53 Will anyone believe
    the news that we have to tell people?^[a]
Will anyone understand
    how the Lord has used his great power?
² God's servant grew up in front of him,
    like a young, green plant,
    with its roots in dry ground.
He was not handsome.
    He did not seem like a great king.
    We did not see him as a special person.
There was nothing to see
    that would make us want to be with him.
³ People did not respect him.
    They refused to accept him.
He was a man who received much pain.
    He knew what it felt like to be weak and ill.
People did not even want to look at him.
    They did not respect him.
We decided that he was worth nothing.
⁴ But he took away all our weakness!
    He carried our pain for us.
We thought that he was receiving punishment for his own sins.
    We thought that God was causing him to suffer.
⁵ But it was our sins that caused his wounds.
    The bad things that we had done crushed him.
The punishment that he received
    has brought peace to us.
The wounds that he received
    have made us well.
⁶ We have all turned away,
    like sheep that take the wrong path.
Each of us has turned to follow our own way.
But the Lord has taken all our sins
    and put the punishment on him.
⁷ People were cruel to him,
    and he received much pain.
But he did not say anything to complain.
He was like a lamb that people were leading away to kill.
He was like a sheep when they are cutting off its wool,
    but it makes no noise.
In the same way, he did not say anything.
⁸ They spoke lies to accuse him in court.
    Then they led him away to kill him.
    And nobody at that time said that it was wrong.
His life in this world quickly came to an end.
    And it was the sins of our own people that caused him to die.
⁹ They decided to bury him with wicked people.
    But his body was put in a rich man's grave.
He had not done anything to hurt anyone.
    He had not told lies to deceive people.
¹⁰ But it was the Lord who chose to hurt his servant.
    He caused his servant to receive much pain.
His servant died to remove people's guilt.
As a result, God will bless him with many descendants,
    and he will have a long life.
What the Lord wants will happen,
    because of what his servant does.
¹¹ When God's servant sees the result of his pain,
    he will understand what he has done.
    And he will be happy.

‘My righteous servant will cause many people to be “not guilty”,
    because he will take the punishment for all their sins.
¹² So I will put him in a place of honour,
    as a great person deserves.
He will share the good things that powerful men receive
    when they have won a battle.
He deserves this, because he agreed to die as a sacrifice.
People thought that he himself was a sinner
    when he took away the sins of many people.
He prayed that God would forgive sinners.’