Lenten Reading, Tuesday, March 23

Lent reading: Man of sorrows. Isaiah 53:1-7

Who has believed our message?

         And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

    For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot,

         And like a root out of parched ground;

         He has no stately form or majesty

         That we should look upon Him,

         Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.

    He was despised and forsaken of men,

         A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;

         And like one from whom men hide their face

         He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

    Surely our griefs He Himself bore,

         And our sorrows He carried;

         Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,

         Smitten of God, and afflicted.

    But He was pierced through for our transgressions,

         He was crushed for our iniquities;

         The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,

         And by His scourging we are healed.

    All of us like sheep have gone astray,

         Each of us has turned to his own way;

         But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all

         To fall on Him.

    He was oppressed and He was afflicted,

         Yet He did not open His mouth;

         Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,

         And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,

         So He did not open His mouth.