Ideal Israel Delivers the Exiles 49:1 Listen to me, you coastlands! Pay attention, you people who live far away! The LORD summoned me from birth; he commissioned me when my mother brought me into the world. 49:2 He made my mouth like a sharp sword, he hid me in the hollow of his hand; he made me like a sharpened arrow, he hid
50:1 This is what the LORD says: “Where is your mother’s divorce certificate by which I divorced her? Or to which of my creditors did I sell you? Look, you were sold because of your sins; because of your rebellious acts I divorced your mother. 50:2 Why does no one challenge me when I come? Why does no one respond when I
There is Hope for the Future 51:1 “Listen to me, you who pursue godliness, who seek the LORD! Look at the rock from which you were chiseled, at the quarry from which you were dug! 51:2 Look at Abraham, your father, and Sarah, who gave you birth. When I summoned him, he was a lone individual, but I blessed him and gave him
52:1 Wake up! Wake up! Clothe yourself with strength, O Zion! Put on your beautiful clothes, O Jerusalem, holy city! For uncircumcised and unclean pagans will no longer invade you. 52:2 Shake off the dirt! Get up, captive Jerusalem! Take off the iron chains around your neck, O captive daughter Zion! 52:3 For this is what the LORD says: “You were sold for nothing, and you will
53:1 Who would have believed what we just heard? When was the LORD’s power revealed through him? 53:2 He sprouted up like a twig before God, like a root out of parched soil; he had no stately form or majesty that might catch our attention, no special appearance that we should want to follow him. 53:3 He was despised and rejected
Zion Will Be Secure 54:1 “Shout for joy, O barren one who has not given birth! Give a joyful shout and cry out, you who have not been in labor! For the children of the desolate one are more numerous than the children of the married woman,” says the LORD. 54:2 Make your tent larger, stretch your tent curtains farther out! Spare
The Lord Gives an Invitation 55:1 “Hey, all who are thirsty, come to the water! You who have no money, come! Buy and eat! Come! Buy wine and milk without money and without cost! 55:2 Why pay money for something that will not nourish you? Why spend your hard-earned money on something that will not satisfy? Listen carefully to me and eat what
The Lord Invites Outsiders to Enter 56:1 This is what the LORD says, “Promote justice! Do what is right! For I am ready to deliver you; I am ready to vindicate you openly. 56:2 The people who do this will be blessed, the people who commit themselves to obedience, who observe the Sabbath and do not defile it, who refrain from doing anything
57:1 The godly perish, but no one cares. Honest people disappear, when no one minds that the godly disappear because of evil. 57:2 Those who live uprightly enter a place of peace; they rest on their beds. 57:3 But approach, you sons of omen readers, you offspring of adulteresses and prostitutes! 57:4 At whom are you laughing? At whom are you opening your mouth and sticking
The Lord Desires Genuine Devotion 58:1 “Shout loudly! Don’t be quiet! Yell as loud as a trumpet! Confront my people with their rebellious deeds; confront Jacob’s family with their sin! 58:2 They seek me day after day; they want to know my requirements, like a nation that does what is right and does not reject the law of their God. They ask me for