Isaiah 52 (YLT)

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Chapter Text

52:1 Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion, Put on the garments of thy beauty, Jerusalem--the Holy City; For enter no more into thee again, Do the uncircumcised and unclean.

52:2 Shake thyself from dust, arise, sit, O Jerusalem, Bands of thy neck have loosed themselves, O captive, daughter of Zion.

52:3 For thus said Jehovah: `For nought ye have been sold, And not by money are ye redeemed.'

52:4 For thus said the Lord Jehovah: `To Egypt My people went down at first to sojourn there, And Asshur--for nought he hath oppressed it.

52:5 And now, what--to Me here, An affirmation of Jehovah, That taken is My people for nought? Its rulers cause howling, --an affirmation of Jehovah, And continually all the day My name is despised.

52:6 Therefore doth My people know My name, Therefore, in that day, Surely I <FI>am<Fi> He who is speaking, behold Me.'

52:7 How comely on the mountains, Have been the feet of one proclaiming tidings, Sounding peace, proclaiming good tidings, Sounding salvation, Saying to Zion, `Reigned hath thy God.'

52:8 The voice of thy watchmen! They have lifted up the voice, together they cry aloud, Because eye to eye they see, in Jehovah's turning back <FI>to<Fi> Zion.

52:9 Break forth, sing together, O wastes of Jerusalem, For Jehovah hath comforted His people, He hath redeemed Jerusalem.

52:10 Jehovah hath made bare His holy arm Before the eyes of all the nations, And seen have all the ends of the earth, The salvation of our God.

52:11 Turn aside, turn aside, go out thence, The unclean touch not, go out from her midst, Be ye pure, who are bearing the weapons of Jehovah.

52:12 For not in haste do ye go out, Yea, with flight ye go not on, For going before you <FI>is<Fi> Jehovah, And gathering you <FI>is<Fi> the God of Israel!

52:13 Lo, My servant doth act wisely, He is high, and hath been lifted up, And hath been very high.

52:14 As astonished at thee have been many, (So marred by man his appearance, And his form by sons of men.)

52:15 So doth he sprinkle many nations. Concerning him kings shut their mouth, For that which was not recounted to them they have seen, And that which they had not heard they have understood!

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "light", "awake", "strength", "zion", "garments", "beauty", "jerusalem--the", and "holy". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "light" and "awake", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The local YLT text gives this verse as the immediate unit, so "light" and "awake" carries the first interpretive weight. In The Suffering Servant Bears Iniquity, the local focus is the servant of the LORD, atonement, and judgment and restoration.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "light" and "awake" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.