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50 This is what the Lord says:

“Was your mother sent away because I divorced her?
    Did I sell you as slaves to my creditors?
No, you were sold because of your sins.
    And your mother, too, was taken because of your sins.
Why was no one there when I came?
    Why didn’t anyone answer when I called?
Is it because I have no power to rescue?
    No, that is not the reason!
For I can speak to the sea and make it dry up!
    I can turn rivers into deserts covered with dying fish.
I dress the skies in darkness,
    covering them with clothes of mourning.”

The Lord’s Obedient Servant

The Sovereign Lord has given me his words of wisdom,
    so that I know how to comfort the weary.
Morning by morning he wakens me
    and opens my understanding to his will.
The Sovereign Lord has spoken to me,
    and I have listened.
    I have not rebelled or turned away.
I offered my back to those who beat me
    and my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard.
I did not hide my face
    from mockery and spitting.

Because the Sovereign Lord helps me,
    I will not be disgraced.
Therefore, I have set my face like a stone,
    determined to do his will.
    And I know that I will not be put to shame.
He who gives me justice is near.
    Who will dare to bring charges against me now?
Where are my accusers?
    Let them appear!
See, the Sovereign Lord is on my side!
    Who will declare me guilty?
All my enemies will be destroyed
    like old clothes that have been eaten by moths!

10 Who among you fears the Lord
    and obeys his servant?
If you are walking in darkness,
    without a ray of light,
trust in the Lord
    and rely on your God.
11 But watch out, you who live in your own light
    and warm yourselves by your own fires.
This is the reward you will receive from me:
    You will soon fall down in great torment.

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”