Isaiah 53: The Suffering Servant

1. Who hath believed our report?
   and to whom is the arm of the LORD 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 majesty that we should look at him,
   and no beauty that we should desire him.
3. He was despised and rejected by people.
   He was a man of sorrows, familiar with suffering.
   He was despised like one from whom people turn their faces,
   and we didn’t consider him to be worth anything.
4. Surely he has borne our infirmities
   and carried our diseases;
   yet we accounted him stricken,
   struck down by God, and afflicted.
5. But he was pierced for our rebellion,
   crushed for our sins.
   He was beaten so we could be whole.
   He was whipped so we could be healed.
6. We all went astray like sheep,
   Each going his own way;
   And the LORD visited upon him
   The guilt of all of us.
7. Ill-treated and afflicted,
   he never opened his mouth,
   like a lamb led to the slaughter-house,
   like a sheep dumb before its shearers
   he never opened his mouth.
8. He was led away after an unjust trial –
   but who even cared?
   Indeed, he was cut off from the land of the living;
   because of the rebellion of his own people he was wounded.
9. They made His grave with the wicked,
   and with a rich man at His death,
   although He had done no violence
   and had not spoken deceitfully.
10. Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
    and though the LORD makes his life an offering for sin,
    he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
    and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
11. He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.
    By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many,
    For He shall bear their iniquities.
12. And so I will give him a place of honor,
    a place among the great and powerful.
    He willingly gave his life
    and shared the fate of evil men.
    He took the place of many sinners
    and prayed that they might be forgiven.

(KJV:1; ESV:2; GW:3; NRSV:4; NLT:5; NJPS:6; NJB:7; NET:8; HCSB:9; TNIV: 10; NKJV:11; TEV/GNB:12)

(HT: Better Bibles Blog)