Isaiah 50:1-9

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.”

⁴The 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.

⁷But 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.