Isaiah 53

What God's Servant Did for Us

¹Has anyone believed us[#Ro 10.16; Jn 12.38.]

or seen the mighty power

of the Lord in action?

²Like a young plant or a root

that sprouts in dry ground,

the servant grew up

obeying the Lord .

He wasn't some handsome king.

Nothing about the way he looked

made him attractive to us.

³He was hated and rejected;

his life was filled with sorrow

and terrible suffering.

No one wanted to look at him.

We despised him and said,

“He is a nobody!”

⁴He suffered and endured

great pain for us,

but we thought his suffering

was punishment from God.

⁵He was wounded and crushed[#Mt 8.17; 1 P 2.24.; #4 Macc 6.29.]

because of our sins;

by taking our punishment,

he made us completely well.

⁶All of us were like sheep[#1 P 2.25.]

that had wandered off.

We had each gone our own way,

but the Lord gave him

the punishment we deserved.

⁷He was painfully abused,[#Rev 5.6.; #Ac 8.32,33.; #4 Macc 10.18.]

but he did not complain.

He was silent like a lamb

being led to the butcher,

as quiet as a sheep

having its wool cut off.

⁸He was condemned to death

without a fair trial.

Who could have imagined

what would happen to him?

His life was taken away

because of the sinful things

my people had done.

⁹He wasn't dishonest or violent,[#1 P 2.22.]

but he was buried in a tomb

among cruel, rich people.

¹⁰The Lord decided his servant

would suffer as a sacrifice

to take away the sin

and guilt of others.

Now the servant will live

to see his own descendants.

He did everything

the Lord had planned.

¹¹By suffering, the servant

will learn the true meaning

of obeying the Lord .

Although he is innocent,

he will take the punishment

for the sins of others,

so that many of them

will no longer be guilty.

¹²The Lord will reward him[#Mk 15.27,28; Lk 22.37.]

with honor and power

for sacrificing his life.

Others thought he was a sinner,

but he suffered for our sins

and asked God to forgive us.