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52. The Cup of the Lord's Wrath

¹ Awake, awake, Zion,
   clothe yourself with strength!
Put on your garments of splendor,
   Jerusalem, the holy city.
The uncircumcised and defiled
   will not enter you again.
² Shake off your dust;
   rise up, sit enthroned, Jerusalem.
Free yourself from the chains on your neck,
   Daughter Zion, now a captive.

³ For this is what the LORD says:

“You were sold for nothing,
and without money you will be redeemed.”

⁴ For this is what the Sovereign LORD says:

“At first my people went down to Egypt to live;
lately, Assyria has oppressed them.

⁵ “And now what do I have here?” declares the LORD.

   “For my people have been taken away for nothing,
   and those who rule them mock, Dead Sea Scrolls and Vulgate; Masoretic Text wail” declares the LORD.
“And all day long
   my name is constantly blasphemed.
⁶ Therefore my people will know my name;
   therefore in that day they will know
that it is I who foretold it.
   Yes, it is I.”

    ⁷ How beautiful on the mountains
   are the feet of those who bring good news,
who proclaim peace,
   who bring good tidings,
   who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion,
   “Your God reigns!”
⁸ Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices;
   together they shout for joy.
When the LORD returns to Zion,
   they will see it with their own eyes.
⁹ Burst into songs of joy together,
   you ruins of Jerusalem,
for the LORD has comforted his people,
   he has redeemed Jerusalem.
¹⁰ The LORD will lay bare his holy arm
   in the sight 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!
Come out from it and be pure,
   you who carry the articles of the LORD’s house.
¹² But you will not leave in haste
   or go in flight;
for the LORD will go before you,
   the God of Israel will be your rear guard.

The Suffering and Glory of the Servant

    ¹³ See, my servant will act wisely Or will prosper;
   he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.
¹⁴ Just as there were many who were appalled at him Hebrew you—
   his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being
   and his form marred beyond human likeness—
¹⁵ so he will sprinkle many nations, Or so will many nations be amazed at him (see also Septuagint)
   and kings will shut their mouths because of him.
For what they were not told, they will see,
   and what they have not heard, they will understand.

3. For thus saith Jehovah. This verse has been badly expounded by many commentators, who have here chosen to enter into philosophical subtleties; for they have dreamed of many things at variance with the Prophet’s meaning. It agrees with what he had formerly stated,

“To which of my creditors have I sold you?” (Isaiah 1:1.)

For here, in the same manner, he says, “Ye have been sold for nought;” as if he had said that he has received no price, and is under no obligations to a creditor who can claim them as having been purchased by him. This tends greatly to confirm the promise; because the Jews might entertain doubts of the liberty which was promised to them, in consequence of their having been long held in possession by the Babylonians, who were the most powerful of all nations. The Lord meets this doubt. “I did not sell or make a conveyance of you to them; for nought were ye sold; and therefore I can justly claim you as nay property and sell you. Do not then consider how great are your difficulties, when I promise you liberty, and do not reason on this matter by human arguments; for the Babylonians have no right to detain you, and cannot prevent your being set at liberty.

Therefore shall ye be redeemed without money. Lastly, as he had formerly said, that he is not like a spendthrift, who is compelled to sell his children, or offer them in payment, so in this passage he declares that “for nought he sold” and gave them up to their enemies, for no other reason than because they had provoked him by their sins; and therefore that there will be no greater difficulty in delivering them than in giving them up to their enemies.

Some explain it more ingeniously thus, that Christ has redeemed us by free grace. This doctrine must indeed be maintained, but does not agree with the Prophet’s meaning, who intended to correct the distrust of the Jews, that they might have no doubt as to their being set at liberty. Let it suffice to know, that when God shall be pleased to deliver his people, it will not be necessary to make a pecuniary bargain with the Babylonians, whom, in spite of their opposition, he will have no difficulty in driving out of their unjust possession.