My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot,     
like a root in dry ground.
There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance,     
nothing to attract us to him.

He was despised and rejected—     
a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.
We turned our backs on him and looked the other way.     
He was despised, and we did not care.

Yet it was our weaknesses he carried;     
it was our sorrows that weighed him down.
And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God,     
a punishment for his own sins!

But he was pierced for our transgressions,     
he was crushed for our iniquities
He was beaten so we could be whole.     
He was whipped so we could be healed.

All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.     
We have left God’s paths to follow our own.
Yet the Lord laid on him     
the sins of us all.

He was oppressed and treated harshly,     
yet he never said a word.
He was led like a lamb to the slaughter.     
And as a sheep is silent before the shearers,     
he did not open his mouth.

Reflection:

• Think about how this verse, “All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet, the Lord laid on him the sins of us all” is true of you.

• Reflect on your need for a savior as we follow Jesus through the rest of this experience.