Isaiah 52

1 Awake, awake, Put on thy strength, O Zion, —Put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem—thou holy city, For there shall not again come into thee any more the uncircumcised and unclean.

Wake up, wake up, Zion! Be strong! Put on your best clothes, Jerusalem, the holy city. Heathen foreigners won't ever enter you again.

2 Shake thyself from the dust arise—sit down O Jerusalem, —Loose thyself from the bonds of thy neck, O captive! daughter of Zion!

Shake yourself free from the dust and get up. Sit on your throne, Jerusalem. Throw off the chains around your neck, captive daughter of Zion.

3 For, thus, saith Yahweh, For nought, ye sold yourselves, —And not with silver, shall ye be redeemed,

This is what the Lord says: You were sold for nothing, and you will be bought back without money.

4 For, thus, saith My Lord, Yahweh, To Egypt, went down my people at first to sojourn there, —But, Assyria, without cause, hath oppressed him.

This is what the Lord God says: First of all, my people went to live in Egypt, then Assyria conquered them for no reason.

5 Now, therefore, what do I here? Demandeth Yahweh. That my people have been taken away for nought? They who rule them, do howl, Declareth Yahweh, And, continually—all the day, is my Name brought into contempt.

What do have I to do now? asks the Lord. My people have been taken into captivity for no reason. Those who rule them mock them, and I'm treated with contempt that whole time, says the Lord.

6 Therefore, shall my people acknowledge my Name: Therefore, in that day, shall they acknowledge that, I, am the same, even I who am speaking, —Here, I am,

So I'm going to make sure my people know me; at that time they will know that I am the one who means what he says. Yes, it's me!

7 How beautiful, upon the mountains are the feet—Of him That bringeth good tidings, That publisheth peace, That bringeth good tidings of blessing, That publisheth salvation, —That saith unto Zion, Thy God, hath become king.

What a wonderful sight in the mountains is the one running to bring good news, announcing peace and good news, announcing salvation, telling Zion, “Your God reigns!”

8 The voice of thy watchmen! They have uplifted a voice Together, do they renew the shout of triumph, —For eye to eye, shall they see, When Yahweh returneth to Zion.

The city watchmen shout loudly and sing for joy together; they all see the Lord returning to Jerusalem.

9 Break forth, shout in triumph together, ye waste places of Jerusalem, —For Yahweh Hath comforted his people, Hath redeemed Jerusalem:

Let Jerusalem's ruins all sing for joy for the Lord has come to care for his people; he has set Jerusalem free.

10 Yahweh hath bared his holy arm, in the eyes of all the nations, So shall all the ends of the earth see the salvation of our God.

The Lord has demonstrated his holy power to all the nations; the whole world will see our God's salvation.

11 Away! away! come, forth from thence!—Nought unclean, may ye touch, —Come forth out of her midst, Purify yourselves, ye who are to carry the vessels of Yahweh;

Leave, leave, get out of there! Don't bring anything pagan; come out and leave it all behind. Those of you who carry the Lord's sacred articles are to purify yourselves.

12 For, not in haste, shall ye come forth, Nor, by flight, shall ye journey, —For, your van-guard, is Yahweh, And, your rear-guard, the God of Israel.

But don't leave in a hurry, don't be in a rush as if you're running away, for the Lord will go ahead of you, and he will also protect those at the back.

13 Lo! my Servant, prospereth, —He riseth, and is lifted up, and becometh very high:

Look: my servant will act wisely; he will be praised highly, he will be elevated in position, and seen as someone people look up to.

14 The more that Many, were amazed at thee, So marred, beyond any man’s, was his appearance, —And his form, beyond the sons of men,

But many were horrified by him, so disfigured in appearance, no longer looking like a man, so unlike anyone human.

15 The more doth he startle Many nations, Before him, have kings closed their mouth, —For, that which had not been related to them, have they seen, And that which they had not heard, haw they diligently considered.

He will surprise many nations, and kings will keep quiet because of him—for they'll see what they haven't been told, and they'll understand what they hadn't heard.