Isaiah 53

1 (Who will believe what we will tell them [about God’s servant]?/Hardly anyone will believe what we will tell them [about God’s servant].) [RHQ] (Who will see what Yahweh does by his great power?/Very few people will see what Yahweh does by his great power.) [MTY, RHQ]

Who hath given credence to that which we heard? And the arm of Jehovah, On whom hath it been revealed?

2 While God watches, his servant will grow up [appearing/seeming to be very insignificant/unimportant], like a weak young plant that shoots up from a root [of a tree that is growing] in dry ground. There will be nothing beautiful or majestic about him, nothing that would cause us to want to be with him.

Yea, he cometh up as a tender plant before Him, And as a root out of a dry land, He hath no form, nor honour, when we observe him, Nor appearance, when we desire him.

3 People will despise and reject him. {He will be despised and rejected.} He will endure much pain, and he will suffer much. [Because his face will be very disfigured], people will not [want to] look at him; people will despise him and think that he is not worth paying any attention to.

He is despised, and left of men, A man of pains, and acquainted with sickness, And as one hiding the face from us, He is despised, and we esteemed him not.

4 But he will be [punished for] the sicknesses [of our souls]; he will endure great pain for us. But we will think that he is being punished by God, afflicted/punished [for his own sins].

Surely our sicknesses he hath borne, And our pains — he hath carried them, And we — we have esteemed him plagued, Smitten of God, and afflicted.

5 But his body will be bruised because of the evil things that we did, wounded because of our sins. He will be beaten in order that things will go well for our [souls]; and because he will be whipped, [our souls] can be healed.

And he is pierced for our transgressions, Bruised for our iniquities, The chastisement of our peace [is] on him, And by his bruise there is healing to us.

6 All of us have gone away [from God] like [SIM] sheep who have strayed away [from their shepherd]. We have turned away [from doing the things that God wants in order] to do the things that we wanted [MET]. [We deserve to be punished, but] Yahweh will punish him instead of punishing us for all of our sins.

All of us like sheep have wandered, Each to his own way we have turned, And Jehovah hath caused to meet on him, The punishment of us all.

7 He will be abused and caused to suffer, but he will not say anything [to complain]. They will lead him [to where they will execute him], [like they lead] a lamb to where it will be slaughtered. And like a sheep does not (bleat/make any noise) when the shearer [cuts off its wool], he will not say anything [MTY] [to defend himself when he is killed].

It hath been exacted, and he hath answered, And he openeth not his mouth, As a lamb to the slaughter he is brought, And as a sheep before its shearers is dumb, And he openeth not his mouth.

8 After he is arrested and put on trial, he will be taken away [and executed]. And no one [RHQ] will be able to talk about his descendants, because he will die [EUP] [without being married and having children]. He will be (afflicted/caused to suffer) for the wrong things that we have done.

By restraint and by judgment he hath been taken, And of his generation who doth meditate, That he hath been cut off from the land of the living? By the transgression of My people he is plagued,

9 Although he will never have done any wrong or deceived [MTY] anyone, people will plan to bury his corpse where wicked people are buried, but instead, a rich man will [bury him] after he dies.

And it appointeth with the wicked his grave, And with the rich [are] his high places, Because he hath done no violence, Nor [is] deceit in his mouth.

10 But it will be Yahweh’s will that he be afflicted and caused to suffer. And [when he dies], Yahweh will cause him to be an offering to remove the guilt of sinners. But later he will have many [spiritual] children, and he will live (a long time/forever) after he [dies and] becomes alive [again], and he [MTY] will accomplish everything that Yahweh has planned.

And Jehovah hath delighted to bruise him, He hath made him sick, If his soul doth make an offering for guilt, He seeth seed — he prolongeth days, And the pleasure of Jehovah in his hand doth prosper.

11 When he sees all that he will accomplish because of his suffering, he will be satisfied. And because of what will have happened to him, Yahweh’s righteous servant will cause the guilt of many people to be ended, because he will remove [the guilt for] their sins.

Of the labour of his soul he seeth — he is satisfied, Through his knowledge give righteousness Doth the righteous one, My servant, to many, And their iniquities he doth bear.

12 So Yahweh will consider him to be one of the truly great people; he will [be like a king who] divides up [among his soldiers] the (spoils/things they took from their enemies after defeating them) [MET], because he will sacrifice himself and die. [Even though people] will consider him to be a sinner, he will remove the guilt of many [people], and he will intercede/pray that those who have done things that are wrong [will be forgiven].

Therefore I give a portion to him among the many, And with the mighty he apportioneth spoil, Because that he exposed to death his soul, And with transgressors he was numbered, And he the sin of many hath borne, And for transgressors he intercedeth.