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Isaiah 52

KJV · Chapter 52/66

1Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.

2Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.

3For thus saith the Lord, Ye have sold yourselves for nought; and ye shall be redeemed without money.

4For thus saith the Lord God, My people went down aforetime into Egypt to sojourn there; and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause.

5Now therefore, what have I here, saith the Lord, that my people is taken away for nought? they that rule over them make them to howl, saith the Lord; and my name continually every day is blasphemed.

6Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that doth speak: behold, it is I.

7How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!

8Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion.

9Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem.

10The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.

11Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord.

12For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the Lord will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rereward.

13Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.

14As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:

15So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

A rousing call for Jerusalem to 'awake' and clothe herself with strength, for her deliverance is near, and the 'feet' of those who bring good news of peace are called 'beautiful' upon the mountains. The chapter closes by introducing the Servant who will be exalted, but whose suffering will leave many astonished.

Explanation

The image of the "beautiful feet" of those who bring good news describes messengers running across the mountains to carry word of victory or peace to a besieged city — a real custom of the time, when news of deliverance was celebrated the moment it was sighted from afar. The command to "depart" and "touch no unclean thing," addressed to those carrying the sacred vessels of the temple, prepares the people for the journey back from Babylon in ritual purity. The chapter ends with a striking introduction: God's Servant will be "exalted and extolled, and be very high," yet his appearance will be so disfigured that "many were astonished at him" — directly setting the stage for the fourth and most famous Servant Song in the following chapter. The practical application today is that good news of hope and deliverance deserves to be celebrated and announced with genuine joy.

Fun facts

  • The phrase "how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings" is quoted by Paul in Romans 10:15 to describe the beauty of the mission of preaching the gospel.
  • The Greek word for "good news" used in the New Testament, "euangelion" (from which "gospel" comes), translates this same Hebrew concept of a messenger bringing word of victory and peace, showing the linguistic continuity between the two Testaments.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Isaiah 52:1The promise that no unclean foreigner will ever enter the city again speaks of a restored, purified Jerusalem, free of the presence of invaders. It’s ritual purity language applied to the city itself, not just to people.
  2. Isaiah 52:2Shaking off the dust and loosing the bonds from her neck describes Jerusalem no longer being treated as a prisoner, a physical image of liberation that also appears in similar form in chapter 3, but there as punishment, not relief.
  3. Isaiah 52:3“Sold yourselves for nought” and “redeemed without money” describe a transaction with no normal commercial logic: the people had no market value when taken into exile, and it will cost nothing to redeem them back.
  4. Isaiah 52:4Recalling the descent into Egypt and the Assyrian oppression lists two earlier examples of the people’s suffering, preparing the argument that the pattern of divine rescue already has known historical precedents.
  5. Isaiah 52:5The question “what have I here” expresses something like divine impatience at the people’s ongoing suffering, and the constant blasphemy of God’s name because of the exile situation is the reason given for acting.
  6. Isaiah 52:6“Behold, it is I” repeats a phrase used elsewhere in the Bible as a personal response to a call; here it is God Himself presenting Himself so directly to the people.
  7. Isaiah 52:7The beautiful feet of the one bringing good tidings describe the joy of seeing, from a distance, a messenger running with good news. In context, the news is that the exile is over and God is visibly returning to reign in Zion.
  8. Isaiah 52:8“They shall see eye to eye” describes a direct, unmistakable vision of God’s return to Zion, with no intermediary and no doubt, a scene witnessed by the city’s own watchmen.
  9. Isaiah 52:9Calling on the “waste places of Jerusalem,” that is, the city’s still-empty ruins, to sing for joy is the same poetic device of personifying destroyed places, here celebrating the announced redemption.
  10. Isaiah 52:10“Made bare his holy arm” is the image of a warrior openly preparing to act, hiding no strength, before all the nations who will witness this salvation.
  11. Isaiah 52:11The call to depart and purify themselves, touching “no unclean thing,” is addressed to those who carry the sacred vessels of the temple, probably the priests or Levites who will lead the departure from exile back to Jerusalem.
  12. Isaiah 52:12Contrasting with the hurried departure from Egypt in the book of Exodus, here the people don’t need to flee running: God goes both before and behind the procession, making the journey home safe and unhurried.
  13. Isaiah 52:13The presentation of the Servant as someone who “shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high” opens the last and most debated of the Servant Songs, which continues straight into chapter 53.
  14. Isaiah 52:14An appearance so disfigured it shocks onlookers opens the fourth and final Servant Song, which continues straight into the next chapter. It’s the most famous of them all, chapter 53.
  15. Isaiah 52:15“Sprinkle many nations” may point to a ritual gesture of purification; kings falling silent before something never before seen or heard describes a reaction of total astonishment at what is coming in the next chapter.

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