Isaiah 50–52

Israel Was Punished for Its Sin

50This is what the Lord says:

“People of Israel, you say I divorced your mother.

Then where is the paper that proves it?

Or do you think I sold you

to pay a debt?

Because of the evil things you did, I sold you.

Because of the times she turned against me, your mother was sent away.

²I came home and found no one there;

I called, but no one answered.

Do you think I am not able to save you?

Do I not have the power to save you?

Look, I need only to shout and the sea becomes dry.

I change rivers into a desert,

and their fish rot because there is no water;

they die of thirst.

³I can make the skies dark;

I can make them black like clothes of sadness.”

God’s Servant Obeys

⁴The Lord God gave me the ability to teach

so that I know what to say to make the weak strong.

Every morning he wakes me.

He teaches me to listen like a student.

⁵The Lord God helps me learn,

and I have not turned against him

nor stopped following him.

⁶I offered my back to those who beat me.

I offered my cheeks to those who pulled my beard.

I won’t hide my face from them

when they make fun of me and spit at me.

⁷The Lord God helps me,

so I will not be ashamed.

I will be determined,

and I know I will not be disgraced.

⁸He shows that I am innocent, and he is close to me.

So who can accuse me?

If there is someone, let us go to court together.

If someone wants to prove I have done wrong,

he should come and tell me.

⁹Look! It is the Lord God who helps me.

So who can prove me guilty?

Look! All those who try will become useless like old clothes;

moths will eat them.

¹⁰Who among you fears the Lord

and obeys his servant?

That person may walk in the dark

and have no light.

Then let him trust in the Lord

and yet depend on his God.

¹¹But instead, some of you want to light your own fires

and make your own light.

So, go, walk in the light of your fires,

and trust your own light to guide you.

But this is what you will receive from me:

You will lie down in a place of pain.

Jerusalem Will Be Saved

51The Lord says, “Listen to me,

those of you who try to live right and follow the Lord.

Look at the rock from which you were cut;

look at the stone quarry from which you were dug.

²Look at Abraham, your ancestor,

and Sarah, who gave birth to your ancestors.

Abraham had no children when I called him,

but I blessed him and gave him many descendants.

³So the Lord will comfort Jerusalem;

he will show mercy to those who live in her ruins.

He will change her deserts into a garden like Eden;

he will make her empty lands like the garden of the Lord.

People there will be very happy;

they will give thanks and sing songs.

⁴“My people, listen to me;

my nation, pay attention to me.

I will give the people my teachings,

and my decisions will be like a light to all people.

⁵I will soon show that I do what is right.

I will soon save you.

I will use my power and judge all nations.

All the faraway places are waiting for me;

they wait for my power to help them.

⁶Look up to the heavens.

Look around you at the earth below.

The skies will disappear like clouds of smoke.

The earth will become useless like old clothes,

and its people will die like flies.

But my salvation will continue forever,

and my goodness will never end.

⁷“You people who know what is right should listen to me;

you people who follow my teachings should hear what I say.

Don’t be afraid of the evil things people say,

and don’t be upset by their insults.

⁸Moths will eat those people as if they were clothes,

and worms will eat them as if they were wool.

But my goodness will continue forever,

and my salvation will continue from now on.”

⁹Wake up, wake up, and use your strength,

powerful Lord.

Wake up as you did in the old times,

as you did a long time ago.

With your own power, you cut Rahab into pieces

and killed that sea monster.

¹⁰You dried up the sea

and the waters of the deep ocean.

You made the deepest parts of the sea into a road

for your people to cross over and be saved.

¹¹The people the Lord has freed will return

and enter Jerusalem with joy.

Their happiness will last forever.

They will have joy and gladness,

and all sadness and sorrow will be gone far away.

¹²The Lord says, “I am the one who comforts you.

So why should you be afraid of people, who die?

Why should you fear people who die like the grass?

¹³Have you forgotten the Lord who made you,

who stretched out the skies

and made the earth?

Why are you always afraid

of those angry people who trouble you

and who want to destroy?

But where are those angry people now?

¹⁴People in prison will soon be set free;

they will not die in prison,

and they will have enough food.

¹⁵I am the Lord your God,

who stirs the sea and makes the waves roar.

My name is the Lord All-Powerful.

¹⁶I will give you the words I want you to say.

I will cover you with my hands and protect you.

I made the heavens and the earth,

and I say to Jerusalem, ‘You are my people.’ ”

God Punished Israel

¹⁷Awake! Awake!

Get up, Jerusalem.

The Lord was very angry with you;

your punishment was like wine in a cup.

The Lord made you drink that wine;

you drank the whole cup until you stumbled.

¹⁸Jerusalem had many people,

but there was not one to lead her.

Of all the people who grew up there,

no one was there to guide her.

¹⁹Troubles came to you two by two,

but no one will feel sorry for you.

There was ruin and disaster, great hunger and fighting.

No one can comfort you.

²⁰Your people have become weak.

They fall down and lie on every street corner,

like animals caught in a net.

They have felt the full anger of the Lord

and have heard God’s angry shout.

²¹So listen to me, poor Jerusalem,

you who are drunk but not from wine.

²²Your God will defend his people.

This is what the Lord your God says:

“The punishment I gave you is like a cup of wine.

You drank it and could not walk straight.

But I am taking that cup of my anger away from you,

and you will never be punished by my anger again.

²³I will now give that cup of punishment to those who gave you pain,

who told you,

‘Bow down so we can walk over you.’

They made your back like dirt for them to walk on;

you were like a street for them to travel on.”

Jerusalem Will Be Saved

52Wake up, wake up, Jerusalem! Become strong!

Be beautiful again,

holy city of Jerusalem.

The people who do not worship God and who are not pure

will not enter you again.

²Jerusalem, you once were a prisoner.

Now shake off the dust and stand up.

Jerusalem, you once were a prisoner.

Now free yourself from the chains around your neck.

³This is what the Lord says:

“You were not sold for a price,

so you will be saved without cost.”

⁴This is what the Lord God says:

“First my people went down to Egypt to live.

Later Assyria made them slaves.

⁵“Now see what has happened,” says the Lord.

“Another nation has taken away my people for nothing.

This nation who rules them makes fun of me,” says the Lord.

“All day long they speak against me.

⁶This has happened so my people will know who I am,

and so, on that future day, they will know

that I am the one speaking to them.

It will really be me.”

⁷How beautiful is the person

who comes over the mountains to bring good news,

who announces peace

and brings good news,

who announces salvation

and says to Jerusalem,

“Your God is King.”

⁸Listen! Your guards are shouting.

They are all shouting for joy!

They all will see with their own eyes

when the Lord returns to Jerusalem.

⁹Jerusalem, your buildings are destroyed now,

but shout and rejoice together,

because the Lord has comforted his people.

He has saved Jerusalem.

¹⁰The Lord will show his holy power

to all the nations.

Then everyone on earth

will see the salvation of our God.

¹¹You people, leave, leave; get out of Babylon!

Touch nothing that is unclean.

You men who carry the Lord’s things used in worship,

leave there and make yourselves pure.

¹²You will not be forced to leave Babylon quickly;

you will not be forced to run away,

because the Lord will go before you,

and the God of Israel will guard you from behind.

The Lord’s Suffering Servant

¹³The Lord says, “See, my servant will act wisely.

People will greatly honor and respect him.

¹⁴Many people were shocked when they saw him.

His appearance was so damaged he did not look like a man;

his form was so changed they could barely tell he was human.

¹⁵But now he will surprise many nations.

Kings will be amazed and shut their mouths.

They will see things they had not been told about him,

and they will understand things they had not heard.”