The Suffering Servant

ABut he endured the suffering that should have been ours,

the pain that we should have borne.

All the while we thought that his suffering was punishment sent by God.

But because of our sins he was wounded, beaten because of the evil we did.

We are healed by the punishment he suffered, made whole by the blows he received.

All of us were like sheep that were lost, each of us going his own way.

But the LORD made the punishment fall on him, the punishment all of us deserved.@

AHe was treated harshly, but endured it humbly; he never said a word.

Like a lamb about to be slaughtered, like a sheep about to be sheared,

he never said a word.

He was arrested and sentenced and led off to die, and no one cared about his fate.

He was put to death for the sins of our people.

He was placed in a grave with evil men, he was buried with the rich,

even though he had never committed a crime or ever told a lie.@

Isaiah 53:4-9