The fourth servant song#
Pre-reading#
Idea/question/discussion point spreadsheet.
Read Isaiah, chapters 51-58
¹ Listen to me, you who pursue justice,
who seek the Lord;
Look to the rock from which you were hewn,
to the quarry from which you were taken;
² Look to Abraham, your father,
and to Sarah, who gave you birth;
Though he was but one when I called him,
I blessed him and made him many.
³ Yes, the Lord shall comfort Zion,
shall comfort all her ruins;
Her wilderness he shall make like Eden,
her wasteland like the garden of the Lord;
Joy and gladness shall be found in her,
thanksgiving and the sound of song.
⁴ Be attentive to me, my people;
my nation, give ear to me.
For teaching shall go forth from me,
and my judgment, as light to the peoples.
⁵ I will make my victory come swiftly;
my salvation shall go forth
and my arm shall judge the nations;
In me the coastlands shall hope,
and my arm they shall await.
⁶ Raise your eyes to the heavens,
look at the earth below;
Though the heavens vanish like smoke,
the earth wear out like a garment
and its inhabitants die like flies,
My salvation shall remain forever
and my victory shall always be firm.
⁷ Hear me, you who know justice,
you people who have my teaching at heart:
Do not fear the reproach of others;
remain firm at their revilings.
⁸ They shall be like a garment eaten by moths,
like wool consumed by grubs;
But my victory shall remain forever,
my salvation, for all generations.
⁹ Awake, awake, put on strength,
arm of the Lord!
Awake as in the days of old,
in ages long ago!
Was it not you who crushed Rahab,
you who pierced the dragon?
¹⁰ Was it not you who dried up the sea,
the waters of the great deep,
You who made the depths of the sea into a way
for the redeemed to pass through?
¹¹ Those whom the Lord has ransomed will return
and enter Zion singing,
crowned with everlasting joy;
They will meet with joy and gladness,
sorrow and mourning will flee.
¹² I, it is I who comfort you.
Can you then fear mortals who die,
human beings who are just grass,
¹³ And forget the Lord, your maker,
who stretched out the heavens
and laid the foundations of earth?
All the day you are in constant dread
of the fury of the oppressor
When he prepares himself to destroy;
but where is the oppressor’s fury?
¹⁴ The captives shall soon be released;
they shall not die and go down into the pit,
nor shall they want for bread.
¹⁵ For I am the Lord, your God,
who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar;
the Lord of hosts by name.
¹⁶ I have put my words into your mouth,
I covered you, shielded by my hand,
Stretching out the heavens,
laying the foundations of the earth,
saying to Zion: You are my people.
¹⁷ Wake up, wake up!
Arise, Jerusalem,
You who drank at the Lord’s hand
the cup of his wrath;
Who drained to the dregs
the bowl of staggering!
¹⁸ She has no one to guide her
of all the children she bore;
She has no one to take her by the hand,
of all the children she reared!—
¹⁹ Your misfortunes are double;
who is there to grieve with you?
Desolation and destruction, famine and sword!
Who is there to comfort you?
²⁰ Your children lie helpless
at every street corner
like antelopes in a net.
They are filled with the wrath of the Lord,
the rebuke of your God.
²¹ But now, hear this, afflicted one,
drunk, but not with wine,
²² Thus says the Lord, your Master,
your God, who defends his people:
See, I am taking from your hand
the cup of staggering;
The bowl of my wrath
you shall no longer drink.
²³ I will put it into the hands of your tormentors,
those who said to you,
“Bow down, that we may walk over you.”
So you offered your back like the ground,
like the street for them to walk on.
¹ Awake, awake!
Put on your strength, Zion;
Put on your glorious garments,
Jerusalem, holy city.
Never again shall the uncircumcised
or the unclean enter you.
² Arise, shake off the dust,
sit enthroned, Jerusalem;
Loose the bonds from your neck,
captive daughter Zion!
³ For thus says the Lord:
For nothing you were sold,
without money you shall be redeemed.
⁴ For thus says the Lord God:
To Egypt long ago my people went down,
to sojourn there;
Assyria, too, oppressed them for nought.
⁵ But now, what am I to do here?
—oracle of the Lord.
My people have been taken away for nothing;
their rulers mock, oracle of the Lord;
constantly, every day, my name is reviled.
⁶ Therefore my people shall know my name
on that day, that it is I who speaks: Here I am!
⁷ How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of the one bringing good news,
Announcing peace, bearing good news,
announcing salvation, saying to Zion,
“Your God is King!”
⁸ Listen! Your sentinels raise a cry,
together they shout for joy,
For they see directly, before their eyes,
the Lord’s return to Zion.
⁹ Break out together in song,
O ruins of Jerusalem!
For the Lord has comforted his people,
has redeemed Jerusalem.
¹⁰ The Lord has bared his holy arm
in the sight of all the nations;
All the ends of the earth can see
the salvation of our God.
¹¹ Depart, depart, go out from there,
touch nothing unclean!
Out from there! Purify yourselves,
you who carry the vessels of the Lord.
¹² But not in hurried flight will you go out,
nor leave in headlong haste,
For the Lord goes before you,
and your rear guard is the God of Israel.
¹³ See, my servant shall prosper,
he shall be raised high and greatly exalted.
¹⁴ Even as many were amazed at him—
so marred were his features,
beyond that of mortals
his appearance, beyond that of human beings—
¹⁵ So shall he startle many nations,
kings shall stand speechless;
For those who have not been told shall see,
those who have not heard shall ponder it.
¹ Who would believe what we have heard?
To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
² He grew up like a sapling before him,
like a shoot from the parched earth;
He had no majestic bearing to catch our eye,
no beauty to draw us to him.
³ He was spurned and avoided by men,
a man of suffering, knowing pain,
Like one from whom you turn your face,
spurned, and we held him in no esteem.
⁴ Yet it was our pain that he bore,
our sufferings he endured.
We thought of him as stricken,
struck down by God and afflicted,
⁵ But he was pierced for our sins,
crushed for our iniquity.
He bore the punishment that makes us whole,
by his wounds we were healed.
⁶ We had all gone astray like sheep,
all following our own way;
But the Lord laid upon him
the guilt of us all.
⁷ Though harshly treated, he submitted
and did not open his mouth;
Like a lamb led to slaughter
or a sheep silent before shearers,
he did not open his mouth.
⁸ Seized and condemned, he was taken away.
Who would have thought any more of his destiny?
For he was cut off from the land of the living,
struck for the sins of his people.
⁹ He was given a grave among the wicked,
a burial place with evildoers,
Though he had done no wrong,
nor was deceit found in his mouth.
¹⁰ But it was the Lord’s will to crush him with pain.
By making his life as a reparation offering,
he shall see his offspring, shall lengthen his days,
and the Lord’s will shall be accomplished through him.
¹¹ Because of his anguish he shall see the light;
because of his knowledge he shall be content;
My servant, the just one, shall justify the many,
their iniquity he shall bear.
¹² Therefore I will give him his portion among the many,
and he shall divide the spoils with the mighty,
Because he surrendered himself to death,
was counted among the transgressors,
Bore the sins of many,
and interceded for the transgressors.
¹ Raise a glad cry, you barren one who never bore a child,
break forth in jubilant song, you who have never been in labor,
For more numerous are the children of the deserted wife
than the children of her who has a husband,
says the Lord.
² Enlarge the space for your tent,
spread out your tent cloths unsparingly;
lengthen your ropes and make firm your pegs.
³ For you shall spread abroad to the right and left;
your descendants shall dispossess the nations
and shall people the deserted cities.
⁴ Do not fear, you shall not be put to shame;
do not be discouraged, you shall not be disgraced.
For the shame of your youth you shall forget,
the reproach of your widowhood no longer remember.
⁵ For your husband is your Maker;
the Lord of hosts is his name,
Your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel,
called God of all the earth.
⁶ The Lord calls you back,
like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit,
A wife married in youth and then cast off,
says your God.
⁷ For a brief moment I abandoned you,
but with great tenderness I will take you back.
⁸ In an outburst of wrath, for a moment
I hid my face from you;
But with enduring love I take pity on you,
says the Lord, your redeemer.
⁹ This is for me like the days of Noah:
As I swore then that the waters of Noah
should never again flood the earth,
So I have sworn now not to be angry with you,
or to rebuke you.
¹⁰ Though the mountains fall away
and the hills be shaken,
My love shall never fall away from you
nor my covenant of peace be shaken,
says the Lord, who has mercy on you.
¹¹ O afflicted one, storm-battered and unconsoled,
I lay your pavements in carnelians,
your foundations in sapphires;
¹² I will make your battlements of rubies,
your gates of jewels,
and all your walls of precious stones.
¹³ All your children shall be taught by the Lord;
great shall be the peace of your children.
¹⁴ In justice shall you be established,
far from oppression, you shall not fear,
from destruction, it cannot come near.
¹⁵ If there be an attack, it is not my doing;
whoever attacks shall fall before you.
¹⁶ See, I have created the smith
who blows on the burning coals
and forges weapons as his work;
It is I also who have created
the destroyer to work havoc.
¹⁷ Every weapon fashioned against you shall fail;
every tongue that brings you to trial
you shall prove false.
This is the lot of the servants of the Lord,
their vindication from me—oracle of the Lord.
¹ All you who are thirsty,
come to the water!
You who have no money,
come, buy grain and eat;
Come, buy grain without money,
wine and milk without cost!
² Why spend your money for what is not bread;
your wages for what does not satisfy?
Only listen to me, and you shall eat well,
you shall delight in rich fare.
³ Pay attention and come to me;
listen, that you may have life.
I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
the steadfast loyalty promised to David.
⁴ As I made him a witness to peoples,
a leader and commander of peoples,
⁵ So shall you summon a nation you knew not,
and a nation that knew you not shall run to you,
Because of the Lord, your God,
the Holy One of Israel, who has glorified you.
⁶ Seek the Lord while he may be found,
call upon him while he is near.
⁷ Let the wicked forsake their way,
and sinners their thoughts;
Let them turn to the Lord to find mercy;
to our God, who is generous in forgiving.
⁸ For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor are your ways my ways—oracle of the Lord.
⁹ For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways,
my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
¹⁰ Yet just as from the heavens
the rain and snow come down
And do not return there
till they have watered the earth,
making it fertile and fruitful,
Giving seed to the one who sows
and bread to the one who eats,
¹¹ So shall my word be
that goes forth from my mouth;
It shall not return to me empty,
but shall do what pleases me,
achieving the end for which I sent it.
¹² Yes, in joy you shall go forth,
in peace you shall be brought home;
Mountains and hills shall break out in song before you,
all trees of the field shall clap their hands.
¹³ In place of the thornbush, the cypress shall grow,
instead of nettles, the myrtle.
This shall be to the Lord’s renown,
as an everlasting sign that shall not fail.
¹ Thus says the Lord:
Observe what is right, do what is just,
for my salvation is about to come,
my justice, about to be revealed.
² Happy is the one who does this,
whoever holds fast to it:
Keeping the sabbath without profaning it,
keeping one’s hand from doing any evil.
³ The foreigner joined to the Lord should not say,
“The Lord will surely exclude me from his people”;
Nor should the eunuch say,
“See, I am a dry tree.”
⁴ For thus says the Lord:
To the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths,
who choose what pleases me,
and who hold fast to my covenant,
⁵ I will give them, in my house
and within my walls, a monument and a name
Better than sons and daughters;
an eternal name, which shall not be cut off, will I give them.
⁶ And foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,
to minister to him,
To love the name of the Lord,
to become his servants—
All who keep the sabbath without profaning it
and hold fast to my covenant,
⁷ Them I will bring to my holy mountain
and make them joyful in my house of prayer;
Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
will be acceptable on my altar,
For my house shall be called
a house of prayer for all peoples.
⁸ Oracle of the Lord God,
who gathers the dispersed of Israel—
Others will I gather to them
besides those already gathered.
⁹ All you beasts of the field,
come to devour,
all you beasts in the forest!
¹⁰ All the sentinels of Israel are blind,
they are without knowledge;
They are all mute dogs,
unable to bark;
Dreaming, reclining,
loving their sleep.
¹¹ Yes, the dogs have a ravenous appetite;
they never know satiety,
Shepherds who have no understanding;
all have turned their own way,
each one covetous for gain:
¹² “Come, let me bring wine;
let us fill ourselves with strong drink,
And tomorrow will be like today,
or even greater.”
¹ The just have perished,
but no one takes it to heart;
The steadfast are swept away,
while no one understands.
Yet the just are taken away from the presence of evil,
² and enter into peace;
They rest upon their couches,
the sincere, who walk in integrity.
³ But you, draw near,
you children of a sorceress,
offspring of an adulterer and a prostitute!
⁴ Against whom do you make sport,
against whom do you open wide your mouth,
and stick out your tongue?
Are you not rebellious children,
deceitful offspring—
⁵ You who burn with lust among the oaks,
under every green tree;
You who immolate children in the wadies,
among the clefts of the rocks?
⁶ Among the smooth stones of the wadi is your portion,
they, they are your allotment;
Indeed, you poured out a drink offering to them,
and brought up grain offerings.
With these things, should I be appeased?
⁷ Upon a towering and lofty mountain
you set up your bed,
and there you went up to offer sacrifice.
⁸ Behind the door and the doorpost
you set up your symbol.
Yes, deserting me, you carried up your bedding;
and spread it wide.
You entered an agreement with them,
you loved their couch, you gazed upon nakedness.
⁹ You approached the king with oil,
and multiplied your perfumes;
You sent your ambassadors far away,
down even to deepest Sheol.
¹⁰ Though worn out with the length of your journey,
you never said, “It is hopeless”;
You found your strength revived,
and so you did not weaken.
¹¹ Whom did you dread and fear,
that you told lies,
And me you did not remember
nor take to heart?
Am I to keep silent and conceal,
while you show no fear of me?
¹² I will proclaim your justice
and your works;
but they shall not help you.
¹³ When you cry out,
let your collection of idols save you.
All these the wind shall carry off,
a mere breath shall bear them away;
But whoever takes refuge in me shall inherit the land,
and possess my holy mountain.
¹⁴ And I say:
Build up, build up, prepare the way,
remove every obstacle from my people’s way.
¹⁵ For thus says the high and lofty One,
the One who dwells forever, whose name is holy:
I dwell in a high and holy place,
but also with the contrite and lowly of spirit,
To revive the spirit of the lowly,
to revive the heart of the crushed.
¹⁶ For I will not accuse forever,
nor always be angry;
For without me their spirit fails,
the life breath that I have given.
¹⁷ Because of their wicked avarice I grew angry;
I struck them, hiding myself from them in wrath.
But they turned back, following the way
of their own heart.
¹⁸ I saw their ways,
but I will heal them.
I will lead them and restore full comfort to them
and to those who mourn for them,
¹⁹ creating words of comfort.
Peace! Peace to those who are far and near,
says the Lord; and I will heal them.
²⁰ But the wicked are like the tossing sea
which cannot be still,
Its waters cast up mire and mud.
²¹ There is no peace for the wicked!
says my God.
¹ Cry out full-throated and unsparingly,
lift up your voice like a trumpet blast;
Proclaim to my people their transgression,
to the house of Jacob their sins.
² They seek me day after day,
and desire to know my ways,
Like a nation that has done what is just
and not abandoned the judgment of their God;
They ask of me just judgments,
they desire to draw near to God.
³ “Why do we fast, but you do not see it?
afflict ourselves, but you take no note?”
See, on your fast day you carry out your own pursuits,
and drive all your laborers.
⁴ See, you fast only to quarrel and fight
and to strike with a wicked fist!
Do not fast as you do today
to make your voice heard on high!
⁵ Is this the manner of fasting I would choose,
a day to afflict oneself?
To bow one’s head like a reed,
and lie upon sackcloth and ashes?
Is this what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the Lord?
⁶ Is this not, rather, the fast that I choose:
releasing those bound unjustly,
untying the thongs of the yoke;
Setting free the oppressed,
breaking off every yoke?
⁷ Is it not sharing your bread with the hungry,
bringing the afflicted and the homeless into your house;
Clothing the naked when you see them,
and not turning your back on your own flesh?
⁸ Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your wound shall quickly be healed;
Your vindication shall go before you,
and the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
⁹ Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer,
you shall cry for help, and he will say: “Here I am!”
If you remove the yoke from among you,
the accusing finger, and malicious speech;
¹⁰ If you lavish your food on the hungry
and satisfy the afflicted;
Then your light shall rise in the darkness,
and your gloom shall become like midday;
¹¹ Then the Lord will guide you always
and satisfy your thirst in parched places,
will give strength to your bones
And you shall be like a watered garden,
like a flowing spring whose waters never fail.
¹² Your people shall rebuild the ancient ruins;
the foundations from ages past you shall raise up;
“Repairer of the breach,” they shall call you,
“Restorer of ruined dwellings.”
¹³ If you refrain from trampling the sabbath,
from following your own pursuits on my holy day;
If you call the sabbath a delight,
the Lord’s holy day glorious;
If you glorify it by not following your ways,
seeking your own interests, or pursuing your own affairs—
¹⁴ Then you shall delight in the Lord,
and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth;
I will nourish you with the heritage of Jacob, your father,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
¹ “Hearken to me, you who pursue deliverance,
you who seek the Lord;
look to the rock from which you were hewn,
and to the quarry from which you were digged.
² Look to Abraham your father
and to Sarah who bore you;
for when he was but one I called him,
and I blessed him and made him many.
³ For the Lord will comfort Zion;
he will comfort all her waste places,
and will make her wilderness like Eden,
her desert like the garden of the Lord;
joy and gladness will be found in her,
thanksgiving and the voice of song.
⁴ “Listen to me, my people,
and give ear to me, my nation;
for a law will go forth from me,
and my justice for a light to the peoples.
⁵ My deliverance draws near speedily,
my salvation has gone forth,
and my arms will rule the peoples;
the coastlands wait for me,
and for my arm they hope.
⁶ Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
and look at the earth beneath;
for the heavens will vanish like smoke,
the earth will wear out like a garment,
and they who dwell in it will die like gnats;
but my salvation will be for ever,
and my deliverance will never be ended.
⁷ “Hearken to me, you who know righteousness,
the people in whose heart is my law;
fear not the reproach of men,
and be not dismayed at their revilings.
⁸ For the moth will eat them up like a garment,
and the worm will eat them like wool;
but my deliverance will be for ever,
and my salvation to all generations.”
⁹ Awake, awake, put on strength,
O arm of the Lord;
awake, as in days of old,
the generations of long ago.
Was it not thou that didst cut Rahab in pieces,
that didst pierce the dragon?
¹⁰ Was it not thou that didst dry up the sea,
the waters of the great deep;
that didst make the depths of the sea a way
for the redeemed to pass over?
¹¹ And the ransomed of the Lord shall return,
and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
they shall obtain joy and gladness,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
¹² “I, I am he that comforts you;
who are you that you are afraid of man who dies,
of the son of man who is made like grass,
¹³ and have forgotten the Lord, your Maker,
who stretched out the heavens
and laid the foundations of the earth,
and fear continually all the day
because of the fury of the oppressor,
when he sets himself to destroy?
And where is the fury of the oppressor?
¹⁴ He who is bowed down shall speedily be released;
he shall not die and go down to the Pit,
neither shall his bread fail.
¹⁵ For I am the Lord your God,
who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—
the Lord of hosts is his name.
¹⁶ And I have put my words in your mouth,
and hid you in the shadow of my hand,
stretching out the heavens
and laying the foundations of the earth,
and saying to Zion, ‘You are my people.’”
¹⁷ Rouse yourself, rouse yourself,
stand up, O Jerusalem,
you who have drunk at the hand of the Lord
the cup of his wrath,
who have drunk to the dregs
the bowl of staggering.
¹⁸ There is none to guide her
among all the sons she has borne;
there is none to take her by the hand
among all the sons she has brought up.
¹⁹ These two things have befallen you—
who will condole with you?—
devastation and destruction, famine and sword;
who will comfort you?
²⁰ Your sons have fainted,
they lie at the head of every street
like an antelope in a net;
they are full of the wrath of the Lord,
the rebuke of your God.
²¹ Therefore hear this, you who are afflicted,
who are drunk, but not with wine:
²² Thus says your Lord, the Lord,
your God who pleads the cause of his people:
“Behold, I have taken from your hand
the cup of staggering;
the bowl of my wrath
you shall drink no more;
²³ and I will put it into the hand of your tormentors,
who have said to you,
‘Bow down, that we may pass over’;
and you have made your back like the ground
and like the street for them to pass over.”
¹ Awake, awake,
put on your strength, O Zion;
put on your beautiful garments,
O Jerusalem, the holy city;
for there shall no more come into you
the uncircumcised and the unclean.
² Shake yourself from the dust, arise,
O captive Jerusalem;
loose the bonds from your neck,
O captive daughter of Zion.
³ For thus says the Lord: “You were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money. ⁴ For thus says the Lord God: My people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there, and the Assyrian oppressed them for nothing. ⁵ Now therefore what have I here, says the Lord, seeing that my people are taken away for nothing? Their rulers wail, says the Lord, and continually all the day my name is despised. ⁶ Therefore my people shall know my name; therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here am I.”
⁷ How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of him who brings good tidings,
who publishes peace, who brings good tidings of good,
who publishes salvation,
who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”
⁸ Hark, your watchmen lift up their voice,
together they sing for joy;
for eye to eye they see
the return of the Lord to Zion.
⁹ Break forth together into singing,
you waste places of Jerusalem;
for the Lord has comforted his people,
he has redeemed Jerusalem.
¹⁰ The Lord has bared his holy arm
before the eyes of all the nations;
and all the ends of the earth shall see
the salvation of our God.
¹¹ Depart, depart, go out thence,
touch no unclean thing;
go out from the midst of her, purify yourselves,
you who bear the vessels of the Lord.
¹² For you shall not go out in haste,
and you shall not go in flight,
for the Lord will go before you,
and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.
¹³ Behold, my servant shall prosper,
he shall be exalted and lifted up,
and shall be very high.
¹⁴ As many were astonished at him—
his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,
and his form beyond that of the sons of men—
¹⁵ so shall he startle many nations;
kings shall shut their mouths because of him;
for that which has not been told them they shall see,
and that which they have not heard they shall understand.
¹ Who has believed what we have heard?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
² For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or comeliness that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.
³ He was despised and rejected by men;
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
⁴ Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
⁵ But he was wounded for our transgressions,
he was bruised for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that made us whole,
and with his stripes we are healed.
⁶ All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned every one to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
⁷ He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is dumb,
so he opened not his mouth.
⁸ By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people?
⁹ And they made his grave with the wicked
and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.
¹⁰ Yet it was the will of the Lord to bruise him;
he has put him to grief;
when he makes himself an offering for sin,
he shall see his offspring, he shall prolong his days;
the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand;
¹¹ he shall see the fruit of the travail of his soul and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous;
and he shall bear their iniquities.
¹² Therefore I will divide him a portion with the great,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong;
because he poured out his soul to death,
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.
¹ “Sing, O barren one, who did not bear;
break forth into singing and cry aloud,
you who have not been in travail!
For the children of the desolate one will be more
than the children of her that is married, says the Lord.
² Enlarge the place of your tent,
and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out;
hold not back, lengthen your cords
and strengthen your stakes.
³ For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left,
and your descendants will possess the nations
and will people the desolate cities.
⁴ “Fear not, for you will not be ashamed;
be not confounded, for you will not be put to shame;
for you will forget the shame of your youth,
and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more.
⁵ For your Maker is your husband,
the Lord of hosts is his name;
and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer,
the God of the whole earth he is called.
⁶ For the Lord has called you
like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit,
like a wife of youth when she is cast off,
says your God.
⁷ For a brief moment I forsook you,
but with great compassion I will gather you.
⁸ In overflowing wrath for a moment
I hid my face from you,
but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,
says the Lord, your Redeemer.
⁹ “For this is like the days of Noah to me:
as I swore that the waters of Noah
should no more go over the earth,
so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you
and will not rebuke you.
¹⁰ For the mountains may depart
and the hills be removed,
but my steadfast love shall not depart from you,
and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,
says the Lord, who has compassion on you.
¹¹ “O afflicted one, storm-tossed, and not comforted,
behold, I will set your stones in antimony,
and lay your foundations with sapphires.
¹² I will make your pinnacles of agate,
your gates of carbuncles,
and all your wall of precious stones.
¹³ All your sons shall be taught by the Lord,
and great shall be the prosperity of your sons.
¹⁴ In righteousness you shall be established;
you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear;
and from terror, for it shall not come near you.
¹⁵ If any one stirs up strife,
it is not from me;
whoever stirs up strife with you
shall fall because of you.
¹⁶ Behold, I have created the smith
who blows the fire of coals,
and produces a weapon for its purpose.
I have also created the ravager to destroy;
¹⁷ no weapon that is fashioned against you shall prosper,
and you shall confute every tongue that rises against you in judgment.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord
and their vindication from me, says the Lord.”
¹ “Ho, every one who thirsts,
come to the waters;
and he who has no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.
² Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Hearken diligently to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in fatness.
³ Incline your ear, and come to me;
hear, that your soul may live;
and I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
my steadfast, sure love for David.
⁴ Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples,
a leader and commander for the peoples.
⁵ Behold, you shall call nations that you know not,
and nations that knew you not shall run to you,
because of the Lord your God, and of the Holy One of Israel,
for he has glorified you.
⁶ “Seek the Lord while he may be found,
call upon him while he is near;
⁷ let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on him,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
⁸ For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord.
⁹ For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
¹⁰ “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
and return not thither but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
¹¹ so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
¹² “For you shall go out in joy,
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
shall break forth into singing,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
¹³ Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall be to the Lord for a memorial,
for an everlasting sign which shall not be cut off.”
¹ Thus says the Lord:
“Keep justice, and do righteousness,
for soon my salvation will come,
and my deliverance be revealed.
² Blessed is the man who does this,
and the son of man who holds it fast,
who keeps the sabbath, not profaning it,
and keeps his hand from doing any evil.”
³ Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say,
“The Lord will surely separate me from his people”;
and let not the eunuch say,
“Behold, I am a dry tree.”
⁴ For thus says the Lord:
“To the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths,
who choose the things that please me
and hold fast my covenant,
⁵ I will give in my house and within my walls
a monument and a name
better than sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name
which shall not be cut off.
⁶ “And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,
to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord,
and to be his servants,
every one who keeps the sabbath, and does not profane it,
and holds fast my covenant—
⁷ these I will bring to my holy mountain,
and make them joyful in my house of prayer;
their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
will be accepted on my altar;
for my house shall be called a house of prayer
for all peoples.
⁸ Thus says the Lord God,
who gathers the outcasts of Israel,
I will gather yet others to him
besides those already gathered.”
⁹ All you beasts of the field, come to devour—
all you beasts in the forest.
¹⁰ His watchmen are blind,
they are all without knowledge;
they are all dumb dogs,
they cannot bark;
dreaming, lying down,
loving to slumber.
¹¹ The dogs have a mighty appetite;
they never have enough.
The shepherds also have no understanding;
they have all turned to their own way,
each to his own gain, one and all.
¹² “Come,” they say, “let us get wine,
let us fill ourselves with strong drink;
and tomorrow will be like this day,
great beyond measure.”
¹ The righteous man perishes,
and no one lays it to heart;
devout men are taken away,
while no one understands.
For the righteous man is taken away from calamity,
² he enters into peace;
they rest in their beds
who walk in their uprightness.
³ But you, draw near hither,
sons of the sorceress,
offspring of the adulterer and the harlot.
⁴ Of whom are you making sport?
Against whom do you open your mouth wide
and put out your tongue?
Are you not children of transgression,
the offspring of deceit,
⁵ you who burn with lust among the oaks,
under every green tree;
who slay your children in the valleys,
under the clefts of the rocks?
⁶ Among the smooth stones of the valley is your portion;
they, they, are your lot;
to them you have poured out a drink offering,
you have brought a cereal offering.
Shall I be appeased for these things?
⁷ Upon a high and lofty mountain
you have set your bed,
and thither you went up to offer sacrifice.
⁸ Behind the door and the doorpost
you have set up your symbol;
for, deserting me, you have uncovered your bed,
you have gone up to it,
you have made it wide;
and you have made a bargain for yourself with them,
you have loved their bed,
you have looked on nakedness.
⁹ You journeyed to Molech with oil
and multiplied your perfumes;
you sent your envoys far off,
and sent down even to Sheol.
¹⁰ You were wearied with the length of your way,
but you did not say, “It is hopeless”;
you found new life for your strength,
and so you were not faint.
¹¹ Whom did you dread and fear,
so that you lied,
and did not remember me,
did not give me a thought?
Have I not held my peace, even for a long time,
and so you do not fear me?
¹² I will tell of your righteousness and your doings,
but they will not help you.
¹³ When you cry out, let your collection of idols deliver you!
The wind will carry them off,
a breath will take them away.
But he who takes refuge in me shall possess the land,
and shall inherit my holy mountains.
¹⁴ And it shall be said,
“Build up, build up, prepare the way,
remove every obstruction from my people’s way.”
¹⁵ For thus says the high and lofty One
who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
“I dwell in the high and holy place,
and also with him who is of a contrite and humble spirit,
to revive the spirit of the humble,
and to revive the heart of the contrite.
¹⁶ For I will not contend for ever,
nor will I always be angry;
for from me proceeds the spirit,
and I have made the breath of life.
¹⁷ Because of the iniquity of his covetousness I was angry,
I smote him, I hid my face and was angry;
but he went on backsliding in the way of his own heart.
¹⁸ I have seen his ways, but I will heal him;
I will lead him and requite him with comfort,
creating for his mourners the fruit of the lips.
¹⁹ Peace, peace, to the far and to the near, says the Lord;
and I will heal him.
²⁰ But the wicked are like the tossing sea;
for it cannot rest,
and its waters toss up mire and dirt.
²¹ There is no peace, says my God, for the wicked.”
¹ “Cry aloud, spare not,
lift up your voice like a trumpet;
declare to my people their transgression,
to the house of Jacob their sins.
² Yet they seek me daily,
and delight to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that did righteousness
and did not forsake the ordinance of their God;
they ask of me righteous judgments,
they delight to draw near to God.
³ ‘Why have we fasted, and thou seest it not?
Why have we humbled ourselves, and thou takest no knowledge of it?’
Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure,
and oppress all your workers.
⁴ Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight
and to hit with wicked fist.
Fasting like yours this day
will not make your voice to be heard on high.
⁵ Is such the fast that I choose,
a day for a man to humble himself?
Is it to bow down his head like a rush,
and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him?
Will you call this a fast,
and a day acceptable to the Lord?
⁶ “Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of wickedness,
to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
⁷ Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover him,
and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
⁸ Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up speedily;
your righteousness shall go before you,
the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
⁹ Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
you shall cry, and he will say, Here I am.
“If you take away from the midst of you the yoke,
the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
¹⁰ if you pour yourself out for the hungry
and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
then shall your light rise in the darkness
and your gloom be as the noonday.
¹¹ And the Lord will guide you continually,
and satisfy your desire with good things,
and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water,
whose waters fail not.
¹² And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
the restorer of streets to dwell in.
¹³ “If you turn back your foot from the sabbath,
from doing your pleasure on my holy day,
and call the sabbath a delight
and the holy day of the Lord honorable;
if you honor it, not going your own ways,
or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly;
¹⁴ then you shall take delight in the Lord,
and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth;
I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
Discussion points#
Cup of the Lord#
¹⁷ Wake up, wake up!
Arise, Jerusalem,
You who drank at the Lord’s hand
the cup of his wrath;
Who drained to the dregs
the bowl of staggering!
¹⁸ She has no one to guide her
of all the children she bore;
She has no one to take her by the hand,
of all the children she reared!—
¹⁹ Your misfortunes are double;
who is there to grieve with you?
Desolation and destruction, famine and sword!
Who is there to comfort you?
²⁰ Your children lie helpless
at every street corner
like antelopes in a net.
They are filled with the wrath of the Lord,
the rebuke of your God.
²¹ But now, hear this, afflicted one,
drunk, but not with wine,
²² Thus says the Lord, your Master,
your God, who defends his people:
See, I am taking from your hand
the cup of staggering;
The bowl of my wrath
you shall no longer drink.
²³ I will put it into the hands of your tormentors,
those who said to you,
“Bow down, that we may walk over you.”
So you offered your back like the ground,
like the street for them to walk on.
¹⁷ Rouse yourself, rouse yourself,
stand up, O Jerusalem,
you who have drunk at the hand of the Lord
the cup of his wrath,
who have drunk to the dregs
the bowl of staggering.
¹⁸ There is none to guide her
among all the sons she has borne;
there is none to take her by the hand
among all the sons she has brought up.
¹⁹ These two things have befallen you—
who will condole with you?—
devastation and destruction, famine and sword;
who will comfort you?
²⁰ Your sons have fainted,
they lie at the head of every street
like an antelope in a net;
they are full of the wrath of the Lord,
the rebuke of your God.
²¹ Therefore hear this, you who are afflicted,
who are drunk, but not with wine:
²² Thus says your Lord, the Lord,
your God who pleads the cause of his people:
“Behold, I have taken from your hand
the cup of staggering;
the bowl of my wrath
you shall drink no more;
²³ and I will put it into the hand of your tormentors,
who have said to you,
‘Bow down, that we may pass over’;
and you have made your back like the ground
and like the street for them to pass over.”
In reference to the “cup of staggering”, which we have seen earlier:
⁹ Stupefy yourselves and be in a stupor,blind yourselves and be blind!Be drunk, but not with wine;stagger, but not with strong drink!¹⁰ For the Lord has poured out upon youa spirit of deep sleep,and has closed your eyes, the prophets,and covered your heads, the seers.
this imagery of a cup of judagement is also present in Jeremiah’s prophecy concerning the Babylonian exile:
⁸ Hence, thus says the Lord of hosts: Since you would not listen to my words, ⁹ I am about to send for and fetch all the tribes from the north—oracle of the Lord—and I will send for Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, my servant; I will bring them against this land, its inhabitants, and all these neighboring nations. I will doom them, making them an object of horror, of hissing, of everlasting reproach. ¹⁰ Among them I will put to an end the song of joy and the song of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstone and the light of the lamp. ¹¹ This whole land shall be a ruin and a waste. Seventy years these nations shall serve the king of Babylon; ¹² but when the seventy years have elapsed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation and the land of the Chaldeans for their guilt—oracle of the Lord. Their land I will turn into everlasting waste.
¹⁵ For thus said the Lord, the God of Israel, to me: Take this cup of the wine of wrath from my hand and have all the nations to whom I will send you drink it. ¹⁶ They shall drink, and retch, and go mad, because of the sword I will send among them.
⁸ “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: Because you have not obeyed my words, ⁹ behold, I will send for all the tribes of the north, says the Lord, and for Nebuchadrez′zar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants, and against all these nations round about; I will utterly destroy them, and make them a horror, a hissing, and an everlasting reproach. ¹⁰ Moreover, I will banish from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the grinding of the millstones and the light of the lamp. ¹¹ This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. ¹² Then after seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chalde′ans, for their iniquity, says the Lord, making the land an everlasting waste.
¹⁵ Thus the Lord, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. ¹⁶ They shall drink and stagger and be crazed because of the sword which I am sending among them.”
The exhortation to Israel continues in chapter 52:
¹ Awake, awake!
Put on your strength, Zion;
Put on your glorious garments,
Jerusalem, holy city.
Never again shall the uncircumcised
or the unclean enter you.
² Arise, shake off the dust,
sit enthroned, Jerusalem;
Loose the bonds from your neck,
captive daughter Zion!
³ For thus says the Lord:
For nothing you were sold,
without money you shall be redeemed.
¹ “Hearken to me, you who pursue deliverance,
you who seek the Lord;
look to the rock from which you were hewn,
and to the quarry from which you were digged.
² Look to Abraham your father
and to Sarah who bore you;
for when he was but one I called him,
and I blessed him and made him many.
³ For the Lord will comfort Zion;
he will comfort all her waste places,
and will make her wilderness like Eden,
her desert like the garden of the Lord;
joy and gladness will be found in her,
thanksgiving and the voice of song.
The idea of putting on the strength of the Lord occurs a lot in the NT:
²⁰ That is not how you learned Christ, ²¹ assuming that you have heard of him and were taught in him, as truth is in Jesus, ²² that you should put away the old self of your former way of life, corrupted through deceitful desires, ²³ and be renewed in the spirit of your minds,
²⁶ For through faith you are all children of God in Christ Jesus. ²⁷ For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. ²⁸ There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free person, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹ And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendant, heirs according to the promise.
²⁰ You did not so learn Christ!— ²¹ assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus. ²² Put off your old nature which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful lusts, ²³ and be renewed in the spirit of your minds,
²⁶ for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. ²⁷ For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. ²⁸ There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹ And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.
Why can we rejoice and put on the garments of salvation? We see the repeat of the imagery from last week, which Peter also references:
¹ Thus says the Lord:
Where is the bill of divorce
with which I dismissed your mother?
Or to which of my creditors
have I sold you?
It was for your sins you were sold,
for your rebellions your mother was dismissed.
¹⁷ Now if you invoke as Father him who judges impartially according to each one’s works, conduct yourselves with reverence during the time of your sojourning, ¹⁸ realizing that you were ransomed from your futile conduct, handed on by your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold ¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ as of a spotless unblemished lamb. ²⁰ He was known before the foundation of the world but revealed in the final time for you,
¹ Thus says the Lord:
“Where is your mother’s bill of divorce,
with which I put her away?
Or which of my creditors is it
to whom I have sold you?
Behold, for your iniquities you were sold,
and for your transgressions your mother was put away.
¹⁷ And if you invoke as Father him who judges each one impartially according to his deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile. ¹⁸ You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your fathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, ¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. ²⁰ He was destined before the foundation of the world but was made manifest at the end of the times for your sake.
What does the equating of “sold for your sins” and “sold for nothing” remind us of, earlier in Isaiah?
Capping off the prophecy of the end of the Babylonian exile, we have a neat reference back to the Passover:
¹¹ Depart, depart, go out from there,
touch nothing unclean!
Out from there! Purify yourselves,
you who carry the vessels of the Lord.
¹² But not in hurried flight will you go out,
nor leave in headlong haste,
For the Lord goes before you,
and your rear guard is the God of Israel.
¹¹ This is how you are to eat it: with your loins girt, sandals on your feet and your staff in hand, you will eat it in a hurry. It is the Lord’s Passover. ¹² For on this same night I will go through Egypt, striking down every firstborn in the land, human being and beast alike, and executing judgment on all the gods of Egypt—I, the Lord! ¹³ But for you the blood will mark the houses where you are. Seeing the blood, I will pass over you; thereby, when I strike the land of Egypt, no destructive blow will come upon you.
¹¹ Depart, depart, go out thence,
touch no unclean thing;
go out from the midst of her, purify yourselves,
you who bear the vessels of the Lord.
¹² For you shall not go out in haste,
and you shall not go in flight,
for the Lord will go before you,
and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.
¹¹ In this manner you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s passover. ¹² For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will smite all the first-born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. ¹³ The blood shall be a sign for you, upon the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall fall upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.
What is God through Isaiah implying by stating that the Lord is both the vanguard and the rearguard?
Fourth servant song#
¹³ See, my servant shall prosper,
he shall be raised high and greatly exalted.
¹⁴ Even as many were amazed at him—
so marred were his features,
beyond that of mortals
his appearance, beyond that of human beings—
¹⁵ So shall he startle many nations,
kings shall stand speechless;
For those who have not been told shall see,
those who have not heard shall ponder it.
¹³ Behold, my servant shall prosper,
he shall be exalted and lifted up,
and shall be very high.
¹⁴ As many were astonished at him—
his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,
and his form beyond that of the sons of men—
¹⁵ so shall he startle many nations;
kings shall shut their mouths because of him;
for that which has not been told them they shall see,
and that which they have not heard they shall understand.
In verse 13, “greatly exalted” is the verb רוּם (rûm), which is used also to mean “lifted/raised up”, “extolled”:
² My strength and my refuge is the Lord,
and he has become my savior.
This is my God, I praise him;
the God of my father, I extol him.
¹⁰ Joshua did as Moses told him: he engaged Amalek in battle while Moses, Aaron, and Hur climbed to the top of the hill. ¹¹ As long as Moses kept his hands raised up, Israel had the better of the fight, but when he let his hands rest, Amalek had the better of the fight. ¹² Moses’ hands, however, grew tired; so they took a rock and put it under him and he sat on it. Meanwhile Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other, so that his hands remained steady until sunset.
² The Lord is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation;
this is my God, and I will praise him,
my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
¹⁰ So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Am′alek; and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. ¹¹ Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed; and whenever he lowered his hand, Am′alek prevailed. ¹² But Moses’ hands grew weary; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat upon it, and Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; so his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.
Jesus refers to himself in this way as well:
¹¹ Amen, amen, I say to you, we speak of what we know and we testify to what we have seen, but you people do not accept our testimony. ¹² If I tell you about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? ¹³ No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man.
²⁷ “I am troubled now. Yet what should I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour. ²⁸ Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it and will glorify it again.” ²⁹ The crowd there heard it and said it was thunder; but others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” ³⁰ Jesus answered and said, “This voice did not come for my sake but for yours. ³¹ Now is the time of judgment on this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. ³² And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.” ³³ He said this indicating the kind of death he would die.
¹¹ Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen; but you do not receive our testimony. ¹² If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? ¹³ No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the Son of man.
²⁷ “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, for this purpose I have come to this hour. ²⁸ Father, glorify thy name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” ²⁹ The crowd standing by heard it and said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” ³⁰ Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. ³¹ Now is the judgment of this world, now shall the ruler of this world be cast out; ³² and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.” ³³ He said this to show by what death he was to die.
Verse 15 has a more literal translation of “So shall he sprinkle many nations”, as the Hebrew verb is נָזָה (nāzâ), which is used in the OT to refer to sprinkling of anointing oil or blood:
¹⁹ After this take the other ram, and when Aaron and his sons have laid their hands on its head, ²⁰ slaughter it. Some of its blood you shall take and put on the tip of Aaron’s right ear and on the tips of his sons’ right ears and on the thumbs of their right hands and the great toes of their right feet. Splash the rest of the blood on all the sides of the altar. ²¹ Then take some of the blood that is on the altar, together with some of the anointing oil, and sprinkle this on Aaron and his vestments, as well as on his sons and their vestments, that he and his sons and their vestments may be sacred.
³⁰ Taking some of the anointing oil and some of the blood that was on the altar, Moses sprinkled it upon Aaron and his vestments, as well as his sons and their vestments, thus consecrating both Aaron and his vestments and his sons and their vestments.
¹⁹ “You shall take the other ram; and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands upon the head of the ram, ²⁰ and you shall kill the ram, and take part of its blood and put it upon the tip of the right ear of Aaron and upon the tips of the right ears of his sons, and upon the thumbs of their right hands, and upon the great toes of their right feet, and throw the rest of the blood against the altar round about. ²¹ Then you shall take part of the blood that is on the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it upon Aaron and his garments, and upon his sons and his sons’ garments with him; and he and his garments shall be holy, and his sons and his sons’ garments with him.
³⁰ Then Moses took some of the anointing oil and of the blood which was on the altar, and sprinkled it upon Aaron and his garments, and also upon his sons and his sons’ garments; so he consecrated Aaron and his garments, and his sons and his sons’ garments with him.
Paul seemingly quotes this as well:
²² No, you have approached Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and countless angels in festal gathering, ²³ and the assembly of the firstborn enrolled in heaven, and God the judge of all, and the spirits of the just made perfect, ²⁴ and Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and the sprinkled blood that speaks more eloquently than that of Abel.
²² But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, ²³ and to the assembly of the first-born who are enrolled in heaven, and to a judge who is God of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, ²⁴ and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks more graciously than the blood of Abel.
Back to the servant’s song:
¹ Who would believe what we have heard?
To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
² He grew up like a sapling before him,
like a shoot from the parched earth;
He had no majestic bearing to catch our eye,
no beauty to draw us to him.
³ He was spurned and avoided by men,
a man of suffering, knowing pain,
Like one from whom you turn your face,
spurned, and we held him in no esteem.
⁴ Yet it was our pain that he bore,
our sufferings he endured.
We thought of him as stricken,
struck down by God and afflicted,
⁵ But he was pierced for our sins,
crushed for our iniquity.
He bore the punishment that makes us whole,
by his wounds we were healed.
⁶ We had all gone astray like sheep,
all following our own way;
But the Lord laid upon him
the guilt of us all.
¹ Who has believed what we have heard?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
² For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or comeliness that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.
³ He was despised and rejected by men;
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
⁴ Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
⁵ But he was wounded for our transgressions,
he was bruised for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that made us whole,
and with his stripes we are healed.
⁶ All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned every one to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
How do the people identify that God’s servant was not stricken for his own sins, but those of the world?
Verse 4 is quoted by Matthew:
¹⁶ When it was evening, they brought him many who were possessed by demons, and he drove out the spirits by a word and cured all the sick, ¹⁷ to fulfill what had been said by Isaiah the prophet:
“He took away our infirmities
and bore our diseases.”
¹⁶ That evening they brought to him many who were possessed with demons; and he cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick. ¹⁷ This was to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah, “He took our infirmities and bore our diseases.”
⁷ Though harshly treated, he submitted
and did not open his mouth;
Like a lamb led to slaughter
or a sheep silent before shearers,
he did not open his mouth.
⁸ Seized and condemned, he was taken away.
Who would have thought any more of his destiny?
For he was cut off from the land of the living,
struck for the sins of his people.
⁹ He was given a grave among the wicked,
a burial place with evildoers,
Though he had done no wrong,
nor was deceit found in his mouth.
¹⁰ But it was the Lord’s will to crush him with pain.
By making his life as a reparation offering,
he shall see his offspring, shall lengthen his days,
and the Lord’s will shall be accomplished through him.
⁷ He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is dumb,
so he opened not his mouth.
⁸ By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people?
⁹ And they made his grave with the wicked
and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.
¹⁰ Yet it was the will of the Lord to bruise him;
he has put him to grief;
when he makes himself an offering for sin,
he shall see his offspring, he shall prolong his days;
the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand;
The suffering servant, identified explicitly as a lamb, bears his suffering without complaint. This very passage is used by Saint Philip the Deacon to point towards Jesus:
²⁷ So he got up and set out. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, that is, the queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury, who had come to Jerusalem to worship, ²⁸ and was returning home. Seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. ²⁹ The Spirit said to Philip, “Go and join up with that chariot.” ³⁰ Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” ³¹ He replied, “How can I, unless someone instructs me?” So he invited Philip to get in and sit with him. ³² This was the scripture passage he was reading:
“Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter,
and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
³³ In (his) humiliation justice was denied him.
Who will tell of his posterity?
For his life is taken from the earth.”
³⁴ Then the eunuch said to Philip in reply, “I beg you, about whom is the prophet saying this? About himself, or about someone else?” ³⁵ Then Philip opened his mouth and, beginning with this scripture passage, he proclaimed Jesus to him.
²⁷ And he rose and went. And behold, an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a minister of the Canda′ce the queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of all her treasure, had come to Jerusalem to worship ²⁸ and was returning; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. ²⁹ And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this chariot.” ³⁰ So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” ³¹ And he said, “How can I, unless some one guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. ³² Now the passage of the scripture which he was reading was this:
“As a sheep led to the slaughter
or a lamb before its shearer is dumb,
so he opens not his mouth.
³³ In his humiliation justice was denied him.
Who can describe his generation?
For his life is taken up from the earth.”
³⁴ And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, pray, does the prophet say this, about himself or about some one else?” ³⁵ Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this scripture he told him the good news of Jesus.
This imagery of a reparation offering, sometimes translated “guilt offering”, calls back to Leviticus, where the name comes from the root אָשָׁם (asham) and means roughly “what is due from guilt”.
¹⁴ The Lord said to Moses: ¹⁵ When a person commits sacrilege by inadvertently misusing any of the Lord’s sacred objects, the wrongdoer shall bring to the Lord as reparation an unblemished ram from the flock, at the established value in silver shekels according to the sanctuary shekel, as a reparation offering.
¹⁷ If someone does wrong and violates one of the Lord’s prohibitions without realizing it, that person is guilty and shall bear the penalty. ¹⁸ The individual shall bring to the priest an unblemished ram of the flock, at the established value, for a reparation offering. The priest shall then make atonement on the offerer’s behalf for the error inadvertently and unknowingly committed so that the individual may be forgiven. ¹⁹ It is a reparation offering. The individual must make reparation to the Lord.
¹⁴ The Lord said to Moses, ¹⁵ “If any one commits a breach of faith and sins unwittingly in any of the holy things of the Lord, he shall bring, as his guilt offering to the Lord, a ram without blemish out of the flock, valued by you in shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary; it is a guilt offering.
¹⁷ “If any one sins, doing any of the things which the Lord has commanded not to be done, though he does not know it, yet he is guilty and shall bear his iniquity. ¹⁸ He shall bring to the priest a ram without blemish out of the flock, valued by you at the price for a guilt offering, and the priest shall make atonement for him for the error which he committed unwittingly, and he shall be forgiven. ¹⁹ It is a guilt offering; he is guilty before the Lord.”
Jesus also cites this passage (where “wicked” == “transgressors”) right before the Agony:
³⁵ He said to them, “When I sent you forth without a money bag or a sack or sandals, were you in need of anything?” “No, nothing,” they replied. ³⁶ He said to them, “But now one who has a money bag should take it, and likewise a sack, and one who does not have a sword should sell his cloak and buy one. ³⁷ For I tell you that this scripture must be fulfilled in me, namely, ‘He was counted among the wicked’; and indeed what is written about me is coming to fulfillment.” ³⁸ Then they said, “Lord, look, there are two swords here.” But he replied, “It is enough!”
³⁵ And he said to them, “When I sent you out with no purse or bag or sandals, did you lack anything?” They said, “Nothing.” ³⁶ He said to them, “But now, let him who has a purse take it, and likewise a bag. And let him who has no sword sell his mantle and buy one. ³⁷ For I tell you that this scripture must be fulfilled in me, ‘And he was reckoned with transgressors’; for what is written about me has its fulfilment.” ³⁸ And they said, “Look, Lord, here are two swords.” And he said to them, “It is enough.”
A call to grace#
After the last servant’s song, a restatement of the covenant and redemption through God is given:
⁵ For your husband is your Maker;
the Lord of hosts is his name,
Your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel,
called God of all the earth.
⁶ The Lord calls you back,
like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit,
A wife married in youth and then cast off,
says your God.
⁷ For a brief moment I abandoned you,
but with great tenderness I will take you back.
⁸ In an outburst of wrath, for a moment
I hid my face from you;
But with enduring love I take pity on you,
says the Lord, your redeemer.
⁹ This is for me like the days of Noah:
As I swore then that the waters of Noah
should never again flood the earth,
So I have sworn now not to be angry with you,
or to rebuke you.
¹⁰ Though the mountains fall away
and the hills be shaken,
My love shall never fall away from you
nor my covenant of peace be shaken,
says the Lord, who has mercy on you.
¹ All you who are thirsty,
come to the water!
You who have no money,
come, buy grain and eat;
Come, buy grain without money,
wine and milk without cost!
² Why spend your money for what is not bread;
your wages for what does not satisfy?
Only listen to me, and you shall eat well,
you shall delight in rich fare.
³ Pay attention and come to me;
listen, that you may have life.
I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
the steadfast loyalty promised to David.
⁵ For your Maker is your husband,
the Lord of hosts is his name;
and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer,
the God of the whole earth he is called.
⁶ For the Lord has called you
like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit,
like a wife of youth when she is cast off,
says your God.
⁷ For a brief moment I forsook you,
but with great compassion I will gather you.
⁸ In overflowing wrath for a moment
I hid my face from you,
but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,
says the Lord, your Redeemer.
⁹ “For this is like the days of Noah to me:
as I swore that the waters of Noah
should no more go over the earth,
so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you
and will not rebuke you.
¹⁰ For the mountains may depart
and the hills be removed,
but my steadfast love shall not depart from you,
and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,
says the Lord, who has compassion on you.
¹ “Ho, every one who thirsts,
come to the waters;
and he who has no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.
² Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Hearken diligently to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in fatness.
³ Incline your ear, and come to me;
hear, that your soul may live;
and I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
my steadfast, sure love for David.
Is this everlasting covenant an extension of the one made with David? An expansion? An elaboration?
This is referenced in Acts as well:
³² We ourselves are proclaiming this good news to you that what God promised our ancestors ³³ he has brought to fulfillment for us, [their] children, by raising up Jesus, as it is written in the second psalm, ‘You are my son; this day I have begotten you.’ ³⁴ And that he raised him from the dead never to return to corruption he declared in this way, ‘I shall give you the benefits assured to David.’ ³⁵ That is why he also says in another psalm, ‘You will not suffer your holy one to see corruption.’ ³⁶ Now David, after he had served the will of God in his lifetime, fell asleep, was gathered to his ancestors, and did see corruption. ³⁷ But the one whom God raised up did not see corruption.
³² And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, ³³ this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus; as also it is written in the second psalm,
‘Thou art my Son,
today I have begotten thee.’
³⁴ And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he spoke in this way,
‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.’
³⁵ Therefore he says also in another psalm,
‘Thou wilt not let thy Holy One see corruption.’
³⁶ For David, after he had served the counsel of God in his own generation, fell asleep, and was laid with his fathers, and saw corruption; ³⁷ but he whom God raised up saw no corruption.
⁸ For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor are your ways my ways—oracle of the Lord.
⁹ For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways,
my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
¹⁰ Yet just as from the heavens
the rain and snow come down
And do not return there
till they have watered the earth,
making it fertile and fruitful,
Giving seed to the one who sows
and bread to the one who eats,
¹¹ So shall my word be
that goes forth from my mouth;
It shall not return to me empty,
but shall do what pleases me,
achieving the end for which I sent it.
⁸ For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord.
⁹ For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
¹⁰ “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
and return not thither but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
¹¹ so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
What is required of us to receive God’s grace?
How do we align our ways and thoughts with God’s?
Call to Zion#
Chapter 56 through 58 brings us into the final section of Isaiah where, warning of idolatry, the prophet instructs and expands on God’s salvation, prophesying for the future post-exilic Israel.
³ The foreigner joined to the Lord should not say,
“The Lord will surely exclude me from his people”;
Nor should the eunuch say,
“See, I am a dry tree.”
⁴ For thus says the Lord:
To the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths,
who choose what pleases me,
and who hold fast to my covenant,
⁵ I will give them, in my house
and within my walls, a monument and a name
Better than sons and daughters;
an eternal name, which shall not be cut off, will I give them.
⁶ And foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,
to minister to him,
To love the name of the Lord,
to become his servants—
All who keep the sabbath without profaning it
and hold fast to my covenant,
⁷ Them I will bring to my holy mountain
and make them joyful in my house of prayer;
Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
will be acceptable on my altar,
For my house shall be called
a house of prayer for all peoples.
⁸ Oracle of the Lord God,
who gathers the dispersed of Israel—
Others will I gather to them
besides those already gathered.
¹⁵ For thus says the high and lofty One,
the One who dwells forever, whose name is holy:
I dwell in a high and holy place,
but also with the contrite and lowly of spirit,
To revive the spirit of the lowly,
to revive the heart of the crushed.
¹⁶ For I will not accuse forever,
nor always be angry;
For without me their spirit fails,
the life breath that I have given.
¹⁷ Because of their wicked avarice I grew angry;
I struck them, hiding myself from them in wrath.
But they turned back, following the way
of their own heart.
¹⁸ I saw their ways,
but I will heal them.
I will lead them and restore full comfort to them
and to those who mourn for them,
¹⁹ creating words of comfort.
Peace! Peace to those who are far and near,
says the Lord; and I will heal them.
²⁰ But the wicked are like the tossing sea
which cannot be still,
Its waters cast up mire and mud.
³ The foreigner joined to the Lord should not say,
“The Lord will surely exclude me from his people”;
Nor should the eunuch say,
“See, I am a dry tree.”
⁴ For thus says the Lord:
To the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths,
who choose what pleases me,
and who hold fast to my covenant,
⁵ I will give them, in my house
and within my walls, a monument and a name
Better than sons and daughters;
an eternal name, which shall not be cut off, will I give them.
⁶ And foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,
to minister to him,
To love the name of the Lord,
to become his servants—
All who keep the sabbath without profaning it
and hold fast to my covenant,
⁷ Them I will bring to my holy mountain
and make them joyful in my house of prayer;
Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
will be acceptable on my altar,
For my house shall be called
a house of prayer for all peoples.
⁸ Oracle of the Lord God,
who gathers the dispersed of Israel—
Others will I gather to them
besides those already gathered.
¹⁵ For thus says the high and lofty One,
the One who dwells forever, whose name is holy:
I dwell in a high and holy place,
but also with the contrite and lowly of spirit,
To revive the spirit of the lowly,
to revive the heart of the crushed.
¹⁶ For I will not accuse forever,
nor always be angry;
For without me their spirit fails,
the life breath that I have given.
¹⁷ Because of their wicked avarice I grew angry;
I struck them, hiding myself from them in wrath.
But they turned back, following the way
of their own heart.
¹⁸ I saw their ways,
but I will heal them.
I will lead them and restore full comfort to them
and to those who mourn for them,
¹⁹ creating words of comfort.
Peace! Peace to those who are far and near,
says the Lord; and I will heal them.
²⁰ But the wicked are like the tossing sea
which cannot be still,
Its waters cast up mire and mud.
Chapter 58 ends with a familiar theme from the beginning of Isaiah: calling out hypocritical, empty religious practice:
⁵ Is this the manner of fasting I would choose,
a day to afflict oneself?
To bow one’s head like a reed,
and lie upon sackcloth and ashes?
Is this what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the Lord?
⁶ Is this not, rather, the fast that I choose:
releasing those bound unjustly,
untying the thongs of the yoke;
Setting free the oppressed,
breaking off every yoke?
⁷ Is it not sharing your bread with the hungry,
bringing the afflicted and the homeless into your house;
Clothing the naked when you see them,
and not turning your back on your own flesh?
⁸ Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your wound shall quickly be healed;
Your vindication shall go before you,
and the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
⁹ Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer,
you shall cry for help, and he will say: “Here I am!”
If you remove the yoke from among you,
the accusing finger, and malicious speech;
¹⁰ If you lavish your food on the hungry
and satisfy the afflicted;
Then your light shall rise in the darkness,
and your gloom shall become like midday;
¹¹ Then the Lord will guide you always
and satisfy your thirst in parched places,
will give strength to your bones
And you shall be like a watered garden,
like a flowing spring whose waters never fail.
⁵ Is this the manner of fasting I would choose,
a day to afflict oneself?
To bow one’s head like a reed,
and lie upon sackcloth and ashes?
Is this what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the Lord?
⁶ Is this not, rather, the fast that I choose:
releasing those bound unjustly,
untying the thongs of the yoke;
Setting free the oppressed,
breaking off every yoke?
⁷ Is it not sharing your bread with the hungry,
bringing the afflicted and the homeless into your house;
Clothing the naked when you see them,
and not turning your back on your own flesh?
⁸ Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your wound shall quickly be healed;
Your vindication shall go before you,
and the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
⁹ Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer,
you shall cry for help, and he will say: “Here I am!”
If you remove the yoke from among you,
the accusing finger, and malicious speech;
¹⁰ If you lavish your food on the hungry
and satisfy the afflicted;
Then your light shall rise in the darkness,
and your gloom shall become like midday;
¹¹ Then the Lord will guide you always
and satisfy your thirst in parched places,
will give strength to your bones
And you shall be like a watered garden,
like a flowing spring whose waters never fail.