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Let Zion Rejoice

Awake, awake,

put on your strength, O Zion!

Put on your beautiful garments,

O Jerusalem, the holy city;

for the uncircumcised and the unclean

shall enter you no more.

Shake yourself from the dust, rise up,

O captive Jerusalem;

loose the bonds from your neck,

O captive daughter Zion!

³ For thus says the L ord: You were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money. ⁴For thus says the Lord G od: Long ago, my people went down into Egypt to reside there as aliens; the Assyrian, too, has oppressed them without cause. ⁵Now therefore what am I doing here, says the L ord, seeing that my people are taken away without cause? Their rulers howl, says the L ord, and continually, all day long, my name is despised. ⁶Therefore my people shall know my name; therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here am I.

How beautiful upon the mountains

are the feet of the messenger who announces peace,

who brings good news,

who announces salvation,

who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”

Listen! Your sentinels lift up their voices,

together they sing for joy;

for in plain sight they see

the return of the L ord to Zion.

Break forth together into singing,

you ruins of Jerusalem;

for the L ord has comforted his people,

he has redeemed Jerusalem.

The L ord has bared his holy arm

before the eyes of all the nations;

and all the ends of the earth shall see

the salvation of our God.

Depart, depart, go out from there!

Touch no unclean thing;

go out from the midst of it, purify yourselves,

you who carry the vessels of the L ord.

For you shall not go out in haste,

and you shall not go in flight;

for the L ord will go before you,

and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.

The Suffering Servant

See, my servant shall prosper;

he shall be exalted and lifted up,

and shall be very high.

Just as there were many who were astonished at him

—so marred was his appearance, beyond human semblance,

and his form beyond that of mortals—

so he shall startle many nations;

kings shall shut their mouths because of him;

for that which had not been told them they shall see,

and that which they had not heard they shall contemplate.

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

14. As many. He makes use of an anticipation; for the exalted state of Christ was not visible at first sight, and on this pretense it might be rejected. On this account, he informs them that Christ must first be rejected and humbled, and anticipates that doubt which might have arisen from his singularly debased and unseemly condition. As if he had said, “There is no reason why men should be shocked at that unseemliness and disgrace which will be speedily followed by eternal happiness.”

So marred by men. I have translated כן (ken) as meaning so; for it is a mistake to suppose that it opens the second part of the comparison. ⁴⁸⁴⁸ Our author’s meaning is, that he has rendered the clause, “He was so (much) marred,” while others render it, “So he was marred;” making the So to correspond to the As in the former clause, which he pronounces to be a mistake. Ed. I consider מאיש (meish) to mean “by men;” for I do not consider מ (mem) to be a particle denoting comparison, as others explain it; that is “more than” men, or “beyond” what is usually found among men; but I adopt a simpler meaning, which is, that Christ was disfigured among men, or that his beauty was defaced by the perverse judgment of men.

Were amazed. ⁴⁹⁴⁹ “Comme plusieurs t’ont eu en horreur.” “As many were shocked at thee.” This “amazement” is considered by some commentators to denote the astonishment with which men were seized on account of the miracles performed by Christ, and next, that, when he must come to the cross, he was immediately rejected by them. But they have not caught the Prophet’s meaning; for he says that Christ will be such that all men will be shocked at him. He came into the world so as to be everywhere despised; his glory lay hid under the humble form of the flesh; for though a majesty worthy of “the onlybegotten Son of God” (John 1:14) shone forth in him, yet the greater part of men did not see it, but, on the contrary, they despised that deep abasement which was the veil or covering of his glory.

The cause of their astonishment was this, that he dwelt among men without any outward show; and the Jews did not think that the Redeemer would come in that condition or attire. When he came to be crucified, their horror was greatly increased. Paul describes this humiliation and subsequent exaltation of Christ, when he says,

“Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to make himself equal to God, but emptied himself, taking upon him the form of a servant, made in the likeness of man, and found in fashion as a man, humbled himself, being made obedient even to death, and the death of the cross. Wherefore also God hath raised him to the highest exaltation, and hath given him a name which is above every name; that at the name of Jesus should bow every knee of those that are in heaven and in earth and in hell; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:6-11)

It was therefore necessary that Christ should first be humbled and covered with shame, and that exaltation to which he was about to be raised was not all at once visible; but the shame of the cross was followed by a glorious resurrection attended by the highest honor.

⁴⁸ Our author’s meaning is, that he has rendered the clause, “He was so (much) marred,” while others render it, “So he was marred;” making the So to correspond to the As in the former clause, which he pronounces to be a mistake. Ed.

⁴⁹ “Comme plusieurs t’ont eu en horreur.” “As many were shocked at thee.”