Isaiah 50
EasyEnglish Bible
50 This is what the Lord says to his people:
‘Did I send your mother away,
like a man sends away his wife?
Where is the paper to say
why I have sent her away?
Did I sell you to pay people that I was in debt to?
Where is the paper that shows
the reason for my debt?
Listen! I sold you because of your sins.
I sent your mother away
because you have not obeyed me.[a]
2 Nobody was there to meet me,
when I came to help you.
When I called out to you,
nobody answered me.
Do you think that my arm is too weak to rescue you?
Am I not strong enough to save you?
Look! I can speak to the sea so that it becomes dry!
I can cause rivers to become deserts.
Then the fish die because they have no water.
3 I can cause the sky to become dark,
as if I have covered it with sackcloth.’
The Lord's Servant
4 ‘The Almighty Lord has given his message to me, his servant.
I speak it on his behalf.
I know what to say to help weak and tired people.
The Lord wakes me up every morning
so that I can learn something.
I listen carefully to him,
as a student listens to his teacher.
5 The Almighty Lord has spoken clearly to me.
I have accepted his message,
and I have not turned back.
6 I offered my back
to the people who hit me.
I offered my face
to the people who pulled out my beard.
When they insulted me and they spat at me,
I did not hide my face from them.
7 The Almighty Lord helps me,
so I will not be ashamed.
I have decided to stand and be strong,
because I know that I will not be ashamed.
8 God is the one who says that I am right,
and he stands beside me.
So who will accuse me that I have done something wrong?
We should meet in court!
Anyone who accuses me should come and speak!
9 Look! The Almighty Lord himself helps me.
So nobody can say that I am guilty.
All the people who accuse me will soon disappear.
They will spoil like old clothes that moths have eaten!’
10 Do any of you respect the Lord with fear?
Do any of you obey his servant's message?
Are you walking in a place that is completely dark,
where there is no light?
Then you should trust in the Lord
as the God who will help you.
11 But no! You have lit your own fires.
You have burned branches to give yourselves light.
So now you must walk in the light of the fires that you have lit.
And this is what I will do for you:
I will punish you with great pain!
Footnotes
- 50:1 God is saying that he sent the Israelites away into exile because they did not obey him. That is why God is no longer there to keep Zion city safe. Zion is like a ‘mother’ for the Israelites. It is as if God has sent her away. She is no longer his ‘wife’. He has done all this because of the Israelite people's sins.
Isaiah 50
English Standard Version
Israel's Sin and the Servant's Obedience
50 Thus says the Lord:
“Where is (A)your mother's certificate of divorce,
with which (B)I sent her away?
Or (C)which of my creditors is it
to whom I have sold you?
(D)Behold, for your iniquities you were sold,
and for your transgressions your mother was sent away.
2 (E)Why, when I came, was there no man;
why, when I called, was there no one to answer?
(F)Is my hand shortened, that it cannot redeem?
Or have I no power to deliver?
(G)Behold, by my rebuke (H)I dry up the sea,
(I)I make the rivers a desert;
(J)their fish stink for lack of water
and die of thirst.
3 (K)I clothe the heavens with blackness
and make sackcloth their covering.”
4 The Lord God has given (L)me
the tongue of those who are taught,
that (M)I may know how to sustain with a word
(N)him who is weary.
Morning by morning he awakens;
he awakens my ear
to hear as those who are taught.
5 (O)The Lord God has opened my ear,
(P)and I was not rebellious;
I turned not backward.
6 (Q)I gave my back to those who strike,
and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard;
I hid not my face
from disgrace and spitting.
7 But the Lord God helps me;
therefore I have not been disgraced;
(R)therefore I have set my face like a flint,
and I know that I shall not be put to shame.
8 (S)He who vindicates me is near.
Who will contend with me?
Let us stand up together.
Who is my adversary?
Let him come near to me.
9 (T)Behold, the Lord God helps me;
who will declare me guilty?
Behold, all of them will wear out like a garment;
the moth will eat them up.
10 Who among you fears the Lord
and obeys (U)the voice of his servant?
(V)Let him who walks in darkness
and has no light
trust in the name of the Lord
and rely on his God.
11 Behold, all you who kindle a fire,
who equip yourselves with burning torches!
Walk by the light of your fire,
and by the torches that you have kindled!
(W)This you have from my hand:
you shall lie down in torment.
Isaiah 50
New King James Version
The Servant, Israel’s Hope
50 Thus says the Lord:
“Where is (A)the certificate of your mother’s divorce,
Whom I have put away?
Or which of My (B)creditors is it to whom I have sold you?
For your iniquities (C)you have sold yourselves,
And for your transgressions your mother has been put away.
2 Why, when I came, was there no man?
Why, when I called, was there none to answer?
Is My hand shortened at all that it cannot redeem?
Or have I no power to deliver?
Indeed with My (D)rebuke I dry up the sea,
I make the rivers a wilderness;
Their fish stink because there is no water,
And die of thirst.
3 (E)I clothe the heavens with blackness,
(F)And I make sackcloth their covering.”
4 “The(G) Lord God has given Me
The tongue of the learned,
That I should know how to speak
A word in season to him who is (H)weary.
He awakens Me morning by morning,
He awakens My ear
To hear as the learned.
5 The Lord God (I)has opened My ear;
And I was not (J)rebellious,
Nor did I turn away.
6 (K)I gave My back to those who struck Me,
And (L)My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard;
I did not hide My face from shame and (M)spitting.
7 “For the Lord God will help Me;
Therefore I will not be disgraced;
Therefore (N)I have set My face like a flint,
And I know that I will not be ashamed.
8 (O)He is near who justifies Me;
Who will contend with Me?
Let us stand together.
Who is [a]My adversary?
Let him come near Me.
9 Surely the Lord God will help Me;
Who is he who will condemn Me?
(P)Indeed they will all grow old like a garment;
(Q)The moth will eat them up.
10 “Who among you fears the Lord?
Who obeys the voice of His Servant?
Who (R)walks in darkness
And has no light?
(S)Let him trust in the name of the Lord
And rely upon his God.
11 Look, all you who kindle a fire,
Who encircle yourselves with sparks:
Walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks you have kindled—
(T)This you shall have from My hand:
You shall lie down (U)in torment.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 50:8 Lit. master of My judgment
EasyEnglish Bible Copyright © MissionAssist 2019 - Charitable Incorporated Organisation 1162807. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
