[7] He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,

yet he opened not his mouth;

like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,

and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,

so he opened not his mouth.

[8] By oppression and judgment he was taken away;

and as for his generation, who considered

that he was cut off out of the land of the living,

stricken for the transgression of my people?

[9] And they made his grave with the wicked

and with a rich man in his death,

although he had done no violence,

and there was no deceit in his mouth.

[4] Surely he has borne our griefs

and carried our sorrows;

yet we esteemed him stricken,

smitten by God, and afflicted.

[5] But he was pierced for our transgressions;

he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

and with his wounds we are healed.

[6] All we like sheep have gone astray;

we have turned—every one—to his own way;

and the LORD has laid on him

the iniquity of us all.

[1] Who has believed what he has heard from us?

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

[2] For he grew up before him like a young plant,

and like a root out of dry ground;

he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,

and no beauty that we should desire him.

[3] He was despised and rejected by men;

a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;

and as one from whom men hide their faces

he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

[13] Behold, my servant shall act wisely;

he shall be high and lifted up,

and shall be exalted.

[14] As many were astonished at you—

his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,

and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—

[15] so shall he sprinkle many nations;

kings shall shut their mouths because of him;

for that which has not been told them they see,

and that which they have not heard they understand.

This week, our church began memorizing the final song of the Suffering Servant from Isaiah (Isaiah 52:13-53:12). These words from the Old Testament point us to Jesus who suffered and died for us. Our pastor David Hull encouraged all of us to use this passage and this memorization effort as preparation for Easter.

The ESV Study Bible introduces this section with a statement about what Isaiah is revealing and which words we as readers should pay attention to:

The “memory moleskine” to use in a notebook is located here. It is one mechanism for keeping up with the weekly Scripture memorization. Reading the passage aloud several times a day has been a great help to me. Recently, I have tried visualizing the scene described within the verses. The brain works incredibly well with images. If you can link a verse or a phrase to an image in your mind, then your chances of retaining the verse will be increased.