Isaiah 51:17-23
The Cup of the Lord’s Great Anger
Wake up, Jerusalem!
Wake up! Get up!
The Lord has handed you the cup of his great anger.
And you have drunk from it.
That cup makes people unsteady on their feet.
And you have drunk from it to the very last drop.
Among all the children who were born to you
there was none to guide you.
Among all the children you brought up
there was none to lead you by the hand.
Nothing but trouble has come to you.
You have been wiped out and destroyed.
And you have suffered hunger and war.
No one feels sorry for you.
No one can comfort you.
Your children have fainted.
They lie helpless at every street corner.
They are like antelope that have been caught in a net.
They have felt the full force of the Lord’s great anger.
Jerusalem, your God had to warn them strongly.
So listen to me, you suffering people of Jerusalem.
You have been made drunk, but not by drinking wine.
Your Lord and King speaks.
He is your God.
He stands up for his people. He says,
“I have taken from you the cup of my great anger.
It made you unsteady on your feet.
But you will never drink
from that cup again.
Instead, I will give it to those who made you suffer.
They said to you,
‘Fall down flat on the ground.
Then we can walk all over you.’
And that is exactly what you did.
You made your back like a street to be walked on.”
Isaiah 52:1-15
Wake up! Zion, wake up!
Dress yourself with strength as if it were your clothes.
Holy city of Jerusalem,
put on your clothes of glory.
Those who haven’t been circumcised will never enter you again.
Neither will those who are “unclean.”
Get up, Jerusalem! Shake off your dust.
Take your place on your throne.
Captured people of Zion,
remove the chains from your neck.
The Lord says,
“When you were sold as slaves, no one paid anything for you.
Now no one will pay any money to set you free.”
The Lord and King continues,
“Long ago my people went down to Egypt.
They lived there for a while.
Later, Assyria crushed them without any reason.
“Now look at what has happened to them,” announces the Lord.
“Once again my people have been taken away.
And no one paid anything for them.
Those who rule over them brag about it,”
announces the Lord.
“All day long without stopping,
people speak evil things against my name.
So the day will come when my people will really know the meaning of my name.
They will know what kind of God I am.
They will know that I told them ahead of time they would return to their land.
They will know that it was I.”
What a beautiful sight it is
to see messengers coming with good news!
How beautiful to see them coming down from the mountains
with a message about peace!
How wonderful it is when they bring the good news
that we are saved!
How wonderful when they say to Zion,
“Your God rules!”
Listen! Those on guard duty are shouting out the message.
With their own eyes
they see the Lord returning to Zion.
So they shout for joy.
Burst into songs of joy together,
you broken-down buildings in Jerusalem.
The Lord has comforted his people.
He has set Jerusalem free.
The Lord will use the power of his holy arm to save his people.
All the nations will see him do it.
Everyone from one end of the earth to the other will see it.
You who carry the objects that belong to the Lord’s temple, leave Babylon!
Leave it! Get out of there!
Don’t touch anything that isn’t pure and “clean.”
Come out of Babylon and be pure.
But this time you won’t have to leave in a hurry.
You won’t have to rush away.
The Lord will go ahead of you and lead you.
The God of Israel will follow behind you and guard you.
The Suffering and Glory of the Lord’s Servant
The Lord says, “My servant will act wisely and accomplish his task.
He will be highly honored. He will be greatly respected.
Many people were shocked when they saw him.
He was so scarred that he no longer looked like a person.
His body was so twisted that he did not look like a human being anymore.
But many nations will be surprised when they see what he has done.
Kings will be so amazed that they will not be able to say anything.
They will understand things they were never told.
They will know the meaning of things they never heard.”
Isaiah 53:1-12
Who has believed what we’ve been saying?
Who has seen the Lord’s saving power?
His servant grew up like a tender young plant.
He grew like a root coming up out of dry ground.
He didn’t have any beauty or majesty that made us notice him.
There wasn’t anything special about the way he looked that drew us to him.
People looked down on him. They didn’t accept him.
He knew all about pain and suffering.
He was like someone people turn their faces away from.
We looked down on him. We didn’t have any respect for him.
He suffered the things we should have suffered.
He took on himself the pain that should have been ours.
But we thought God was punishing him.
We thought God was wounding him and making him suffer.
But the servant was pierced because we had sinned.
He was crushed because we had done what was evil.
He was punished to make us whole again.
His wounds have healed us.
All of us are like sheep. We have wandered away from God.
All of us have turned to our own way.
And the Lord has placed on his servant
the sins of all of us.
He was treated badly and made to suffer.
But he didn’t open his mouth.
He was led away like a lamb to be killed.
Sheep are silent while their wool is being cut off.
In the same way, he didn’t open his mouth.
He was arrested and sentenced to death.
Then he was taken away.
He was cut off from this life.
He was punished for the sins of my people.
Who among those who were living at that time
tried to stop what was happening?
He was given a grave with those who were evil.
But his body was buried in the tomb of a rich man.
He was killed even though he hadn’t harmed anyone.
And he had never lied to anyone.
The Lord says, “It was my plan to crush him
and cause him to suffer.
I made his life an offering to pay for sin.
But he will see all his children after him.
In fact, he will continue to live.
My plan will be brought about through him.
After he has suffered, he will see the light of life.
And he will be satisfied.
My godly servant will make many people godly
because of what he will accomplish.
He will be punished for their sins.
So I will give him a place of honor among those who are great.
He will be rewarded just like others who win the battle.
That’s because he was willing to give his life as a sacrifice.
He was counted among those who had committed crimes.
He took the sins of many people on himself.
And he gave his life for those who had done what is wrong.”
Isaiah 54:1-17
Jerusalem Will Be Glorious
“Jerusalem, sing!
You are now like a woman who never had a child.
Burst into song! Shout for joy!
You who have never had labor pains,
you are now all alone.
But you will have more children than a woman who still has a husband,”
says the Lord.
“Make a large area for your tent.
Spread out its curtains.
Go ahead and make your tent wider.
Make its ropes longer.
Drive the stakes down deeper.
You will spread out to the right and the left.
Your children after you will drive out the nations that are now living in your land.
They will make their homes in the deserted cities of those nations.
“Do not be afraid. You will not be put to shame anymore.
Do not be afraid of being dishonored.
People will no longer make fun of you.
You will forget the time when you suffered as slaves in Egypt.
You will no longer remember the shame
of being a widow in Babylon.
I made you. I am now your husband.
My name is the Lord Who Rules Over All.
I am the Holy One of Israel.
I have set you free.
I am the God of the whole earth.
You were like a wife who was deserted.
And her heart was broken.
You were like a wife who married young.
And her husband sent her away.
But now I am calling you to come back,” says your God.
“For a brief moment I left you.
But because I love you so much, I will bring you back.
For a moment I turned my face away from you.
I was very angry with you.
But I will show you my loving concern.
My faithful love will continue forever,”
says the Lord. He is the one who set you free.
“During Noah’s time I made a promise.
I said I would never cover the earth with water again.
In the same way, I have promised not to be angry with you.
I will never punish you again.
The mountains might shake.
The hills might be removed.
But my faithful love for you will never be shaken.
And my covenant that promises peace to you will never be removed,”
says the Lord. He shows you his loving concern.
“Suffering city, you have been beaten by storms.
You have not been comforted.
I will rebuild you with turquoise stones.
I will rebuild your foundations with lapis lazuli.
I will line the top of your city wall with rubies.
I will make your gates out of gleaming jewels.
And I will make all your walls out of precious stones.
I will teach all your children.
And they will enjoy great peace.
When you do what is right,
you will be made secure.
Your leaders will not be mean to you.
You will not have anything to be afraid of.
You will not be terrified anymore.
Terror will not come near you.
People might attack you. But I will not be the cause of it.
Those who attack you will give themselves up to you.
“I created blacksmiths.
They fan the coals into flames of fire.
They make weapons that are fit for their work.
I also created those who destroy others.
But no weapon used against you will succeed.
People might bring charges against you.
But you will prove that they are wrong.
Those are the things I do for my servants.
I make everything right for them,”
announces the Lord.
