2 Why was no one there when I came?

Why was there no one to answer when I called?

Is my arm too weak to redeem?q

Or do I have no power to rescue?

Look, I dry up the sea by my rebuke;r

I turn the rivers into a wilderness;

their fish rot because of lack of water

and die of thirst.

3 I dress the heavens in black

and make sackcloth their covering.s

THE OBEDIENT SERVANT

4 The Lord God has given me

the tongue of those who are instructedt

to know how to sustain the weary with a word.

He awakens me each morning;

he awakens my ear to listen like those being instructed.u

5 The Lord God has opened my ear,

and I was not rebellious;

I did not turn back.v

6 I gave my back to those who beat me,

and my cheeks to those who tore out my beard.

I did not hide my face from scorn and spitting.a