me, kO coastlands,

and give attention, you peoples lfrom afar.

mThe Lord called me from the womb,

from the body of my mother he named my name.

nHe made my mouth like a sharp sword;

oin the shadow of his hand he hid me;

he made me a polished arrow;

in his quiver he hid me away.

And he said to me, You are my servant,

Israel, pin whom I will be glorified.1

qBut I said, I have labored in vain;

I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;

yet surely my right is with the Lord,

and my recompense with my God.

rAnd now the Lord says,

he mwho formed me from the womb to be his servant,

to bring Jacob back to him;

and that Israel might be gathered to him

for sI am honored in the eyes of the Lord,

and my God has become my strength

he says:

It is too light a thing that you should be my servant

to raise up the tribes of Jacob

and to bring back the preserved of Israel;

tI will make you uas a light for the nations,

that vmy salvation may reach to the end of the earth.

Thus says the Lord,

wthe Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One,

xto one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation,

the servant of rulers:

yKings 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 50

Israel’s Sin and the Servant’s Obedience

Thus says the Lord:

Where is gyour mother’s certificate of divorce,

with which hI sent her away?

Or iwhich of my creditors is it

to whom I have sold you?

jBehold, for your iniquities you were sold,

and for your transgressions your mother was sent away.

kWhy, when I came, was there no man;

why, when I called, was there no one to answer?

lIs my hand shortened, that it cannot redeem?

Or have I no power to deliver?

mBehold, by my rebuke nI dry up the sea,

oI make the rivers a desert;

ptheir fish stink for lack of water

and die of thirst.

qI clothe the heavens with blackness

and make sackcloth their covering.

The Lord God has given rme

the tongue of those who are taught,

that sI may know how to sustain with a word

thim who is weary.

Morning by morning he awakens;

he awakens my ear

to hear as those who are taught.

uThe Lord God has opened my ear,

vand I was not rebellious;

I turned not backward.

wI gave my back to those who strike,

and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard;

I hid not my face

from disgrace and spitting.

But the Lord God helps me;

therefore I have not been disgraced;

xtherefore I have set my face like a flint,

and I know that I shall not be put to shame.

yHe who vindicates me is near.

Who will contend with me?

Let us stand up together.

Who is my adversary?

Let him come near to me.

zBehold, the Lord God helps me;

who will declare me guilty?

Behold, all of them will wear out like a garment;

the moth will eat them up.

10  Who among you fears the Lord

and obeys athe voice of his servant?

bLet him who walks in darkness

and has no light

trust in the name of the Lord

and rely on his God.

11  Behold, all you who kindle a fire,

who equip yourselves with burning torches!

Walk by the light of your fire,

and by the torches that you have kindled!

cThis you have from my hand:

you shall lie down in torment.


Isaiah 52:13–53:12

He Was Pierced for Our Transgressions

13  Behold, bmy servant shall act wisely;1

he shall be high and lifted up,

and shall be exalted.

14  As many were astonished at you

chis appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,

and his form beyond that of the children of mankind

15  so dshall he sprinkle2 many nations.

eKings shall shut their mouths because of him,

ffor that which has not been told them they see,

and that which they have not heard they understand.

gWho has believed what he has heard from us?3

And to whom has hthe arm of the Lord been revealed?

For he grew up before him like a young plant,

iand like a root out of dry ground;

jhe had no form or majesty that we should look at him,

and no beauty that we should desire him.

kHe was despised and rejected4 by men,

a man of sorrows5 and acquainted with6 grief;7

and as one from whom men hide their faces8

he was despised, and lwe esteemed him not.

mSurely he has borne our griefs

and carried our sorrows;

yet we esteemed him stricken,

nsmitten by God, and afflicted.

oBut he was pierced for our transgressions;

he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

pand with his wounds we are healed.

qAll we like sheep have gone astray;

we have turnedevery oneto his own way;

rand the Lord has laid on him

the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,

syet he opened not his mouth;

tlike a ulamb that is led to the slaughter,

and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,

so he opened not his mouth.

By oppression and judgment he was taken away;

and as for his generation, vwho considered

that he was cut off out of the land of the living,

stricken for the transgression of my people?

And they made his grave with the wicked

wand with a rich man in his death,

although xhe had done no violence,

and there was no deceit in his mouth.

10  Yet yit was the will of the Lord to crush him;

he has put him to grief;9

zwhen his soul makes10 an offering for guilt,

he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;

athe will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

11  Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see11 and be satisfied;

by his knowledge shall bthe righteous one, my servant,

cmake many to be accounted righteous,

dand he shall bear their iniquities.

12  eTherefore I will divide him a portion with the many,12

fand he shall divide the spoil with the strong,13

because he poured out his soul to death

and was numbered with the transgressors;

gyet he bore the sin of many,

and makes intercession for the transgressors.