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50 This is what the Lord says to his people:

‘Did I send your mother away,
    like a man sends away his wife?
Where is the paper to say
    why I have sent her away?
Did I sell you to pay people that I was in debt to?
Where is the paper that shows
    the reason for my debt?
Listen! I sold you because of your sins.
I sent your mother away
    because you have not obeyed me.[a]
Nobody was there to meet me,
    when I came to help you.
When I called out to you,
    nobody answered me.
Do you think that my arm is too weak to rescue you?
    Am I not strong enough to save you?
Look! I can speak to the sea so that it becomes dry!
    I can cause rivers to become deserts.
Then the fish die because they have no water.
I can cause the sky to become dark,
    as if I have covered it with sackcloth.’

The Lord's Servant

‘The Almighty Lord has given his message to me, his servant.
    I speak it on his behalf.
I know what to say to help weak and tired people.
The Lord wakes me up every morning
    so that I can learn something.
I listen carefully to him,
    as a student listens to his teacher.
The Almighty Lord has spoken clearly to me.
I have accepted his message,
    and I have not turned back.
I offered my back
    to the people who hit me.
I offered my face
    to the people who pulled out my beard.
When they insulted me and they spat at me,
    I did not hide my face from them.
The Almighty Lord helps me,
    so I will not be ashamed.
I have decided to stand and be strong,
    because I know that I will not be ashamed.
God is the one who says that I am right,
    and he stands beside me.
So who will accuse me that I have done something wrong?
    We should meet in court!
Anyone who accuses me should come and speak!
Look! The Almighty Lord himself helps me.
    So nobody can say that I am guilty.
All the people who accuse me will soon disappear.
    They will spoil like old clothes that moths have eaten!’

10 Do any of you respect the Lord with fear?
    Do any of you obey his servant's message?
Are you walking in a place that is completely dark,
    where there is no light?
Then you should trust in the Lord
    as the God who will help you.
11 But no! You have lit your own fires.
    You have burned branches to give yourselves light.
So now you must walk in the light of the fires that you have lit.
And this is what I will do for you:
    I will punish you with great pain!

Footnotes

  1. 50:1 God is saying that he sent the Israelites away into exile because they did not obey him. That is why God is no longer there to keep Zion city safe. Zion is like a ‘mother’ for the Israelites. It is as if God has sent her away. She is no longer his ‘wife’. He has done all this because of the Israelite people's sins.

Israel’s Sin and the Servant’s Obedience

50 This is what the Lord says:

“Where is your mother’s certificate of divorce(A)
    with which I sent her away?
Or to which of my creditors
    did I sell(B) you?
Because of your sins(C) you were sold;(D)
    because of your transgressions your mother was sent away.
When I came, why was there no one?
    When I called, why was there no one to answer?(E)
Was my arm too short(F) to deliver you?
    Do I lack the strength(G) to rescue you?
By a mere rebuke(H) I dry up the sea,(I)
    I turn rivers into a desert;(J)
their fish rot for lack of water
    and die of thirst.
I clothe the heavens with darkness(K)
    and make sackcloth(L) its covering.”

The Sovereign Lord(M) has given me a well-instructed tongue,(N)
    to know the word that sustains the weary.(O)
He wakens me morning by morning,(P)
    wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.(Q)
The Sovereign Lord(R) has opened my ears;(S)
    I have not been rebellious,(T)
    I have not turned away.
I offered my back to those who beat(U) me,
    my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard;(V)
I did not hide my face
    from mocking and spitting.(W)
Because the Sovereign Lord(X) helps(Y) me,
    I will not be disgraced.
Therefore have I set my face like flint,(Z)
    and I know I will not be put to shame.(AA)
He who vindicates(AB) me is near.(AC)
    Who then will bring charges against me?(AD)
    Let us face each other!(AE)
Who is my accuser?
    Let him confront me!
It is the Sovereign Lord(AF) who helps(AG) me.
    Who will condemn(AH) me?
They will all wear out like a garment;
    the moths(AI) will eat them up.

10 Who among you fears(AJ) the Lord
    and obeys(AK) the word of his servant?(AL)
Let the one who walks in the dark,
    who has no light,(AM)
trust(AN) in the name of the Lord
    and rely on their God.
11 But now, all you who light fires
    and provide yourselves with flaming torches,(AO)
go, walk in the light of your fires(AP)
    and of the torches you have set ablaze.
This is what you shall receive from my hand:(AQ)
    You will lie down in torment.(AR)