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Isaiah 52
1Awake, awake! Put on your strength, Zion. Put on your beautiful garments, Jerusalem, the holy city, for from now on the uncircumcised and the unclean will no more come into you.
2Shake yourself from the dust! Arise, sit up, Jerusalem! Release yourself from the bonds of your neck, captive daughter of Zion!
3For the LORD says, “You were sold for nothing; and you will be without money.”
4For the Lord GOD says: “My people went down at the first into Egypt to live there; and the Assyrian has oppressed them without cause.
5“Now therefore, what do I do here,” says the LORD, “seeing that my people are taken away for nothing? Those who rule over them mock,” says the LORD, “and my name is blasphemed continually all day long.
6Therefore my people shall know my name. Therefore they shall know in that I am he who speaks. Behold, it is I.”
7How beautiful on the are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news, who proclaims , who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”
8Your watchmen lift up their voice. Together they sing; for they shall see eye to eye when the LORD returns to Zion.
9Break out into joy! Sing together, you waste places of Jerusalem; for the LORD has comforted his people. He has Jerusalem.
10The LORD has made his holy arm bare in the eyes of all the nations. All the ends of the earth have seen the of our God.
11Depart! Depart! Go out from there! Touch no unclean thing! Go out from among her! Cleanse yourselves, you who carry the LORD’s vessels.
12For you shall not go out in haste, neither shall you go by flight; for the LORD will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.
13Behold, my servant will deal wisely. He will be exalted and lifted up, and will be very high.
14Just as many were astonished at you— his appearance was marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men—
15so he will cleanse many nations. will shut their mouths at him; for they will see that which had not been told them, and they will understand that which they had not heard.
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Questions this passage answers
Who is God?
God is the one living Creator who made everything and depends on nothing, and Scripture answers this question mainly by telling us his character rather than by defining his substance. When God described himself to Moses he said he is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abundant in loving kindness and truth, and yet will by no means clear the guilty. The New Testament adds that this God is finally known in Jesus Christ, who has made him known.
Can the Bible be trusted?
Scripture claims to be true and invites examination rather than avoiding it. It says God's word is truth and that it stands when everything else fades, and the New Testament writers appeal to eyewitnesses, named places and public events rather than to private experience. Trust in Scripture is finally trust in the God who speaks in it, and the clearest reason a Christian gives for that trust is that Jesus treated these writings as God's own word.
What is sin?
Scripture defines sin as lawlessness, as falling short of God's glory, and as failing to do the good we know we should do. It is not only a list of bad actions but a condition of the heart that produces them, and it is first against God rather than only against people. Scripture also says all have sinned, that its wage is death, and that God is faithful to forgive those who confess.
What does the Bible say about fear?
Scripture never tells a frightened person that fear is imaginary. It says do not be afraid hundreds of times, and almost always attaches a reason rather than a technique: I am with you, I have redeemed you, you are of more value than sparrows. It also distinguishes the fear that must go from the fear of the Lord, which is commanded and which shrinks every smaller fear.