The Suffering Servant

(Graphic: A thorny branch)

The Suffering Servant

Behold my servant,
his work shall be accomplised.
He shall be lifted up,
and he will be highly exalted.

Many will see him and be astonished,
they will look upon his battered body,
bloodied beyond human likeness,
and they will be appalled.

But nations shall marvel,
and the mighty made speechless,
at the wonders he reveals.

Like a tender plant in the dry ground,
he grew up among us.
In outward appearance
he was of no account,
no beauty that we should come to him.

He was despised and rejected,
a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief.
At his coming we turned our faces,
and we did not honor him.

Surely he has borne our griefs,
and carried our sorrows,
as though stricken by God,
and greatly afflicted.

But he was pierced for our sins,
and wounded for our transgressions.
Our punishment was laid upon him,
and by his stripes we are healed.

For all like sheep have gone astray,
each one turned to his own way,
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all

©2004 Paul Dallgas-Frey