Isaiah 50:4-9
New English Translation
The Servant Perseveres
4 The Sovereign Lord has given me the capacity to be his spokesman,[a]
so that I know how to help the weary.[b]
He wakes me up every morning;
he makes me alert so I can listen attentively as disciples do.[c]
5 The Sovereign Lord has spoken to me clearly;[d]
I have not rebelled,
I have not turned back.
6 I offered my back to those who attacked,[e]
my jaws to those who tore out my beard;
I did not hide my face
from insults and spitting.
7 But the Sovereign Lord helps me,
so I am not humiliated.
For that reason I am steadfastly resolved;[f]
I know I will not be put to shame.
8 The one who vindicates me is close by.
Who dares to argue with me? Let us confront each other![g]
Who is my accuser?[h] Let him challenge me![i]
9 Look, the Sovereign Lord helps me.
Who dares to condemn me?
Look, all of them will wear out like clothes;
a moth will eat away at them.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 50:4 tn Heb “has given to me a tongue of disciples.”sn Verses 4-11 contain the third of the so-called servant songs, which depict the career of the Lord’s special servant, envisioned as an ideal Israel (49:3) who rescues the exiles and fulfills God’s purposes for the world. Here the servant alludes to opposition (something hinted at in 49:4), but also expresses his determination to persevere with the Lord’s help.
- Isaiah 50:4 tc Heb “to know [?] the weary with a word.” Comparing it with Arabic and Aramaic cognates yields the meaning of “help, sustain.” Nevertheless, the meaning of עוּת (ʿut) is uncertain. The word occurs only here in the OT (see BDB 736 s.v.). Various scholars have suggested an emendation to עָנוֹת (ʿanot) from עָנָה (ʿanah, “answer”): “so that I know how to respond kindly to the weary.” Since the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa and the Vulgate support the MT reading, that reading is retained.
- Isaiah 50:4 tn Heb “he arouses for me an ear, to hear like disciples.”
- Isaiah 50:5 tn Or perhaps, “makes me obedient.” The text reads literally, “has opened for me an ear.”
- Isaiah 50:6 tn Or perhaps, “who beat [me].”
- Isaiah 50:7 tn Heb “Therefore I set my face like flint.”
- Isaiah 50:8 tn Heb “Let us stand together!”
- Isaiah 50:8 tn Heb “Who is the master of my judgment?”
- Isaiah 50:8 tn Heb “let him approach me”; NAB, NIV “Let him confront me.”
Isaiah 50:4-9
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Servant’s Humiliation and Vindication
4 The Lord God has given me
a trained tongue,[a]
that I may know how to sustain
the weary with a word.
Morning by morning he wakens,
wakens my ear
to listen as those who are taught.(A)
5 The Lord God has opened my ear,
and I was not rebellious;
I did not turn backward.(B)
6 I gave my back to those who struck me
and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard;
I did not hide my face
from insult and spitting.(C)
7 The Lord God helps me;
therefore I have not been disgraced;
therefore I have set my face like flint,
and I know that I shall not be put to shame;(D)
8 he who vindicates me is near.
Who will contend with me?
Let us stand in court together.
Who are my adversaries?
Let them confront me.(E)
9 It is the Lord God who helps me;
who will declare me guilty?
All of them will wear out like a garment;
the moth will eat them up.(F)
Footnotes
- 50.4 Cn: Heb of those who are taught
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