Isaiah 53

1 Who believed what we have heard? And, the arm of Yahweh, to whom was it revealed?

(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]

2 When he came up as a sapling before him. And as a root-sprout out of dry ground, He had neither beauty nor majesty, —When we beheld him, there was nothing to behold, that we should desire him;

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.

3 Despised was he, and forsaken of men, Man of pains and familiar with sickness, —Yea, like one from whom the face is hidden, Despised, and we esteemed him not.

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.

4 Yet surely, our sicknesses, he, carried, And, as for our pains, he bare the burden of them, —But, we, accounted him stricken. Smitten of God and humbled,

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].

5 Yet, he, was pierced for transgressions that were ours, was crushed for iniquities that were ours, —the chastisement for our well-being, was upon him, And by his stripes, there is healing for us.

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.

6 We all, like sheep, had gone astray, Every man—to his way, had we burned, —And Yahweh! caused to light upon him The guilt of, us all!

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.

7 Hard pressed—yet, he, humbled himself Nor opened his mouth—As, a lamb, to the slaughter, is led, And, as a sheep, before her shearers, is dumb—Nor opened his mouth.

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].

8 By constraint and by sentence, was he taken away, And of his age, who considered That he was cut off out of the land of the living, For my people’s transgression, did the stroke fall on him?

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.

9 And, appointed with lawless men, was his grave, And with the wicked, his tomb, —Though no violence, had he done, Nor was guile in his mouth.

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.

10 Yet, Yahweh, purposed to bruise him, He laid on him sickness: —If his soul become an offering for guilt, He shall see a seed, He shall prolong his days, —And the purpose of Yahweh, in his hand, shall prosper:

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.

11 Of the travail of his soul, shall he see He shall be satisfied with his knowledge, A setting right when set right himself, shall my Servant win for the Many, Since of their iniquities, he, taketh the burden.

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.

12 Therefore, will I give him a portion in the great, And the strong, shall he apportion as spoil, Because he poured out, to death his own soul, And with transgressors, let himself be numbered, —Yea, he, the sin of Many, bare, And for transgressors, interposeth.

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].