Who could have believed what we have heard,
and to whom has the power of the LORD been revealed?

He grew up before the LORD like a young plant
whose roots are in parched ground;
he had no beauty, no majesty to draw our eyes,
no grace to make us delight in him;
his form, disfigured, lost all the likeness of a man,
his beauty changed beyond human semblance.
He was despised, he shrank from the sight of men,
tormented and humbled by suffering;
we despised him, we held him of no account,
a thing from which men turn away their eyes.
Yet on himself he bore our sufferings,
our torments he endured,
while we counted him smitten by God,
struck down by disease and misery;
but he was pierced for our transgressions,
tortured for our iniquities;
the chastisement he bore is health for us
and by his scourging we are healed.
We had all strayed like sheep,
each of us had gone his own way;
but the LORD laid upon him
the guilt of us all.

He was afflicted, he submitted to be struck down
and did not open his mouth;
he was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
like a ewe that is dumb before the shearers.
Without protection, without justice, he was taken away;
and who gave a thought to his fate,
how he was cut off from the world of living men,
stricken to the death for my people’s transgression?
He was assigned a grave with the wicked
a burial-place among the refuse of mankind,
though he had done no violence
and spoken no word of treachery.
Yet the LORD took thought for his tortured servant
and healed him who had made himself a sacrifice for sin;
so shall he enjoy long life and see his children’s children,
and in his hand the LORD’s cause shall prosper.
After all his pains he shall be bathed in light,
after his disgrace he shall be fully vindicated;
so shall he, my servant, vindicate many,
himself bearing the penalty of their guilt.
Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great,
and he shall share the spoil with the mighty,
because he exposed himself to face death
and was reckoned among transgressors,
because he bore the sin of many
and interceded for their transgressions.

Isaiah 53:1-12 (NEB)

2 thoughts on “Good Friday”

  1. I compared this passage to the Revise English Bible. There are lots of fairly minor wording changes, and some lines are in different locations. The REB placed, “his form, disfigured, lost all the likeness of a man, his beauty changed beyond human semblance” near the end of chapter 52, in a section that it numbers as verses 14–15, rather than numbering the verses individually, for some reason. I looked briefly and couldn’t find any translations that place that text in chapter 53.

    And verse 11 is fairly different:

    By his humiliation my servant will justify many;
    after his suffering he will see the light and be satisfied;
    it is their guilt he bears. (Isaiah 53:11 REB)

    (I assume that verse 11 in the NEB is, “After all his pains … penalty of their guilt.”)

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