Isaiah 50
50
Salvation Through the Lord’s Servant
1Thus says the Lord:
Where is the bill of divorce
with which I dismissed your mother?#Responding to the people’s complaint of utter abandonment by God, the prophet asserts that their sins were responsible for their banishment. Since there was no bill of divorce, the bond between the Lord and his people still exists and he has the power to deliver them (v. 2).
Or to which of my creditors
have I sold you?
It was for your sins you were sold,
for your rebellions your mother was dismissed.#Is 54:6–8; Dt 24:1–4; Mt 19:3; Mk 10:2–4.
2Why was no one there when I came?
Why did no one answer when I called?#Israel’s faith in God is weak; the people do not answer God’s call, nor believe promises of deliverance.
Is my hand too short to ransom?
Have I not the strength to deliver?
See, with my rebuke I dry up the sea,
I turn rivers into wilderness;
Their fish rot for lack of water,
and die of thirst.#Ex 7:18; Ps 105:29.
3I clothe the heavens in black,
and make sackcloth their covering.
4#The third of the four “servant of the Lord” oracles (cf. note on 42:1–4); in vv. 4–9 the servant speaks; in vv. 10–11 God addresses the people directly. The Lord God has given me
a well-trained tongue,
That I might know how to answer the weary
a word that will waken them.
Morning after morning
he wakens my ear to hear as disciples do;
5The Lord God opened my ear;
I did not refuse,
did not turn away.#The servant, like a well-trained disciple, does not refuse the divine vocation.
6I gave my back to those who beat me,
my cheeks to those who tore out my beard;#He willingly submits to insults and beatings. Tore out my beard: a grave and painful insult.
My face I did not hide
from insults and spitting.#2 Sm 10:4–6; Mt 26:67; 27:30.
7The Lord God is my help,
therefore I am not disgraced;
Therefore I have set my face like flint,
knowing that I shall not be put to shame.#Ez 3:9.
8He who declares my innocence is near.
Who will oppose me?
Let us appear together.
Who will dispute my right?
Let them confront me.
9See, the Lord God is my help;
who will declare me guilty?
See, they will all wear out like a garment,
consumed by moths.#Is 51:6–8; Ps 102:27.
10Who among you fears the Lord,#The Lord offers a choice to those who walk in darkness: either trust in the true light (v. 10), or walk in their false light and suffer the consequences.
heeds his servant’s voice?
Whoever walk in darkness,
without any light,
Yet trust in the name of the Lord
and rely upon their God!#Is 43:1–2; 44:1–2.
11All you who kindle flames
and set flares alight,
Walk by the light of your own fire
and by the flares you have burnt!
This is your fate from my hand:
you shall lie down in a place of torment.
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Isaiah 50: NABRE
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Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc
Isaiah 50
50
1Yahweh says, “Where is the bill of your mother’s divorce, with which I have put her away?
Or to which of my creditors have I sold you?
Behold, you were sold for your iniquities,
and your mother was put away for your transgressions.
2Why, when I came, was there no one?
When I called, why was there no one to answer?
Is my hand shortened at all, that it can’t redeem?
Or have I no power to deliver?
Behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea.
I make the rivers a wilderness.
Their fish stink because there is no water, and die of thirst.
3I clothe the heavens with blackness.
I make sackcloth their covering.”
4The Lord Yahweh has given me the tongue of those who are taught,
that I may know how to sustain with words him who is weary.
He awakens morning by morning,
he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught.
5The Lord Yahweh has opened my ear.
I was not rebellious.
I have not turned back.
6I gave my back to those who beat me,
and my cheeks to those who plucked off the hair.
I didn’t hide my face from shame and spitting.
7For the Lord Yahweh will help me.
Therefore I have not been confounded.
Therefore I have set my face like a flint,
and I know that I won’t be disappointed.
8He who justifies me is near.
Who will bring charges against me?
Let us stand up together.
Who is my adversary?
Let him come near to me.
9Behold, the Lord Yahweh will help me!
Who is he who will condemn me?
Behold, they will all grow old like a garment.
The moths will eat them up.
10Who among you fears Yahweh
and obeys the voice of his servant?
He who walks in darkness
and has no light,
let him trust in Yahweh’s name,
and rely on his God.
11Behold, all you who kindle a fire,
who adorn yourselves with torches around yourselves,
walk in the flame of your fire,
and among the torches that you have kindled.
You will have this from my hand:
you will lie down in sorrow.
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