The Message (MSG)

Proud to Be Called Israel

1-5 “But for now, dear servant Jacob, listen—

yes, you, Israel, my personal choice.

Godwho made you has something to say to you;

the God who formed you in the womb wants to help you.

Don’t be afraid, dear servant Jacob,

Jeshurun, the one I chose.

For I will pour water on the thirsty ground

and send streams coursing through the parched earth.

I will pour my Spirit into your descendants

and my blessing on your children.

They shall sprout like grass on the prairie,

like willows alongside creeks.

This one will say, ‘I amGod’s,’

and another will go by the name Jacob;

That one will write on his hand ‘God’s property’—

and be proud to be called Israel.”

6-8 God, King of Israel,

your Redeemer,God-of-the-Angel-Armies, says:

“I’m first, I’m last, and everything in between.

I’m the only God there is.

Who compares with me?

Speak up. See if you measure up.

From the beginning, who else has always announced what’s coming?

So what is coming next? Anybody want to venture a try?

Don’t be afraid, and don’t worry:

Haven’t I always kept you informed, told you what was going on?

You’re my eyewitnesses:

Have you ever come across a God, a real God, other than me?

There’s no Rock like me that I know of.”

Lover of Emptiness

9-11 All those who make no-god idols don’t amount to a thing, and what they work so hard at making is nothing. Their little puppet-gods see nothing and know nothing—they’re total embarrassments! Who would bother making gods that can’t do anything, that can’t“god”? Watch all the no-god worshipers hide their faces in shame. Watch the no-god makers slink off humiliated when their idols fail them. Get them out here in the open. Make them face God-reality.

12 The blacksmith makes his no-god, works it over in his forge, hammering it on his anvil—such hard work! He works away, fatigued with hunger and thirst.

13-17 The woodworker draws up plans for his no-god, traces it on a block of wood. He shapes it with chisels and planes into human shape—a beautiful woman, a handsome man, ready to be placed in a chapel. He first cuts down a cedar, or maybe picks out a pine or oak, and lets it grow strong in the forest, nourished by the rain. Then it can serve a double purpose: Part he uses as firewood for keeping warm and baking bread; from the other part he makes a god that he worships—carves it into a god shape and prays before it. With half he makes a fire to warm himself and barbecue his supper. He eats his fill and sits back satisfied with his stomach full and his feet warmed by the fire: “Ah, this is the life.” And he still has half left for a god, made to his personal design—a handy, convenient no-god to worship whenever so inclined. Whenever the need strikes him he prays to it, “Save me. You’re my god.”

18-19 Pretty stupid, wouldn’t you say? Don’t they have eyes in their heads? Are their brains working at all? Doesn’t it occur to them to say, “Half of this tree I used for firewood: I baked bread, roasted meat, and enjoyed a good meal. And now I’ve used the rest to make an abominable no-god. Here I am praying to a stick of wood!”

20 This lover of emptiness, of nothing, is so out of touch with reality, so far gone, that he can’t even look at what he’s doing, can’t even look at the no-god stick of wood in his hand and say, “This is crazy.”

21-22 “Remember these things, O Jacob.

Take it seriously, Israel, that you’re my servant.

I made you,shapedyou: You’re my servant.

O Israel, I’ll never forget you.

I’ve wiped the slate of all your wrongdoings.

There’s nothing left of your sins.

Come back to me, come back.

I’ve redeemed you.”

23 High heavens, sing!

Godhas done it.

Deep earth, shout!

And you mountains, sing!

A forest choir of oaks and pines and cedars!

Godhas redeemed Jacob.

God’s glory is on display in Israel.

24 God, your Redeemer,

who shaped your life in your mother’s womb, says:

“I amGod. I made all that is.

With no help from you I spread out the skies

and laid out the earth.”

25-28 He makes the magicians look ridiculous

and turns fortunetellers into jokes.

He makes the experts look trivial

and their latest knowledge look silly.

But he backs the word of his servant

and confirms the counsel of his messengers.

He says to Jerusalem, “Be inhabited,”

and to the cities of Judah, “Be rebuilt,”

and to the ruins, “I raise you up.”

He says to Ocean, “Dry up.

I’m drying up your rivers.”

He says to Cyrus, “My shepherd—

everything I want, you’ll do it.”

He says to Jerusalem, “Be built,”

and to the Temple, “Be established.”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/85/32k/ISA/44-0df4f44d7c249451b5da9e17284b8778.mp3?version_id=97—

The God Who Forms Light and Darkness

1-7 God’s Message to his anointed,

to Cyrus, whom he took by the hand

To give the task of taming the nations,

of terrifying their kings—

He gave him free rein,

no restrictions:

“I’ll go ahead of you,

clearing and paving the road.

I’ll break down bronze city gates,

smash padlocks, kick down barred entrances.

I’ll lead you to buried treasures,

secret caches of valuables—

Confirmations that it is, in fact, I,God,

the God of Israel, who calls you by your name.

It’s because of my dear servant Jacob,

Israel my chosen,

That I’ve singled you out, called you by name,

and given you this privileged work.

And you don’t even know me!

I amGod, the only God there is.

Besides me there are no real gods.

I’m the one who armed you for this work,

though you don’t even know me,

So that everyone, from east to west, will know

that I have no god-rivals.

I amGod, the only God there is.

I form light and create darkness,

I make harmonies and create discords.

I,God, do all these things.

8-10 “Open up, heavens, and rain.

Clouds, pour out buckets of my goodness!

Loosen up, earth, and bloom salvation;

sprout right living.

I,God, generate all this.

But doom to you who fight your Maker—

you’re a pot at odds with the potter!

Does clay talk back to the potter:

‘What are you doing? What clumsy fingers!’

Would a sperm say to a father,

‘Who gave you permission to use me to make a baby?’

Or a fetus to a mother,

‘Why have you cooped me up in this belly?’”

11-13 ThusGod, The Holy of Israel, Israel’s Maker, says:

“Do you question who or what I’m making?

Are you telling me what I can or cannot do?

I made earth,

and I created man and woman to live on it.

I handcrafted the skies

and direct all the constellations in their turnings.

And now I’ve got Cyrus on the move.

I’ve rolled out the red carpet before him.

He will build my city.

He will bring home my exiles.

I didn’t hire him to do this. Itoldhim.

I,God-of-the-Angel-Armies.”

14 Godsays:

“The workers of Egypt, the merchants of Ethiopia,

and those statuesque Sabeans

Will all come over to you—all yours.

Docile in chains, they’ll follow you,

Hands folded in reverence, praying before you:

‘Amazing! God is with you!

There is no other God—none.’”

Look at the Evidence

15-17 Clearly, you are a God who works behind the scenes,

God of Israel, Savior God.

Humiliated, all those others

will be ashamed to show their faces in public.

Out of work and at loose ends, the makers of no-god idols

won’t know what to do with themselves.

The people of Israel, though, are saved by you,God,

saved with an eternal salvation.

They won’t be ashamed,

they won’t be at loose ends, ever.

18-24 God, Creator of the heavens—

he is, remember,God.

Maker of earth—

he put it on its foundations, built it from scratch.

He didn’t go to all that trouble

to just leave it empty, nothing in it.

He made it to be lived in.

ThisGodsays:

“I amGod,

the one and only.

I don’t just talk to myself

or mumble under my breath.

I never told Jacob,

‘Seek me in emptiness, in dark nothingness.’

I amGod. I work out in the open,

saying what’s right, setting things right.

So gather around, come on in,

all you refugees and castoffs.

They don’t seem to know much, do they—

those who carry around their no-god blocks of wood,

praying for help to a dead stick?

So tell me what you think. Look at the evidence.

Put your heads together. Make your case.

Who told you, and a long time ago, what’s going on here?

Who made sense of things for you?

Wasn’t I the one?God?

It had to be me. I’m the only God there is—

The only God who does things right

and knows how to help.

So turn to me and be helped—saved!—

everyone, whoever and wherever you are.

I amGod,

the only God there is, the one and only.

I promise in my own name:

Every word out of my mouth does what it says.

I never take back what I say.

Everyone is going to end up kneeling before me.

Everyone is going to end up saying of me,

‘Yes! Salvation and strength are inGod!’”

24-25 All who have raged against him

will be brought before him,

disgraced by their unbelief.

And all who are connected with Israel

will have a robust, praising, good life inGod!

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/85/32k/ISA/45-b725c572c5192846db75fddc10a9c284.mp3?version_id=97—

This Is Serious Business, Rebels

1-2 The god Bel falls down, god Nebo slumps.

The no-god hunks of wood are loaded on mules

And have to be hauled off,

wearing out the poor mules—

Dead weight, burdens who can’t bear burdens,

hauled off to captivity.

3-4 “Listen to me, family of Jacob,

everyone that’s left of the family of Israel.

I’ve been carrying you on my back

from the day you were born,

And I’ll keep on carrying you when you’re old.

I’ll be there, bearing you when you’re old and gray.

I’ve done it and will keep on doing it,

carrying you on my back, saving you.

5-7 “So to whom will you compare me, the Incomparable?

Can you picture me without reducing me?

People with a lot of money

hire craftsmen to make them gods.

The artisan delivers the god,

and they kneel and worship it!

They carry it around in holy parades,

then take it home and put it on a shelf.

And there it sits, day in and day out,

a dependable god, always right where you put it.

Say anything you want to it, it never talks back.

Of course, it neverdoesanything either!

8-11 “Think about this. Wrap your minds around it.

This is serious business, rebels. Take it to heart.

Remember your history,

your long and rich history.

I amGod, the only God you’ve had or ever will have—

incomparable, irreplaceable—

From the very beginning

telling you what the ending will be,

All along letting you in

on what is going to happen,

Assuring you, ‘I’m in this for the long haul,

I’ll do exactly what I set out to do,’

Calling that eagle, Cyrus, out of the east,

from a far country the man I chose to help me.

I’ve said it, and I’ll most certainly do it.

I’ve planned it, so it’s as good as done.

12-13 “Now listen to me:

You’re a hardheaded bunch and hard to help.

I’m ready to help you right now.

Deliverance is not a long-range plan.

Salvation isn’t on hold.

I’m putting salvation to work in Zion now,

and glory in Israel.”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/85/32k/ISA/46-3317a4efb1a84cb6f887bbe197bcf2d6.mp3?version_id=97—

The Party’s Over

1-3 “Get off your high horse and sit in the dirt,

virgin daughter of Babylon.

No more throne for you—sit on the ground,

daughter of the Chaldeans.

Nobody will be calling you ‘charming’

and ‘alluring’ anymore. Get used to it.

Get a job, any old job:

Clean gutters, scrub toilets.

Hock your gowns and scarves,

put on overalls—the party’s over.

Your nude body will be on public display,

exposed to vulgar taunts.

It’s vengeance time, and I’m taking vengeance.

No one gets let off the hook.”

You’re Acting Like the Center of the Universe

4-13 Our Redeemer speaks,

namedGod-of-the-Angel-Armies, The Holy of Israel:

“Shut up and get out of the way,

daughter of Chaldeans.

You’ll no longer be called

‘First Lady of the Kingdoms.’

I was fed up with my people,

thoroughly disgusted with my progeny.

I turned them over to you,

but you had no compassion.

You put old men and women

to cruel, hard labor.

You said, ‘I’m the First Lady.

I’ll always be the pampered darling.’

You took nothing seriously, took nothing to heart,

never gave tomorrow a thought.

Well, start thinking, playgirl.

You’re acting like the center of the universe,

Smugly saying to yourself, ‘I’m Number One. There’s nobody but me.

I’ll never be a widow, I’ll never lose my children.’

Those two things are going to hit you both at once,

suddenly, on the same day:

Spouse and children gone, a total loss,

despite your many enchantments and charms.

You were so confident and comfortable in your evil life,

saying, ‘No one sees me.’

You thought you knew so much, had everything figured out.

What delusion!

Smugly telling yourself, ‘I’m Number One. There’s nobody but me.’

Ruin descends—

you can’t charm it away.

Disaster strikes—

you can’t cast it off with spells.

Catastrophe, sudden and total—

and you’re totally at sea, totally bewildered!

But don’t give up. From your great repertoire

of enchantments there must be one you haven’t yet tried.

You’ve been at this a long time.

Surelysomethingwill work.

I know you’re exhausted trying out remedies,

but don’t give up.

Call in the astrologers and stargazers.

They’re good at this. Surely they can work up something!

14-15 “Fat chance. You’d be grasping at straws

that are already in the fire,

A fire that is even now raging.

Your ‘experts’ are in it and won’t get out.

It’s not a fire for cooking venison stew,

not a fire to warm you on a winter night!

That’s the fate of your friends in sorcery, your magician buddies

you’ve been in cahoots with all your life.

They reel, confused, bumping into one another.

None of them bother to help you.”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/85/32k/ISA/47-4856145458156f8bd9de9ca73469aa97.mp3?version_id=97—

Tested in the Furnace of Affliction

1-11 “And now listen to this, family of Jacob,

you who are called by the name Israel:

Who got you started in the loins of Judah,

you who useGod’s name to back up your promises

and pray to the God of Israel?

But do you mean it?

Do you live like it?

You claim to be citizens of the Holy City;

you act as though you lean on the God of Israel,

namedGod-of-the-Angel-Armies.

For a long time now, I’ve let you in on the way I work:

I told you what I was going to do beforehand,

then I did it and it was done, and that’s that.

I know you’re a bunch of hardheads,

obstinate and flint-faced,

So I got a running start and began telling you

what was going on before it even happened.

That is why you can’t say,

‘My god-idol did this.’

‘My favorite god-carving commanded this.’

You have all this evidence

confirmed by your own eyes and ears.

Shouldn’t you be talking about it?

And that was just the beginning.

I have a lot more to tell you,

things you never knew existed.

This isn’t a variation on the same old thing.

This is new, brand-new,

something you’d never guess or dream up.

When you hear this you won’t be able to say,

‘I knew that all along.’

You’ve never been good listeners to me.

You have a history of ignoring me,

A sorry track record of fickle attachments—

rebels from the womb.

But out of the sheer goodness of my heart,

because of who I am,

I keep a tight rein on my anger and hold my temper.

I don’t wash my hands of you.

Do you see what I’ve done?

I’ve refined you, but not without fire.

I’ve tested you like silver in the furnace of affliction.

Out of myself, simply because of who I am, I do what I do.

I have my reputation to keep up.

I’m not playing second fiddle to either gods or people.

12-13 “Listen, Jacob. Listen, Israel—

I’m the One who named you!

I’m the One.

I got things started and, yes, I’ll wrap them up.

Earth is my work, handmade.

And the skies—I made them, too, horizon to horizon.

When I speak, they’re on their feet, at attention.

14-16 “Come everybody, gather around, listen:

Who among the gods has delivered the news?

I,God, love this man Cyrus, and I’m using him

to do what I want with Babylon.

I, yes I, have spoken. I’ve called him.

I’ve brought him here. He’ll be successful.

Come close, listen carefully:

I’ve never kept secrets from you.

I’ve always been present with you.”

Your Progeny, Like Grains of Sand

16-19 And now, the Master,God, sends me and his Spirit

with this Message fromGod

your Redeemer, The Holy of Israel:

“I amGod, your God,

who teaches you how to live right and well.

I show you what to do, where to go.

If you had listened all along to what I told you,

your life would have flowed full like a river,

blessings rolling in like waves from the sea.

Children and grandchildren are like sand,

your progeny like grains of sand.

There would be no end of them,

no danger of losing touch with me.”

20 Get out of Babylon! Run from the Babylonians!

Shout the news. Broadcast it.

Let the world know, the whole world.

Tell them, “Godredeemed his dear servant Jacob!”

21 They weren’t thirsty when he led them through the deserts.

He made water pour out of the rock;

he split the rock and the water gushed.

22 “There is no peace,” saysGod, “for the wicked.”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/85/32k/ISA/48-9ef07305cdc1d5ec8b2e5c1da6bb9761.mp3?version_id=97—

A Light for the Nations

1-3 Listen, far-flung islands,

pay attention, faraway people:

Godput me to work from the day I was born.

The moment I entered the world he named me.

He gave me speech that would cut and penetrate.

He kept his hand on me to protect me.

He made me his straight arrow

and hid me in his quiver.

He said to me, “You’re my dear servant,

Israel, through whom I’ll shine.”

4 But I said, “I’ve worked for nothing.

I’ve nothing to show for a life of hard work.

Nevertheless, I’ll letGodhave the last word.

I’ll let him pronounce his verdict.”

5-6 “And now,”Godsays,

this God who took me in hand

from the moment of birth to be his servant,

To bring Jacob back home to him,

to set a reunion for Israel—

What an honor for me inGod’s eyes!

That God should be my strength!

He says, “But that’s not a big enough job for my servant—

just to recover the tribes of Jacob,

merely to round up the strays of Israel.

I’m setting you up as a light for thenations

so that my salvation becomesglobal!”

7 God, Redeemer of Israel, The Holy of Israel,

says to the despised one, kicked around by the nations,

slave labor to the ruling class:

“Kings will see, get to their feet—the princes, too—

and then fall on their faces in homage

Because ofGod, who has faithfully kept his word,

The Holy of Israel, who has chosen you.”

8-12 Godalso says:

“When the time’s ripe, I answer you.

When victory’s due, I help you.

I form you and use you

to reconnect the people with me,

To put the land in order,

to resettle families on the ruined properties.

I tell prisoners, ‘Come on out. You’re free!’

and those huddled in fear, ‘It’s all right. It’s safe now.’

There’ll be foodstands along all the roads,

picnics on all the hills—

Nobody hungry, nobody thirsty,

shade from the sun, shelter from the wind,

For the Compassionate One guides them,

takes them to the best springs.

I’ll make all my mountains into roads,

turn them into a superhighway.

Look: These coming from far countries,

and those, out of the north,

These streaming in from the west,

and those from all the way down the Nile!”

13 Heavens, raise the roof! Earth, wake the dead!

Mountains, send up cheers!

Godhas comforted his people.

He has tenderly nursed his beaten-up, beaten-down people.

14 But Zion said, “I don’t get it.Godhas left me.

My Master has forgotten I even exist.”

15-18 “Can a mother forget the infant at her breast,

walk away from the baby she bore?

But even if mothers forget,

I’d never forget you—never.

Look, I’ve written your names on the backs of my hands.

The walls you’re rebuilding are never out of my sight.

Your builders are faster than your wreckers.

The demolition crews are gone for good.

Look up, look around, look well!

See them all gathering, coming to you?

As sure as I am the living God”—God’s Decree—

“you’re going to put them on like so much jewelry,

you’re going to use them to dress up like a bride.

19-21 “And your ruined land?

Your devastated, decimated land?

Filled with more people than you know what to do with!

And your barbarian enemies, a fading memory.

The children born in your exile will be saying,

‘It’s getting too crowded here. I need more room.’

And you’ll say to yourself,

‘Where on earth did these children come from?

I lost everything, had nothing, was exiled and penniless.

So who reared these children?

How did these children get here?’”

22-23 The Master,God, says:

“Look! I signal to the nations,

I raise my flag to summon the people.

Here they’ll come: women carrying your little boys in their arms,

men carrying your little girls on their shoulders.

Kings will be your babysitters,

princesses will be your nursemaids.

They’ll offer to do all your drudge work—

scrub your floors, do your laundry.

You’ll know then that I amGod.

No one who hopes in me ever regrets it.”

24-26 Can plunder be retrieved from a giant,

prisoners of war gotten back from a tyrant?

ButGodsays, “Even if a giant grips the plunder

and a tyrant holds my people prisoner,

I’m the one who’s on your side,

defending your cause, rescuing your children.

And your enemies, crazed and desperate, will turn on themselves,

killing each other in a frenzy of self-destruction.

Then everyone will know that I,God,

have saved you—I, the Mighty One of Jacob.”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/85/32k/ISA/49-ec12b77deeb8554752e74bb8961bbef1.mp3?version_id=97—

Who Out There Fears God?

1-3 Godsays:

“Can you produce your mother’s divorce papers

proving I got rid of her?

Can you produce a receipt

proving I sold you?

Of course you can’t.

It’s your sins that put you here,

your wrongs that got you shipped out.

So why didn’t anyone come when I knocked?

Why didn’t anyone answer when I called?

Do you think I’ve forgotten how to help?

Am I so decrepit that I can’t deliver?

I’m as powerful as ever,

and can reverse what I once did:

I can dry up the sea with a word,

turn river water into desert sand,

And leave the fish stinking in the sun,

stranded on dry land . . .

Turn all the lights out in the sky

and pull down the curtain.”

4-9 The Master,God, has given me

a well-taught tongue,

So I know how to encourage tired people.

He wakes me up in the morning,

Wakes me up, opens my ears

to listen as one ready to take orders.

The Master,God, opened my ears,

and I didn’t go back to sleep,

didn’t pull the covers back over my head.

I followed orders,

stood there and took it while they beat me,

held steady while they pulled out my beard,

Didn’t dodge their insults,

faced them as they spit in my face.

And the Master,God, stays right there and helps me,

so I’m not disgraced.

Therefore I set my face like flint,

confident that I’ll never regret this.

My champion is right here.

Let’s take our stand together!

Who dares bring suit against me?

Let him try!

Look! the Master,God, is right here.

Who would dare call me guilty?

Look! My accusers are a clothes bin of threadbare

socks and shirts, fodder for moths!

10-11 Who out there fearsGod,

actually listens to the voice of his servant?

For anyone out there who doesn’t know where you’re going,

anyone groping in the dark,

Here’s what: Trust inGod.

Leanon your God!

But if all you’re after is making trouble,

playing with fire,

Go ahead and see where it gets you.

Set your fires, stir people up, blow on the flames,

But don’t expect me to just stand there and watch.

I’ll hold your feet to those flames.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/85/32k/ISA/50-6893a3f4ec13aedc26b3e230a43bf3bc.mp3?version_id=97—

Committed to Seeking God

1-3 “Listen to me, all you who are serious about right living

and committed to seekingGod.

Ponder the rock from which you were cut,

the quarry from which you were dug.

Yes, ponder Abraham, your father,

and Sarah, who bore you.

Think of it! One solitary man when I called him,

but once I blessed him, he multiplied.

Likewise I,God, will comfort Zion,

comfort all her mounds of ruins.

I’ll transform her dead ground into Eden,

her moonscape into the garden ofGod,

A place filled with exuberance and laughter,

thankful voices and melodic songs.

4-6 “Pay attention, my people.

Listen to me, nations.

Revelation flows from me.

My decisions light up the world.

My deliverance arrives on the run,

my salvation right on time.

I’ll bring justice to the peoples.

Even faraway islands will look to me

and take hope in my saving power.

Look up at the skies,

ponder the earth under your feet.

The skies will fade out like smoke,

the earth will wear out like work pants,

and the people will die off like flies.

But my salvation will last forever,

my setting-things-right will never be obsolete.

7-8 “Listen now, you who know right from wrong,

you who hold my teaching inside you:

Pay no attention to insults, and when mocked

don’t let it get you down.

Those insults and mockeries are moth-eaten,

from brains that are termite-ridden,

But my setting-things-right lasts,

my salvation goes on and on and on.”

9-11 Wake up, wake up, flex your muscles,God!

Wake up as in the old days, in the long ago.

Didn’t you once make mincemeat of Rahab,

dispatch the old chaos-dragon?

And didn’t you once dry up the sea,

the powerful waters of the deep,

And then made the bottom of the ocean a road

for the redeemed to walk across?

In the same wayGod’s ransomed will come back,

come back to Zion cheering, shouting,

Joy eternal wreathing their heads,

exuberant ecstasies transporting them—

and not a sign of moans or groans.

What Are You Afraid of—or Who?

12-16 “I, I’m the One comforting you.

What are you afraid of—or who?

Some man or woman who’ll soon be dead?

Some poor wretch destined for dust?

You’ve forgotten me,God, who made you,

who unfurled the skies, who founded the earth.

And here you are, quaking like an aspen

before the tantrums of a tyrant

who thinks he can kick down the world.

But what will come of the tantrums?

The victims will be released before you know it.

They’re not going to die.

They’re not even going to go hungry.

For I amGod, your very own God,

who stirs up the sea and whips up the waves,

namedGod-of-the-Angel-Armies.

I teach you how to talk, word by word,

and personally watch over you,

Even while I’m unfurling the skies,

setting earth on solid foundations,

and greeting Zion: ‘Welcome, my people!’”

17-20 So wake up! Rub the sleep from your eyes!

Up on your feet, Jerusalem!

You’ve drunk the cupGodhanded you,

the strong drink of his anger.

You drank it down to the last drop,

staggered and collapsed, dead-drunk.

And nobody to help you home,

no one among your friends or children

to take you by the hand and put you in bed.

You’ve been hit with a double dose of trouble

—does anyone care?

Assault and battery, hunger and death

—will anyone comfort?

Your sons and daughters have passed out,

strewn in the streets like stunned rabbits,

Sleeping off the strong drink ofGod’s anger,

the rage of your God.

21-23 Therefore listen, please,

you with your splitting headaches,

You who are nursing the hangovers

that didn’t come from drinking wine.

Your Master, yourGod, has something to say,

your God has taken up his people’s case:

“Look, I’ve taken back the drink that sent you reeling.

No more drinking from that jug of my anger!

I’ve passed it over to your abusers to drink, those who ordered you,

‘Down on the ground so we can walk all over you!’

And you had to do it. Flat on the ground,

you were the dirt under their feet.”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/85/32k/ISA/51-b72c0a968b6d5e35ca8ff35cc7883fb7.mp3?version_id=97—

God Is Leading You Out of Here

1-2 Wake up, wake up! Pull on your boots, Zion!

Dress up in your Sunday best, Jerusalem, holy city!

Those who want no part of God have been culled out.

They won’t be coming along.

Brush off the dust and get to your feet, captive Jerusalem!

Throw off your chains, captive daughter of Zion!

3 Godsays, “You were sold for nothing. You’re being bought back for nothing.”

4-6 Again, the Master,God, says, “Early on, my people went to Egypt and lived, strangers in the land. At the other end, Assyria oppressed them. And now, what have I here?”God’s Decree. “My people are hauled off again for no reason at all. Tyrants on the warpath, whooping it up, and day after day, incessantly, my reputation blackened. Now it’s time that my people know who I am, what I’m made of—yes, that I have something to say. Here I am!”

7-10 How beautiful on the mountains

are the feet of the messenger bringing good news,

Breaking the news that all’s well,

proclaiming good times, announcing salvation,

telling Zion, “Your God reigns!”

Voices! Listen! Your scouts are shouting, thunderclap shouts,

shouting in joyful unison.

They see with their own eyes

Godcoming back to Zion.

Break into song! Boom it out, ruins of Jerusalem:

“Godhas comforted his people!

He’s redeemed Jerusalem!”

Godhas rolled up his sleeves.

All the nations can see his holy, muscled arm.

Everyone, from one end of the earth to the other,

sees him at work, doing his salvation work.

11-12 Out of here! Out of here! Leave this place!

Don’t look back. Don’t contaminate yourselves with plunder.

Just leave, but leave clean. Purify yourselves

in the process of worship, carrying the holy vessels ofGod.

But you don’t have to be in a hurry.

You’re not running from anybody!

Godis leading you out of here,

and the God of Israel is also your rear guard.

It Was Our Pains He Carried

13-15 “Just watch my servant blossom!

Exalted, tall, head and shoulders above the crowd!

But he didn’t begin that way.

At first everyone was appalled.

He didn’t even look human—

a ruined face, disfigured past recognition.

Nations all over the world will be in awe, taken aback,

kings shocked into silence when they see him.

For what was unheard of they’ll see with their own eyes,

what was unthinkable they’ll have right before them.”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/85/32k/ISA/52-b0391984127f5d4423ad5900d54155d7.mp3?version_id=97—

1 Who believes what we’ve heard and seen?

Who would have thoughtGod’s saving power would look like this?

2-6 The servant grew up before God—a scrawny seedling,

a scrubby plant in a parched field.

There was nothing attractive about him,

nothing to cause us to take a second look.

He was looked down on and passed over,

a man who suffered, who knew pain firsthand.

One look at him and people turned away.

We looked down on him, thought he was scum.

But the fact is, it wasourpains he carried—

ourdisfigurements, all the things wrong withus.

We thought he brought it on himself,

that God was punishing him for his own failures.

But it was our sins that did that to him,

that ripped and tore and crushed him—our sins!

He took the punishment, and that made us whole.

Through his bruises we get healed.

We’re all like sheep who’ve wandered off and gotten lost.

We’ve all done our own thing, gone our own way.

AndGodhas piled all our sins, everything we’ve done wrong,

on him, on him.

7-9 He was beaten, he was tortured,

but he didn’t say a word.

Like a lamb taken to be slaughtered

and like a sheep being sheared,

he took it all in silence.

Justice miscarried, and he was led off—

and did anyone really know what was happening?

He died without a thought for his own welfare,

beaten bloody for the sins of my people.

They buried him with the wicked,

threw him in a grave with a rich man,

Even though he’d never hurt a soul

or said one word that wasn’t true.

10 Still, it’s whatGodhad in mind all along,

to crush him with pain.

The plan was that he give himself as an offering for sin

so that he’d see life come from it—life, life, and more life.

AndGod’s plan will deeply prosper through him.

11-12 Out of that terrible travail of soul,

he’ll see that it’s worth it and be glad he did it.

Through what he experienced, my righteous one, my servant,

will make many “righteous ones,”

as he himself carries the burden of their sins.

Therefore I’ll reward him extravagantly—

the best of everything, the highest honors—

Because he looked death in the face and didn’t flinch,

because he embraced the company of the lowest.

He took on his own shoulders the sin of the many,

he took up the cause of all the black sheep.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/85/32k/ISA/53-d47d31635226c1ef8ba032dd12526156.mp3?version_id=97—