the Fourth Week of Advent
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Easy-to-Read Version
Isaiah 52
Israel Will Be Saved
1 Wake up! Wake up!
Zion, clothe yourself with strength.
Holy city of Jerusalem, stand up
and put on your beautiful clothes!
Those filthy foreigners[a] will not enter you again.
2 Jerusalem, get up and shake off the dust!
Daughter Zion,[b] you were a prisoner,
but take the chains off your neck.
3 The Lord says,
"You were not sold for money.
So I will not use money to set you free."
4 The Lord God says, "First, my people went down to Egypt and became slaves. Then Assyria made them slaves. 5 Now look what has happened. Another nation has taken my people," says the Lord. "That country did not pay to take my people, but they rule over them and laugh at them, and they say bad things about me all the time." The Lord is the one saying these things.
6 "This happened so that my people will learn about me. My people will know who I am. My people will know my name, and they will know that I Am He[c] is speaking to them."
7 How wonderful it is to see someone coming over the hills to tell good news. How wonderful to hear him announce, "There is peace! We have been saved!" and to hear him say to Zion, "Your God is the king!"
8 The city guards[d] are shouting.
They are all rejoicing together.
They can all see the Lord returning to Zion.
9 Ruins of Jerusalem, be happy again!
Rejoice because the Lord
comforted his people and set Jerusalem free.
10 The Lord showed his holy strength to all the nations.
All the faraway countries saw how God saved his people.
11 So leave Babylon!
Leave that place!
Priests, you carry the things that belong to the Lord.
So make yourselves pure.
Don't touch anything that is not pure.
12 You will leave Babylon,
but they will not force you to leave in a hurry.
You will not be forced to run away.
The Lord will be in front of you.
The God of Israel will be behind you.[e]
God's Suffering Servant
13 The Lord says, "Look, my servant will succeed in what he has to do, and he will be raised to a position of high honor. 14 It is true that many were shocked when they saw him. He was beaten so badly that he no longer looked like a man. 15 But it is also true that many nations will be amazed at him. Kings will look at him and be unable to speak. They will see what they had never been told. They will understand what they had never heard.[f]"
