Study Desk

For He [the Servant of God] grew up before Him like a tender shoot (plant), And like a root out of dry ground; He has no stately form or majestic splendor That we would look at Him, Nor [handsome] appearance that we would be attracted to Him.

But [in fact] He has borne our griefs, And He has carried our sorrows and pains; Yet we [ignorantly] assumed that He was stricken, Struck down by God and degraded and humiliated [by Him].

As a result of the anguish of His soul, He shall see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge [of what He has accomplished] the Righteous One, My Servant, shall justify the many [making them righteous—upright before God, in right standing with Him], For He shall bear [the responsibility for] their sins.

"For your husband is your Maker, The LORD of hosts is His name; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, Who is called the God of the whole earth.

"For the LORD has called you, Like a wife who has been abandoned, grieved in spirit, And like a wife [married] in her youth when she is [later] rejected and scorned," Says your God.

"Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; And you who have no money come, buy grain and eat. Come, buy wine and milk Without money and without cost [simply accept it as a gift from God].

"In fact, you [Israel] will call a nation that you do not know, And a nation that does not know you will run to you, Because of the LORD your God, even the Holy One of Israel; For He has glorified you."

Let the wicked leave (behind) his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the LORD, And He will have compassion (mercy) on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.

The Lord GOD, who gathers the dispersed of Israel, declares: "I will gather yet others to them (Israel), to those [already] gathered."

"There is no peace," says my God, "for the wicked."

"Yet they seek Me day by day and delight [superficially] to know My ways, As [if they were in reality] a nation that has done righteousness And has not abandoned (turned away from) the ordinance of their God. They ask of Me righteous judgments, They delight in the nearness of God.

But your wickedness has separated you from your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.

Rebelling against and denying the LORD, Turning away from [following] our God, Speaking oppression and revolt, Conceiving and muttering from the heart lying words.

"As for Me, this is My covenant with them," says the LORD: "My Spirit which is upon you [writing the law of God on the heart], and My words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouths of your [true, spiritual] children, nor from the mouth of your children's children," says the LORD, "from now and forever."

"The islands and coastlands will confidently wait for Me; And the ships of Tarshish will come first, To bring your sons from far away, Their silver and gold with them, For the name of the LORD your God, For the Holy One of Israel because He has glorified you.

"Violence will not be heard again in your land, Nor devastation or destruction within your borders; But you will call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise [to God].

"The sun will no longer be your light by day, Nor shall the bright glow of the moon give light to you, But the LORD will be an everlasting light for you; And your God will be your glory and splendor.

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed and commissioned me To bring good news to the humble and afflicted; He has sent me to bind up [the wounds of] the brokenhearted, To proclaim release [from confinement and condemnation] to the [physical and spiritual] captives And freedom to prisoners,

To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD, And the day of vengeance and retribution of our God, To comfort all who mourn,

To grant to those who mourn in Zion the following: To give them a turban instead of dust [on their heads, a sign of mourning], The oil of joy instead of mourning, The garment [expressive] of praise instead of a disheartened spirit. So they will be called the trees of righteousness [strong and magnificent, distinguished for integrity, justice, and right standing with God], The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.