Isaiah 50-52

New American Standard Bible

God Helps His Servant

50 This is what the Lord says:

“Where is the ^(A)certificate of divorce
By which I have ^(B)sent your mother away?
Or to whom of My creditors did I ^(C)sell you?
Behold, you were sold for your ^(D)wrongdoings,
And for your ^(E)wrongful acts your mother ^(F)was sent away.
²Why was there ^(G)no one when I came?
When I called, why was there no one to answer?
Is My ^(H)hand so short that it cannot redeem?
Or do I have no power to rescue?
Behold, I ^(I)dry up the sea with My rebuke,
I ^(J)turn rivers into a wilderness;
Their fish stink for lack of water,
And die of thirst.
³I ^(K)clothe the heavens with blackness,
And make sackcloth their covering.”

⁴The Lord ^[a]God has given Me the tongue of ^(L)disciples,
So that I may know how to ^(M)sustain the weary one with a word.
He awakens Me ^(N)morning by morning,
He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple.
⁵The Lord God has ^(O)opened My ear,
And I was ^(P)not disobedient,
Nor did I turn back.
⁶I ^(Q)gave My back to those who strike Me,
And My cheeks to those who pull out My beard;
I did not hide My face from insults and spitting.
⁷For the Lord God ^(R)helps Me,
Therefore, I am ^(S)not disgraced;
Therefore, I have made My face like ^(T)flint,
And I know that I will not be ashamed.
⁸He who ^(U)vindicates Me is near;
Who will contend with Me?
Let us ^(V)stand up to each other.
Who has a case against Me?
Let him approach Me.
⁹Behold, ^(W)the Lord God helps Me;
^(X)Who is he who condemns Me?
Behold, ^(Y)they will all wear out like a garment;
A moth will eat them.
¹⁰Who is among you who fears the Lord,
Who obeys the voice of His ^(Z)servant,
Who ^(AA)walks in darkness and has no light?
Let him ^(AB)trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God.
¹¹Behold, all you who ^(AC)kindle a fire,
Who encircle yourselves with flaming arrows,
Walk in the light of your fire
And among the flaming arrows you have set ablaze.
This you will have from My hand:
You will ^(AD)lie down in torment.

Israel Exhorted

51 “^(AE)Listen to Me, you who ^(AF)pursue righteousness,
Who seek the Lord:
Look to the ^(AG)rock from which you were cut,
And to the ^[b]quarry from which you were dug.
²Look to ^(AH)Abraham your father
And to Sarah who gave birth to you in pain;
When he ^(AI)was only one I called him,
Then I blessed him and multiplied him.”
³Indeed, ^(AJ)the Lord will comfort Zion;
He will comfort all her ^(AK)ruins.
And He will make her ^(AL)wilderness like ^(AM)Eden,
And her desert like the ^(AN)garden of the Lord.
^(AO)Joy and gladness will be found in her,
Thanksgiving and the sound of a melody.

⁴“^(AP)Pay attention to Me, My people,
And listen to Me, My ^[c]nation;
For a ^(AQ)law will go out from Me,
And I will bring My ^(AR)justice as a ^(AS)light of the peoples.
⁵My ^(AT)righteousness is near, My salvation has gone forth,
And My ^(AU)arms will judge the peoples;
The ^(AV)coastlands will wait for Me,
And they will wait expectantly for My ^(AW)arm.
⁶^(AX)Raise your eyes to the sky,
Then look to the earth beneath;
For the ^(AY)sky will vanish like smoke,
And the ^(AZ)earth will wear out like a garment
And its inhabitants will die ^[d]in the same way.
But My ^(BA)salvation will be forever,
And My righteousness will not fail.
⁷^(BB)Listen to Me, you who know righteousness,
A people in whose ^(BC)heart is My Law;
Do not fear the ^(BD)taunting of ^[e]people,
Nor be terrified of their abuses.
⁸For the ^(BE)moth will eat them like a garment;
Yes, the ^(BF)moth will eat them like wool.
But My ^(BG)righteousness will be forever,
And My salvation to all generations.”

⁹^(BH)Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord;
Awake as in the ^(BI)days of old, the generations of long ago.
^(BJ)Was it not You who cut ^[f]Rahab in pieces,
Who pierced the ^(BK)dragon?
¹⁰Was it not You who ^(BL)dried up the sea,
The waters of the great deep;
Who made the depths of the sea a pathway
For the ^(BM)redeemed to cross over?
¹¹And the ^(BN)redeemed of the Lord will return
And come to Zion with joyful shouting,
And ^(BO)everlasting joy will be on their heads.
They will obtain gladness and joy,
And ^(BP)sorrow and sighing will flee away.

¹²“I, I Myself, am He who ^(BQ)comforts you.
Who are you that you are afraid of ^[g]^(BR)mortal man,
And of a son of man who is made like ^(BS)grass,
¹³That you have ^(BT)forgotten the Lord your Maker,
Who ^(BU)stretched out the heavens
And laid the foundations of the earth,
That you ^(BV)fear continually all day long because of the fury of the oppressor,
As he makes ready to destroy?
And where is the rage of the ^(BW)oppressor?

¹⁴The ^[h]^(BX)exile will soon be set free, and will not die in the ^[i]dungeon, ^(BY)nor will his bread be lacking. ¹⁵For I am the Lord your God, who ^(BZ)stirs up the sea so that its waves roar (the Lord of armies is His name). ¹⁶And I have ^(CA)put My words in your mouth and have ^(CB)covered you with the shadow of My hand, to ^[j]^(CC)establish the heavens, to found the earth, and to say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’”

¹⁷^(CD)Pull yourself up! Pull yourself up! Arise, Jerusalem!
You who have ^(CE)drunk from the Lord’s hand the cup of His anger;
The ^[k]chalice of staggering you have drunk to the dregs.
¹⁸There is ^(CF)no one to guide her among all the sons to whom she has given birth,
Nor is there anyone to take her by the hand among all the sons she has raised.
¹⁹These two things have happened to you;
Who will mourn for you?
The ^(CG)devastation and destruction, famine and sword;
How shall I comfort you?
²⁰Your sons have fainted,
They ^(CH)lie helpless at the head of every street,
Like an ^(CI)antelope in a net,
Full of the wrath of the Lord,
The ^(CJ)rebuke of your God.

²¹Therefore, listen to this, you ^(CK)afflicted,
Who are ^(CL)drunk, but not with wine:
²²This is what your Lord, the Lord, your God
Who ^(CM)contends for His people says:
“Behold, I have taken from your hand the ^(CN)cup of staggering,
The ^[l]chalice of My anger;
You will never drink it again.
²³I will ^(CO)put it into the hand of your tormentors,
Who have said to ^[m]you, ‘^(CP)Lie down so that we may walk over you.’
You have also made your back like the ground,
And like the street for those who walk over it.”

Cheer for Prostrate Zion

52 ^(CQ)Awake, awake,
Clothe yourself in your strength, Zion;
Clothe yourself with your ^(CR)beautiful garments,
Jerusalem, the ^(CS)holy city;
For the uncircumcised and the ^(CT)unclean
Will no longer come into you.
²Shake yourself ^(CU)from the dust, ^(CV)rise up,
Captive Jerusalem;
^(CW)Release yourself from the chains around your neck,
Captive daughter of Zion.

³For this is what the Lord says: “You were ^(CX)sold for nothing, and you will be ^(CY)redeemed ^(CZ)without money.” ⁴For this is what the Lord ^[n]God says: “My people ^(DA)went down to Egypt first to reside there; then the Assyrian oppressed them without reason. ⁵And now, what do I have here,” declares the Lord, “seeing that My people have been taken away without reason?” Again the Lord declares, “Those who rule over them howl, and My ^(DB)name is continually reviled all day long. ⁶Therefore, My people shall ^(DC)know My name; therefore on that day I am the one who is speaking, ‘Here I am.’”

⁷How delightful on the mountains
Are the feet of one who brings ^(DD)good news,
Who announces ^[o]peace
And brings good news of ^[p]happiness,
Who announces salvation,
And says to Zion, “Your ^(DE)God ^[q]reigns!”
⁸Listen! Your watchmen raise their ^(DF)voices,
They shout joyfully together;
For they will see ^[r]with their own eyes
When the Lord restores Zion.
⁹^(DG)Be cheerful, shout joyfully together,
You ^(DH)ruins of Jerusalem;
For the Lord has comforted His people,
He has ^(DI)redeemed Jerusalem.
¹⁰The Lord has bared His holy ^(DJ)arm
In the sight of all the nations,
^[s]So that ^(DK)all the ends of the earth may see
The salvation of our God.

¹¹^(DL)Depart, depart, go out from there,
^(DM)Do not touch what is unclean;
Go out of the midst of her, ^(DN)purify yourselves,
You who carry the vessels of the Lord.
¹²But you will not go out in ^(DO)a hurry,
Nor will you go ^[t]as fugitives;
For the ^(DP)Lord will go before you,
And ^(DQ)the God of Israel will be your rear guard.

The Exalted Servant

¹³Behold, My ^(DR)Servant will prosper,
He will be high and lifted up and ^[u]greatly ^(DS)exalted.
¹⁴Just as many were appalled at you, My people,
So His ^(DT)appearance was marred beyond that of a man,
And His form beyond the sons of mankind.
¹⁵So ^[v]He will ^(DU)sprinkle many nations,
Kings will ^(DV)shut their mouths on account of Him;
For ^(DW)what they had not been told, they will see,
And what they had not heard, they will understand.