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 has believed what they heard from us, and to whom has the arm of Yahweh 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.

For he grew up before Yahweh like a sapling, and like a sprout out of parched earth; he had no remarkable appearance or splendor; when we saw him, there was no beauty to attract us.

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 was despised and rejected by people; a man of sorrows, and one familiar with pain. Like one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised; and we considered him insignificant.

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].

But surely he has borne our sicknesses and carried our sorrows; yet we thought he was being punished by God, struck by 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.

But he was pierced because of our rebellious deeds; he was crushed because of our sins. The punishment for our peace was on him, and with his wounds we are healed.

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.

We all like sheep have gone astray; we have each turned to his own way, and Yahweh has placed on him the iniquity 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].

He was oppressed; yet when he humbled himself, he did not open his mouth; as a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he did not open 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 coercion and judgment he was condemned; who from that generation thought anymore about him? But he was cut off from the land of the living; because of the offenses of my people the penalty was put on him.

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.

They placed his grave with the criminals, with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, nor had there been any 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.

Yet it was Yahweh's will to crush him and make him ill. When he makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring, he will prolong his days, and Yahweh's purpose will be accomplished through him.

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.

After the suffering of his life, he will see light and be satisfied by his knowledge. My righteous servant will justify many; he will bear their iniquities.

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 will I give him his portion among the multitudes, and he will divide the spoils with the many, because he exposed himself to death and was numbered with the transgressors. He bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors.