Isaiah 53

1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD 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 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, [there is] no beauty 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 He is despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were [our] faces from him; he was 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 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.

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 But he [was] wounded for our transgression, [he was] bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace [was] upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

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 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity 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 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not 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 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off from the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

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 he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death: because he had done no violence, neither [was any] deceit 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 it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put [him] to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see [his] seed, he shall prolong [his] days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.

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 He shall see of the travail of his soul, [and] shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

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 I will divide to him [a portion] with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul to death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

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].