Isaiah 52

Isaiah 52

Let Zion Rejoice

1Awake; awake;[#Neh 11.1; Isa 51.9, 17; Mt 4.5; Rev 21.2, 27]

put on your strength, O Zion!

Put on your beautiful garments,

O Jerusalem, the holy city,

for the uncircumcised and the unclean

shall enter you no more.

2Shake yourself from the dust; rise up,[#Isa 9.4; 29.4; 51.14]

O captive Jerusalem;

loose the bonds from your neck,

O captive daughter Zion!

3For thus says the Lord : You were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money.[#Ps 44.12; Isa 45.13; 63.4]

4For thus says the Lord God : Long ago, my people went down into Egypt to reside there as aliens; the Assyrian, too, has oppressed them without cause.[#Gen 46.6]

5Now therefore what am I doing here, says the Lord , seeing that my people are taken away without cause? Their rulers howl, says the Lord , and continually, all day long, my name is despised.[#Ezek 36.20; Rom 2.24]

6Therefore my people shall know my name; on that day they shall know that it is I who speak—it is I![#Isa 49.23; #52.6 Q ms Syr Vg Tg: MT therefore on]

7How beautiful upon the mountains[#Ps 93.1; Nah 1.15; Rom 10.15]

are the feet of the messenger who announces peace,

who brings good news,

who announces salvation,

who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”

8Listen! Your sentinels lift up their voices;[#Isa 62.6]

together they shout for joy,

for in plain sight they see

the return of the Lord to Zion.

9Break forth; shout together for joy,[#Isa 44.23, 26; 48.20]

you ruins of Jerusalem,

for the Lord has comforted his people;

he has redeemed Jerusalem.

10The Lord has bared his holy arm[#Ps 98.2, 3; Isa 45.22; 48.20; Lk 3.6]

before the eyes of all the nations,

and all the ends of the earth shall see

the salvation of our God.

11Depart, depart, go out from there![#Isa 1.16; Jer 50.8; 2 Cor 6.17; 2 Tim 2.19]

Touch no unclean thing;

go out from the midst of it; purify yourselves,

you who carry the vessels of the Lord .

12For you shall not go out in haste,[#Ex 12.33; Isa 42.16; 58.8]

and you shall not go in flight,

for the Lord will go before you,

and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.

The Suffering Servant

13See, my servant shall prosper;[#Isa 42.1; Phil 2.9]

he shall be exalted and lifted up

and shall be very high.

14Just as there were many who were astonished at him[#Ps 22.6, 7; Isa 53.2, 3; #52.14 Syr Tg: Heb you]

—so marred was his appearance, beyond human semblance,

and his form beyond that of mortals—

15so he shall startle many nations;[#Ezek 36.25; Rom 15.21; #52.15 Meaning of Heb uncertain]

kings shall shut their mouths because of him,

for that which had not been told them they shall see,

and that which they had not heard they shall contemplate.

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, copyright © 2021 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Published by: National Council of the Churches of Christ