Isaiah 50:1-3
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 50
Salvation Through the Lord’s Servant
1 Thus says the Lord:
Where is the bill of divorce
with which I dismissed your mother?[a]
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.(A)
2 Why was no one there when I came?
Why did no one answer when I called?[b]
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.(B)
3 I clothe the heavens in black,
and make sackcloth their covering.
Footnotes
- 50:1 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).
- 50:2 Israel’s faith in God is weak; the people do not answer God’s call, nor believe promises of deliverance.
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