[A Prophet of old tells of Jesus:] He was hated and rejected by people. He had much pain and suffering. People would not even look at Him. He was hated, and we didn't even notice Him. But He took our suffering on Himself and felt our pain for us. We saw His suffering. We thought God was punishing Him. But He was wounded for the wrong things we did. He was crushed for the evil things we did. The punishment, which made us well, was given to Him. And we are healed because of His wounds . . . He was put to death. He was punished for the sins of My people.

   He was buried with wicked men. He died with the rich. He had done nothing wrong. He had never lied. But it was the Lord Who decided to crush Him and make Him suffer. So the Lord made His life a penalty offering. But He will see His descendants and live a long life. He will complete the things the Lord wants Him to do. He will suffer many things in His soul. But then He will see life and be satisfied. My good Servant will make many people right with God. He carried away their sins.

   Peter said: "[God] has sent His message to the sons of Israel by giving us the good news of peace through Jesus Christ - He is Lord of all. You must know the story of Jesus of Nazareth - why, it has spread throughout the whole of Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed. You must have heard how God anointed Him with the power of the Holy Spirit, of how He went about doing good and healing all who suffered under the devil's power - because God was in Him. Now we are eye-witnesses of everything that He did, both in the Judean country and in Jerusalem itself, and they murdered Him by hanging Him on a cross.

   But on the third day God raised that same Jesus and let Him be clearly seen, not indeed by the whole people, but by witnesses whom God had previously chosen. We are those witnesses, we who ate and drank with Him after He had risen from the dead! Moreover, we are the men whom He commanded to preach to the people and solemnly witness to the fact that He is the One appointed by God to be the Judge of both the living and the dead. It is to Him that all the prophets bear witness, so that every man who believes in Him may receive forgiveness of sins through His name."

Taken from Isaiah 53, Acts 10, The Phillips Translation and The Everyday Bible.
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