Skip to main content
Psalmlog Logo

Isaiah 52

Isaiah 52 announces God’s redemption of captive Zion, then introduces a servant whose humiliation and exaltation will astonish nations.

Jerusalem is pictured as a captive woman, sitting in dust with bonds around her neck. The prophetic voice calls her to rise, while YHWH promises redemption and declares that his people will know him. A messenger announces peace, watchmen sing, and Jerusalem’s ruins join the celebration. Those carrying YHWH’s vessels are told to depart in purity under his protection. The closing verses introduce God’s exalted servant, whose disfigured appearance astonishes many and whose work reaches the nations.

waitingfear for the futurepraise and worship
Read
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 redeemed 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 day that I am he who speaks. Behold, it is I.”
7How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news, who proclaims salvation, 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 redeemed 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 salvation 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. Kings 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.
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Isaiah 52:7The messenger’s announcement that God reigns explains why captive Zion can expect peace, salvation, and cause for song.
Isaiah 52:10God’s rescue of Jerusalem becomes a public display of his saving power before every nation.
Isaiah 52:1The opening command pictures Jerusalem exchanging captivity and defilement for strength, holy garments, and renewed dignity.
Where this chapter reaches

Romans quotes Isaiah’s language about the messenger’s feet in connection with proclaiming good news, and its closing words about those who had not heard in connection with proclamation among the nations. 2 Corinthians draws on the command to depart and touch nothing unclean when calling God’s people to holiness.

Isaiah 52's chapter linksAll strongest linksHover or tap a book
Notice

After reading the whole chapter

What changes in Jerusalem’s condition stand out to you, and what does God promise to do?

Write on this

How does the servant’s marred appearance affect your reading of the chapter’s promises of salvation?

Write on this

Questions people ask about Isaiah 52

What does Isaiah 52:7 mean by beautiful feet?

The feet belong to a messenger arriving over the mountains with news of peace and salvation. Their beauty comes from the welcome message they carry: “Your God reigns!” In the surrounding verses, Jerusalem’s watchmen and ruins celebrate because YHWH returns to Zion and redeems his people.

Who is the servant in Isaiah 52:13–15?

YHWH calls this figure his servant and describes both his exaltation and his shocking disfigurement. His work reaches many nations and silences kings. These verses do not name him or explain how these events fit together. Christians understand this servant as Jesus Christ, whose suffering and exaltation fulfill this portrait.

What does redeemed without money mean in Isaiah 52:3?

YHWH says his people were sold for nothing and will be redeemed without money. The language pictures captivity as a sale and rescue as release from ownership. God will reclaim his people without paying their oppressors. The surrounding verses place the emphasis on his authority to act and make himself known.

Read it. Now write it.

Start an entry on Isaiah 52. Your words go beside the text, and you get one next step for the week.

Isaiah · 66 chapters
123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839404142434445464748495051525354555657585960616263646566
What the Bible says about patience →What the Bible says about fear →What the Bible says about worship →

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).