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Why was no one there when I came?
    Why did no one answer when I called?[a]
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.(A)
I clothe the heavens in black,
    and make sackcloth their covering.

[b]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;

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Footnotes

  1. 50:2 Israel’s faith in God is weak; the people do not answer God’s call, nor believe promises of deliverance.
  2. 50:4–11 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.

When I came, why was there no one?
    When I called, why was there no one to answer?(A)
Was my arm too short(B) to deliver you?
    Do I lack the strength(C) to rescue you?
By a mere rebuke(D) I dry up the sea,(E)
    I turn rivers into a desert;(F)
their fish rot for lack of water
    and die of thirst.
I clothe the heavens with darkness(G)
    and make sackcloth(H) its covering.”

The Sovereign Lord(I) has given me a well-instructed tongue,(J)
    to know the word that sustains the weary.(K)
He wakens me morning by morning,(L)
    wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.(M)

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