Isaiah 50

Isaiah 50

1Thus says the Lord :[#Deut 24.1, 3; 32.30; Isa 48.8; 52.3; 54.6, 7; Jer 3.8]

Where is your mother’s bill of divorce

with which I dismissed her?

Or which of my creditors is it

to whom I have sold you?

No, because of your sins you were sold,

and for your transgressions your mother was dismissed.

2Why was no one there when I came?[#Ex 14.21; Num 11.23; Josh 3.16; Isa 59.1; 65.12; 66.4]

Why did no one answer when I called?

Is my arm powerless to redeem?

Or have I no strength to deliver?

By my rebuke I dry up the sea;

I make the rivers a desert,

so that their fish stink for lack of water

and die of thirst.

3I clothe the heavens with blackness[#Isa 13.10; Rev 6.12]

and make sackcloth their covering.

The Servant’s Humiliation and Vindication

4The Lord God has given me[#Ps 143.8; Isa 54.13; Jer 31.25]

a trained tongue,

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.

5The Lord God has opened my ear,[#Ps 40.6; Mt 26.39; Jn 8.29; 14.31; Phil 2.8]

and I was not rebellious;

I did not turn backward.

6I gave my back to those who struck me[#Isa 53.5; Mt 26.67; Lk 22.63]

and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard;

I did not hide my face

from insult and spitting.

7The Lord God helps me;[#Isa 49.8; 54.4; Ezek 3.8, 9]

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;

8he who vindicates me is near.[#Rom 8.32–34]

Who will contend with me?

Let us stand in court together.

Who are my adversaries?

Let them confront me.

9It is the Lord God who helps me;[#Isa 41.10; 51.8; 54.17]

who will declare me guilty?

All of them will wear out like a garment;

the moth will eat them up.

10Who among you fears the Lord[#Isa 9.2; 12.2; 49.2, 3; Eph 5.8]

and obeys the voice of his servant,

who walks in darkness

and has no light,

yet trusts in the name of the Lord

and relies upon his God?

11But all of you are kindlers of fire,[#Ps 35.8; Isa 65.13–15]

lighters of firebrands.

Walk in the flame of your fire

and among the brands that you have kindled!

This is what you shall have from my hand:

you shall lie down in torment.

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, copyright © 2021 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Published by: National Council of the Churches of Christ