Isaiah 50
Holman Christian Standard Bible
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.
2 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.
3 I dress the heavens in black
and make sackcloth their clothing.(F)
The Obedient Servant
4 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)
5 The Lord God has opened My ear,
and I was not rebellious;
I did not turn back.(I)
6 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)
7 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.
8 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!
9 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
- Isaiah 50:8 Lit us stand
- Isaiah 50:8 Lit Who is lord of My judgment
- Isaiah 50:11 Syr reads who set ablaze
Isaiah 50
Living Bible
50 The Lord asks, Did I sell you to my creditors? Is that why you aren’t here? Is your mother gone because I divorced her and sent her away? No, you went away as captives because of your sins. And your mother, too, was taken in payment for your sins. 2 Was I too weak to save you? Is that why the house is silent and empty when I come home? Have I no longer power to deliver? No, that is not the reason! For I can rebuke the sea and make it dry! I can turn the rivers into deserts, covered with dying fish. 3 I am the one who sends the darkness out across the skies.
4 The Lord God has given me his words of wisdom so that I may know what I should say to all these weary ones. Morning by morning he wakens me and opens my understanding to his will. 5 The Lord God has spoken to me, and I have listened; I do not rebel nor turn away. 6 I give my back to the whip, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard. I do not hide from shame—they spit in my face.
7 Because the Lord God helps me, I will not be dismayed; therefore, I have set my face like flint to do his will, and I know that I will triumph. 8 He who gives me justice is near. Who will dare to fight against me now? Where are my enemies? Let them appear! 9 See, the Lord God is for me! Who shall declare me guilty? All my enemies shall be destroyed like old clothes eaten up by moths!
10 Who among you fears the Lord and obeys his Servant? If such men walk in darkness, without one ray of light, let them trust the Lord, let them rely upon their God. 11 But see here, you who live in your own light and warm yourselves from your own fires and not from God’s; you will live among sorrows.
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