Isaiah 52:1-13

52:1 Wake up! Wake up!

Clothe yourself with strength, O Zion!

Put on your beautiful clothes,

O Jerusalem, ¹  holy city!

For uncircumcised and unclean pagans

will no longer invade you.

52:2 Shake off the dirt! ² 

Get up, captive ³  Jerusalem!

Take off the iron chains around your neck,

O captive daughter Zion!

52:3 For this is what the Lord says:

“You were sold for nothing,

and you will not be redeemed for money.”

52:4 For this is what the sovereign Lord says:

“In the beginning my people went to live temporarily in Egypt;

Assyria oppressed them for no good reason.

52:5 And now, what do we have here?” ⁴  says the Lord.

“Indeed my people have been carried away for nothing,

those who rule over them taunt,” ⁵  says the Lord,

“and my name is constantly slandered ⁶  all day long.

52:6 For this reason my people will know my name,

for this reason they will know ⁷  at that time ⁸  that I am the one who says,

‘Here I am.’”

52:7 How delightful it is to see approaching over the mountains ⁹ 

the feet of a messenger who announces peace,

a messenger who brings good news, who announces deliverance,

who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!” ¹⁰ 

52:8 Listen, ¹¹  your watchmen shout;

in unison they shout for joy,

for they see with their very own eyes ¹² 

the Lord’s return to Zion.

52:9 In unison give a joyful shout,

O ruins of Jerusalem!

For the Lord consoles his people;

he protects ¹³  Jerusalem.

52:10 The Lord reveals ¹⁴  his royal power ¹⁵ 

in the sight of all the nations;

the entire ¹⁶  earth sees

our God deliver. ¹⁷ 

52:11 Leave! Leave! Get out of there!

Don’t touch anything unclean!

Get out of it!

Stay pure, you who carry the Lord’s holy items! ¹⁸ 

52:12 Yet do not depart quickly

or leave in a panic. ¹⁹ 

For the Lord goes before you;

the God of Israel is your rear guard.

The Lord Will Vindicate His Servant

52:13 “Look, my servant will succeed! ²⁰ 

He will be elevated, lifted high, and greatly exalted ²¹  –

[52:1]  ¹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[52:2]  ² tn Heb “Shake yourself free from the dirt.”

[52:2]  ³ tc The Hebrew text has שְּׂבִי (shÿvi), which some understand as a feminine singular imperative from יָשַׁב (yashav, “sit”). The LXX, Vulgate, Syriac, and the Targum support the MT reading (the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a does indirectly). Some interpret this to mean “take your throne”: The Lord exhorts Jerusalem to get up from the dirt and sit, probably with the idea of sitting in a place of honor (J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 2:361). However, the form is likely a corruption of שְׁבִיָּה (shÿviyyah, “captive”), which appears in the parallel line.

[52:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “and now what [following the marginal reading (Qere)] to me here?”

[52:5]  ⁵ tn The verb appears to be a Hiphil form from the root יָלַל (yalal, “howl”), perhaps here in the sense of “mock.” Some emend the form to יְהוֹלָּלוֹ (yÿhollalo) and understand a Polel form of the root הָלַל meaning here “mock, taunt.”

[52:5]  ⁶ tn The verb is apparently a Hitpolal form (with assimilated tav, ת) from the root נָאַץ (na’ats), but GKC 151-52 §55.b explains it as a mixed form, combining Pual and Hitpolel readings.

[52:6]  ⁷ tn The verb is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[52:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “in that day” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[52:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “How delightful on the mountains.”

[52:7]  ¹⁰ tn Or “has become king.” When a new king was enthroned, his followers would give this shout. For other examples of this enthronement formula (Qal perfect 3rd person masculine singular מָלַךְ [malakh], followed by the name of the king), see 2 Sam 15:10; 1 Kgs 1:11, 13, 18; 2 Kgs 9:13. The Lord is an eternal king, but here he is pictured as a victorious warrior who establishes his rule from Zion.

[52:8]  ¹¹ tn קוֹל (qol, “voice”) is used at the beginning of the verse as an interjection.

[52:8]  ¹² tn Heb “eye in eye”; KJV, ASV “eye to eye”; NAB “directly, before their eyes.”

[52:9]  ¹³ tn Or “redeems.” See the note at 41:14.

[52:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “lays bare”; NLT “will demonstrate.”

[52:10]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “his holy arm.” This is a metonymy for his power.

[52:10]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the remote regions,” which here stand for the extremities and everything in between.

[52:10]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the deliverance of our God.” “God” is a subjective genitive here.

[52:11]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the vessels of the Lord” (so KJV, NAB).

[52:12]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “or go in flight”; NAB “leave in headlong flight.”

[52:13]  ²⁰ tn Heb “act wisely,” which by metonymy means “succeed.”

[52:13]  ²¹ tn This piling up of synonyms emphasizes the degree of the servant’s coming exaltation.