UST ISA Chapter 50

◄ ISA 50 ► ║ ═ ©

50 This is what Yahweh says:

“I did not fail to keep my covenant with you Israelites,

as if you were children whose mother I had divorced

or whom I gave to someone to pay a debt.

No, I allowed your enemies to take you into exile away from your land

because of the many wrong things you did.

2 I came to rescue you, but no one met with me to represent you.

I called to you, but no one responded.

I certainly have the power to rescue you.

Consider this: I am able to command the sea to become dry!

I can also cause rivers to become deserts,

so that the fish in them die from thirst and rot in the dry air.

3 I can make the sky become dark

by covering it with clouds,

as if it were wearing thick cloth.”

4 Yahweh, the Lord, has taught me, his prophet, how to speak for him,

so that I know what to say to encourage people who are weary.

Every single morning he wakes me up,

and he enables me to understand what he is teaching me.

5 Yahweh, the Lord, has enabled me to understand

what he wants me to do,

and I have not disobeyed him

and done something else.

6 I endured it when people beat me on my back

and pulled out the hair of my beard.

I did not turn my face away from them

when they spat on me to shame me.

7 Because Yahweh, the Lord, helps me,

this does not disgrace me.

So I have firmly resolved to endure these difficulties,

knowing that they will not humiliate me.

8 Anyone who wants to accuse me of doing wrong

may go to trial with me.

Yahweh is right here to defend me.

Anyone who thinks he can win a case against me

may come and confront me.

9 Listen! Yahweh, the Lord, will defend me himself,

so no one will declare that I am guilty.

Listen! The people who accuse me will all go away,

just like clothing that has worn out or that moths have eaten.

10 If you respect Yahweh

and do what his servant tells you to do,

even if you do not understand why you are in a difficult situation,

depend on your God.

You can trust Yahweh because of who he is.

11 But some people decide for themselves what they should do.

If they do that instead of what Yahweh wants,

Yahweh will punish them

by making them die painfully.