d delight in him. He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of
pains, and acquainted with disease, and as one from whom men hide their
face; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely our diseases he did
bear, and our pains he carried; whereas we did esteem him stricken,
smitten of God and afflicted. But he was wounded because of our
transgressions, he was crushed because of our iniquities; the chastisement
of our welfare was upon him, and with his stripes we were healed. All we,
like sheep, did go astray, we turned every one to his own way; and the
Lord hath made to light on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed,
though he humbled himself, and opened not his mouth; as a lamb that is led
to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before her shearers is dumb; yea, he
opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away, and
with his generation who did reason? For he was cut off out of the land of
the living, for the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due.
And they made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich his tomb;
although he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet
it pleased the Lord to crush him by disease; to see if his soul would
offer itself in restitution, that he might see his seed, prolong his days,
and that the purpose of the Lord might prosper by his hand. Of the travail
of his soul he shall see to the full, even My servant, who by his
knowledge did justify the Righteous One to the many, and their iniquities
he did bear. Therefore will I divide him a portion among the great, and he
shall divide his soul with the mighty; because he bared his soul unto
death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of
many, and made intercession for the transgressors."

4. Whatever be the historical background of this great elegy, our seer
uses it to portray Israel as the tragic hero of the world's history. His
prophetic genius possessed a unique insight into the character and destiny
of his people, seeing Israel as a man of woe and grief, chosen by
Providence to undergo unheard-of trials for a great cause, by which, at
the last, he is to be exalted. Bent and disfigured by his burden of misery
and shame, shunned and abhorred as one laden with sin, he suffers for no
guilt of his own. He is called to testify to his God among all the
peoples, and is thus the _Servant of the Lord_, the atoning sacrifice for
the sins of mankind, from whose bruises