This week’s “Come, Follow Me” study guide covers Isaiah 50-57, which includes descriptions of the Savior such as “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3).
Following are a few quotes from past and present leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints about these chapters of scripture.
Isaiah 51
“Inevitably, the actions of those who try to follow God’s plan of salvation can cause misunderstanding or even conflict with family members or friends who do not believe its principles. Such conflict is always so. Every generation that has sought to follow God’s plan has had challenges. Anciently, the prophet Isaiah gave strength to the Israelites, whom he called ‘ye that know righteousness, … in whose heart is my law.’ To them he said, ‘Fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings’ (Isaiah 51:7). But whatever the cause of conflict with those who do not understand or believe God’s plan, those who do understand are always commanded to choose the Lord’s way instead of the world’s way.”
— President Dallin H. Oaks, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, October 2017 general conference, “The Plan and the Proclamation”
“I know that our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, is mighty to save. As the Son of God, who atoned for the sins of the world and laid down His own life and took it up again, He holds the power of redemption and resurrection. He has made possible immortality for all and eternal life for those who choose Him. I know that through His atoning sacrifice, we can repent and truly be cleansed and redeemed. It is a miracle He loves you and me in this way. … He can heal the ‘waste places’ of your soul — the places made dry, harsh and desolate by sin and sorrow — and ‘make [your] wilderness like Eden’ (Isaiah 51:3).”
— Sister Kristin M. Yee, second counselor in the Relief Society general presidency, October 2024 general conference, “The Joy of Our Redemption”
Isaiah 52
“My beloved brethren, may we be filled with gratitude for the right of choice, accept the responsibility of choice and ever be conscious of the results of choice. As bearers of the priesthood, all of us united as one can qualify for the guiding influence of our Heavenly Father as we choose carefully and correctly. We are engaged in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We, like those of olden times, have answered His call. We are on His errand. We shall succeed in the solemn charge, ‘Be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord’ (Isaiah 52:11).”
— The late President Thomas S. Monson, then the president of the Church, October 2010 general conference, “The Three Rs of Choice”
Isaiah 53
“We remember from the Book of Mormon that some things are both plain and precious and that prior to Jesus’s birth, it would be prophesied that ‘he [would have] no form nor comeliness; and when we [should] see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him’ (Isaiah 53:2). How often God has sent His majestic message through a newly called and very anxious Relief Society president or an unlearned boy on a New York farm or a brand-new missionary or a baby lying in a manger. So what if the answers to our prayers come in plain or convoluted ways? Are we willing to persevere, to keep trying to live Christ’s gospel no matter how much spit and clay it takes?”
— The late President Jeffrey R. Holland, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, October 2025 general conference, “And Now I See”
“Deep inside each of us is a desire to return to our heavenly home, and Jesus Christ is our heavenly guidance system. He is the way. His atoning sacrifice makes it possible for us to make sacred covenants with God. Once we make covenants, we will at times find ourselves swimming against the current. Danger, disappointment, temptation and affliction will test our faith and spiritual strength. Ask for help. Jesus Christ understands and is always eager to share our burdens. Remember that He is known as ‘a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief’ (Isaiah 53:3).”
— Elder Sergio R. Vargas, General Authority Seventy, April 2025 general conference, “Our Heavenly Guidance System”
“When your faith, your family or your future are challenged — when you wonder why life is so hard when you are doing your best to live the gospel — remember that the Lord told us to expect troubles. Troubles are part of the plan and do not mean you’ve been abandoned; they are part of what it means to be His. He was, after all, ‘a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief’ (Isaiah 53:3).”
— Sister Michelle D. Craig, then the first counselor in the Young Women general presidency, October 2022 general conference, “Wholehearted”
“We don’t have to attempt the impossible in trying to rationalize our sins away. And on the other hand, we don’t have to attempt the impossible in erasing the effects of sin by our own merit alone. Ours is not a religion of rationalization nor a religion of perfectionism but a religion of redemption — redemption through Jesus Christ. If we are among the penitent, with His Atonement our sins are nailed to His cross, and ‘with his stripes we are healed’ (Isaiah 53:5).”
— President D. Todd Christofferson, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, October 2021 general conference, “The Love of God”
Isaiah 54
“When we don’t feel the warmth of divine love, it hasn’t gone away. God’s own words are that ‘the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but [His] kindness shall not depart from [us]’ (Isaiah 54:10). So, just to be clear, the idea that God has stopped loving should be so far down the list of possible explanations in life that we don’t get to it until after the mountains have left and the hills are gone.”
— Elder Karl D. Hirst, General Authority Seventy, October 2024 general conference, “God’s Favourite”
“Please do not fear or delay repenting. Satan delights in your misery. Cut it short. Cast his influence out of your life. Start today to experience the joy of putting off the natural man. The Savior loves us always but especially when we repent. He promised that though ‘the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed … my kindness shall not depart from thee’ (Isaiah 54:10).”
— The late President Russell M. Nelson, then the president of the Church, April 2022 general conference, “The Power of Spiritual Momentum”
“In a world ‘tossed with tempest, and not comforted,’ as Jehovah said it would be, how do we find what He called ‘the covenant of … peace’? We find it by turning to Him who said He would have mercy on us and ‘with everlasting kindness’ would grant peace to our children (Isaiah 54:8, 10-11, 13). In spite of frightful prophecies and unsettling scriptures declaring that peace will be taken from the earth generally, the prophets… have taught that it does not have to be taken from us individually. So, this Easter let’s try to practice peace in a personal way, applying the grace and healing balm of the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ to ourselves and our families and all those we can reach around us.”
— The late President Jeffrey R. Holland, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, April 2021 general conference, “Not as the World Giveth”
Isaiah 55
“Isaiah gave us a poetic description of what it means to serve in the mission ‘field.’ Scripture tells us ‘the field is the world’ (Matthew 13:38-39). This great ancient prophet wrote, ‘For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands’ (Isaiah 55:12). The mountains, hills, fields and trees can be likened to mission presidents, bishops, district leaders, members and those who seek the truth… They will testify that the senior missionaries change the very landscape with their testimony of our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ.”
— Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, October 2023 general conference, “How Great Will Be Your Joy”
“The prophet Isaiah assured even the wicked that when they ‘return unto the Lord, … he will have mercy … [and] abundantly pardon’ (Isaiah 55:7). … Our loving Savior opens His arms to receive all men and women on the loving conditions He has prescribed to enjoy the greatest blessings God has for His children.”
— President Dallin H. Oaks, then the first counselor in the First Presidency, April 2019 general conference, “Cleansed by Repentance”
“When difficult things are asked of us, even things contrary to the longings of our heart, remember that the loyalty we pledge to the cause of Christ is to be the supreme devotion of our lives. Although Isaiah reassures us it is available ‘without money and without price’ (Isaiah 55:1) — and it is — we must be prepared, using T. S. Eliot’s line, to have it cost ‘not less than everything.’”
— The late President Jeffrey R. Holland, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, October 2021 general conference, “The Greatest Possession”
“Sometimes we may ask God for success, and He gives us physical and mental stamina. We might plead for prosperity, and we receive enlarged perspective and increased patience, or we petition for growth and are blessed with the gift of grace. He may bestow upon us conviction and confidence as we strive to achieve worthy goals. And when we plead for relief from physical, mental and spiritual difficulties, He may increase our resolve and resilience. …
“Remember the Lord’s declaration: ‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.
“‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts’ (Isaiah 55:8-9).”
— Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, October 2013 general conference, “The Windows of Heaven”
Isaiah 56
“When I was first called to be the Young Women president, I went to the scriptures seeking. I sought comfort and guidance in my feelings of inadequacy and being overwhelmed by a responsibility that dwarfed my limited capacity. …
“As I studied, I was especially comforted by promises given to the Savior. I felt that Heavenly Father intended for me to liken those blessings to myself in my need. ‘The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary’ (Isaiah 50:4). … Through the scriptures I found personal revelation that has guided me and comforted me in this calling.”
— Sister Susan W. Tanner, then the Young Women general president, during her September 2005 Brigham Young University devotional, “Scriptures — More Precious Than Gold and Sweeter Than Honey”
“How do we become victims of dishonesty? There are many ways, but let us examine a few. A potent statement from Isaiah sheds light on one reason: ‘Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter’ (Isaiah 56:11). Greed can make a person both dishonest and gullible.”
— The late Elder Marvin J. Ashton, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, April 1982 general conference, “‘This Is No Harm’”
Isaiah 57
“It is much easier to be ‘all in’ than partially in. When we are partially in or not in at all, there is, in the ‘Star Wars’ vernacular, ‘a disturbance in the force.’ We are out of sync with God’s will and therefore out of sync with the nature of happiness. Isaiah said:
“‘The wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.
“‘There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked’ (Isaiah 57:20-21).”
— Elder Gary B. Sabin, General Authority Seventy, April 2017 general conference, “Stand Up Inside and Be All In”
“In the premortal world, we loved our Father and worshiped Him. We desired to be like Him. Out of perfect paternal love, He gave His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to be our Savior and Redeemer. He is the Son of Man of Holiness. His ‘name is Holy,’ (Isaiah 57:15), ‘the Holy One of Israel’ (1 Nephi 22:21, 24, 26, 28).”
— Sister Carol F. McConkie, then the first counselor in the Young Women general presidency, April 2017 general conference, “The Beauty of Holiness”
