"Who has believed our
message
and to whom has the arm of the
Lord been revealed?
He grew up before him like a tender
shoot,
and like a root out of dry
ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to
attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that
we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by
men,
a man of sorrows, and familiar
with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide
their faces
he was despised and we
esteemed him not.

Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by
God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our
transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us
peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep have gone
astray,
each of us has turned to his own
way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the
slaughter,
and as a sheep before her
shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
By oppression and judgement he
was taken away.
And who can speak of his
descendants?
For he was cut off from the land of
the living;
for the transgression of my
people he was stricken.
He was assigned a grave with the
wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his
mouth.

Yet it was the Lord's will to
crush him and cause him
to suffer,
and though the Lord makes his
life a guilt offering,
he will see his offspring and
prolong his days,
and the will of the Lord will
prosper in his hand.
After the suffering of his soul,
he will see the light of life and
be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous
servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will give him a portion
among the great,
and he will divide the spoils
with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto
death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many
and made intercession for the transgressors.

Isaiah 53