50 This is what the Lord says:

Where is your mother’s divorce certificate
that I used to send her away?(A)
Or who were My creditors that I sold you to?(B)
Look, you were sold for your iniquities,(C)
and your mother was put away
because of your transgressions.
Why was no one there when I came?
Why was there no one to answer when I called?
Is My hand too short to redeem?(D)
Or do I have no power to deliver?
Look, I dry up the sea by My rebuke;(E)
I turn the rivers into a wilderness;
their fish rot because of lack of water
and die of thirst.
I dress the heavens in black
and make sackcloth their clothing.(F)

The Obedient Servant

The Lord God has given Me
the tongue of those who are instructed(G)
to know how to sustain the weary with a word.
He awakens Me each morning;
He awakens My ear to listen like those being instructed.(H)
The Lord God has opened My ear,
and I was not rebellious;
I did not turn back.(I)
I gave My back to those who beat Me,
and My cheeks to those who tore out My beard.
I did not hide My face from scorn and spitting.(J)
The Lord God will help Me;
therefore I have not been humiliated;
therefore I have set My face like flint,(K)
and I know I will not be put to shame.
The One who vindicates Me is near;(L)
who will contend with Me?
Let us confront each other.[a]
Who has a case against Me?[b]
Let him come near Me!
In truth, the Lord God will help Me;
who will condemn Me?(M)
Indeed, all of them will wear out like a garment;
a moth will devour them.(N)
10 Who among you fears the Lord,
listening to the voice of His Servant?(O)
Who among you walks in darkness,
and has no light?
Let him trust in the name of Yahweh;
let him lean on his God.
11 Look, all you who kindle a fire,
who encircle yourselves with[c] firebrands;
walk in the light of your fire
and in the firebrands you have lit!
This is what you’ll get from My hand:
you will lie down in a place of torment.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 50:8 Lit us stand
  2. Isaiah 50:8 Lit Who is lord of My judgment
  3. Isaiah 50:11 Syr reads who set ablaze

50 Thus says Yahweh:

“Where is this divorce document of your mother’s divorce, with which I dismissed her?
    or to whom of my creditors did I sell you?
Look! you were sold because of your sin,
    and your mother was dismissed because of your transgressions.
Why was there no man when I came,
    no one who answered when I called?
Do I lack the strength to save?[a]
    Or is there no power in me to deliver?
Look! by my rebuke I dry up the sea;
    I make[b] the rivers a desert;
their fish stink because there is no water,
    and they[c] die because of thirst.
I clothe the heavens with darkness,
    and I make[d] their covering sackcloth.”

The Servant’s Vindication

The Lord Yahweh has given me the tongue of a pupil,
    to know how to help the weary with a word.
He awakens morning by morning,[e]
    awakens an ear for me to listen as do the pupils.
The Lord Yahweh has opened an ear for me,
    and I, I was not rebellious.
I did not turn backwards;
    I gave my back to those who struck me,
and my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard;[f]
    I did not hide my face from insults and spittle.

And the Lord Yahweh helps me,

therefore I have not been put to shame;
    therefore I have set my face like flint.
And I know that I shall not be ashamed;
    he who obtains rights for me is near.
Who will contend with me? Let us stand together.
    Who is the master of my judgment? Let him approach me.
Look! The Lord Yahweh helps me.
    Who is the one who will declare me guilty?
Look! All of them will be worn out like a garment;
    the moth will eat them.
10 Who among you is in fear of Yahweh,
    obeys[g] the voice of his servant?
Who walks in darkness
    and has no light,
trusts in the name of Yahweh
    and depends on his God?
11 Look! All of you are kindlers of fire,
    who gird yourselves with flaming arrows.
Walk in the light of your fire,
    and among the flaming arrows you have kindled!
You shall have this from my hand:
    you shall lie down in[h] a place of torment.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 50:2 Literally “short is short my hand from redemption”
  2. Isaiah 50:2 Literally “put”
  3. Isaiah 50:2 Hebrew “she”
  4. Isaiah 50:3 Literally “put”
  5. Isaiah 50:4 Literally “in the morning in the morning”
  6. Isaiah 50:6 Literally “face”
  7. Isaiah 50:10 Or “listens”
  8. Isaiah 50:11 Or “to”