Isaiah 52
The full text of Isaiah 52 in the Trinity Bible Version — clear modern English, translated from the original Hebrew. Free to read.
1 Awake, awake;
put on your strength, O Zion!
Put on your beautiful garments,
O Jerusalem, the holy city;
for there will no more come into you
the uncircumcised and the unclean.
2 Shake yourself from the dust and arise;
be seated, O Jerusalem;
loose the bonds from your neck,
O captive daughter of Zion.
3 For thus says the LORD: "You were sold for nothing, and you will be redeemed without money."
4 For thus says the Lord GOD: "My people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there, and the Assyrian oppressed them for nothing.
5 Now therefore, what have I here?" declares the LORD, "seeing that my people are taken away for nothing? Their rulers wail," declares the LORD, "and continually all the day my name is despised.
6 Therefore my people will know my name.
Therefore in that day they will know
that it is I who speak;
here I am.
7 How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of him who brings good news,
who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness,
who publishes salvation,
who says to Zion, "Your God reigns."
8 The voice of your watchmen!
They lift up their voice;
together they sing for joy;
for eye to eye they see
the return of the LORD to Zion.
9 Break forth together into singing,
you waste places of Jerusalem,
for the LORD has comforted his people;
he has redeemed Jerusalem.
10 The LORD has bared his holy arm
before the eyes of all the nations,
and all the ends of the earth will see
the salvation of our God.
11 Depart, depart, go out from there;
touch no unclean thing;
go out from the midst of her;
purify yourselves,
you who bear the vessels of the LORD.
12 For you will not go out in haste,
and you will not go in flight,
for the LORD will go before you,
and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.
13 See, my servant will prosper;
he will be raised up and lifted high and greatly exalted.
14 Just as many were appalled at him—
his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,
and his form beyond that of the sons of men—
15 so he will startle many nations;
kings will shut their mouths because of him,
for what had not been told them they will see,
and what they had not heard they will understand.
Translation notes (2)
- Isaiah 52:13a The last of Isaiah's four Servant Songs begins here, not at 53:1, and runs to the end of chapter 53. The Hebrew verb yaskil carries both 'act wisely' and 'succeed,' and both senses are at work. The servant's identity has been debated since antiquity: he is read as Israel personified (compare 41:8 and 49:3) and as an individual who suffers on Israel's behalf. This translation renders the Hebrew without resolving the question.
- Isaiah 52:14a The Hebrew noun mishchat, here 'marred,' appears only in this verse and comes from a root meaning to disfigure. The Great Isaiah Scroll found at Qumran reads mashachti, 'I have anointed,' which would turn the line from disfigurement toward exaltation. The traditional Hebrew text is followed here.
About this translation
You are reading the Trinity Bible Version (TBV) — an original 2026 translation made straight from the Hebrew, in clear modern English, exclusive to Trinity Bible. Every chapter of every book is free to read online. For the study edition — with Hebrew and Greek on every verse and the full translation notes — open Isaiah in the Trinity Bible app.
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