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Isaiah 47-51
The Message
Isaiah 47-51
The Message
The Party’s Over
47 1-3 “Get off your high horse and sit in the dirt,
virgin daughter of Babylon.
No more throne for you—sit on the ground,
daughter of the Chaldeans.
Nobody will be calling you ‘charming’
and ‘alluring’ anymore. Get used to it.
Get a job, any old job:
Clean gutters, scrub toilets.
Pawn your gowns and scarves,
put on your working pants—the party’s over.
Your nude body will be on public display,
exposed to vulgar taunts.
It’s vengeance time, and I’m taking vengeance.
No one gets let off the hook.”
You’re Acting Like the Center of the Universe
4-13 Our Redeemer speaks,
named God-of-the-Angel-Armies, The Holy of Israel:
“Shut up and get out of the way,
daughter of Chaldeans.
You’ll no longer be called
‘First Lady of the Kingdoms.’
I was fed up with my people,
thoroughly disgusted with my progeny.
I turned them over to you,
but you had no compassion.
You put old men and women
to cruel, hard labor.
You said, ‘I’m the First Lady.
I’ll always be the pampered darling.’
You took nothing seriously, took nothing to heart,
never gave tomorrow a thought.
Well, start thinking, party girl.
You’re acting like the center of the universe,
Smugly saying to yourself, ‘I’m Number One. There’s nobody but me.
I’ll never be a widow, I’ll never lose my children.’
Those two things are going to hit you both at once,
suddenly, on the same day:
Spouse and children gone, a total loss,
despite your many enchantments and charms.
You were so confident and comfortable in your evil life,
saying, ‘No one sees me.’
You thought you knew so much, had everything figured out.
What delusion!
Smugly telling yourself, ‘I’m Number One. There’s nobody but me.’
Ruin descends—
you can’t charm it away.
Disaster strikes—
you can’t cast it off with spells.
Catastrophe, sudden and total—
and you’re totally at sea, totally bewildered!
But don’t give up. From your great repertoire
of enchantments there must be one you haven’t yet tried.
You’ve been at this a long time.
Surely something will work.
I know you’re exhausted trying out remedies,
but don’t give up.
Call in the astrologers and stargazers.
They’re good at this. Surely they can work up something!
14-15 “Fat chance. You’d be grasping at straws
that are already in the fire,
A fire that is even now raging.
Your ‘experts’ are in it and won’t get out.
It’s not a fire for cooking venison stew,
not a fire to warm you on a winter night!
That’s the fate of your friends in sorcery, your magician cronies
you’ve been colluding with all your life.
They reel, confused, bumping into one another.
None of them bother to help you.”
Tested in the Furnace of Affliction
48 1-11 “And now listen to this, family of Jacob,
you who are called by the name Israel:
Who got you started in the loins of Judah,
you who use God’s name to back up your promises
and pray to the God of Israel?
But do you mean it?
Do you live like it?
You claim to be citizens of the Holy City;
you act as though you lean on the God of Israel,
named God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
For a long time now, I’ve let you in on the way I work:
I told you what I was going to do beforehand,
then I did it and it was done, and that’s that.
I know you’re a bunch of hardheads,
obstinate and flint-faced,
So I got a running start and began telling you
what was going on before it even happened.
That is why you can’t say,
‘My god-idol did this.’
‘My favorite god-carving commanded this.’
You have all this evidence
confirmed by your own eyes and ears.
Shouldn’t you be talking about it?
And that was just the beginning.
I have a lot more to tell you,
things you never knew existed.
This isn’t a variation on the same old thing.
This is new, brand-new,
something you’d never guess or dream up.
When you hear this you won’t be able to say,
‘I knew that all along.’
You’ve never been good listeners to me.
You have a history of ignoring me,
A sorry track record of fickle attachments—
rebels from the womb.
But out of the sheer goodness of my heart,
because of who I am,
I keep a tight rein on my anger and hold my temper.
I don’t wash my hands of you.
Do you see what I’ve done?
I’ve refined you, but not without fire.
I’ve tested you like silver in the furnace of affliction.
Out of myself, simply because of who I am, I do what I do.
I have my reputation to keep up.
I’m not playing second fiddle to either gods or people.
12-13 “Listen, Jacob. Listen, Israel—
I’m the One who named you!
I’m the One.
I got things started and, yes, I’ll wrap them up.
Earth is my work, handmade.
And the skies—I made them, too, horizon to horizon.
When I speak, they’re on their feet, at attention.
14-16 “Come everybody, gather around, listen:
Who among the gods has delivered the news?
I, God, love this man Cyrus, and I’m using him
to do what I want with Babylon.
I, yes I, have spoken. I’ve called him.
I’ve brought him here. He’ll be successful.
Come close, listen carefully:
I’ve never kept secrets from you.
I’ve always been present with you.”
Your Progeny, Like Grains of Sand
16-19 And now, the Master, God, sends me and his Spirit
with this Message from God
your Redeemer, The Holy of Israel:
“I am God, your God,
who teaches you how to live right and well.
I show you what to do, where to go.
If you had listened all along to what I told you,
your life would have flowed full like a river,
blessings rolling in like waves from the sea.
Children and grandchildren are like sand,
your progeny like grains of sand.
There would be no end of them,
no danger of losing touch with me.”
20 Get out of Babylon! Run from the Babylonians!
Shout the news. Broadcast it.
Let the world know, the whole world.
Tell them, “God redeemed his dear servant Jacob!”
21 They weren’t thirsty when he led them through the deserts.
He made water pour out of the rock;
he split the rock and the water gushed.
22 “There is no peace,” says God, “for the wicked.”
A Light for the Nations
49 1-3 Listen, far-flung islands,
pay attention, faraway people:
God put me to work from the day I was born.
The moment I entered the world he named me.
He gave me speech that would cut and penetrate.
He kept his hand on me to protect me.
He made me his straight arrow
and hid me in his quiver.
He said to me, “You’re my dear servant,
Israel, through whom I’ll shine.”
4 But I said, “I’ve worked for nothing.
I’ve nothing to show for a life of hard work.
Nevertheless, I’ll let God have the last word.
I’ll let him pronounce his verdict.”
5-6 “And now,” God says,
this God who took me in hand
from the moment of birth to be his servant,
To bring Jacob back home to him,
to set a reunion for Israel—
What an honor for me in God’s eyes!
That God should be my strength!
He says, “But that’s not a big enough job for my servant—
just to recover the tribes of Jacob,
merely to round up the strays of Israel.
I’m setting you up as a light for the nations
so that my salvation becomes global!”
7 God, Redeemer of Israel, The Holy of Israel,
says to the despised one, kicked around by the nations,
slave labor to the ruling class:
“Kings will see, get to their feet—the princes, too—
and then fall on their faces in homage
Because of God, who has faithfully kept his word,
The Holy of Israel, who has chosen you.”
8-12 God also says:
“When the time’s ripe, I answer you.
When victory’s due, I help you.
I form you and use you
to reconnect the people with me,
To put the land in order,
to resettle families on the ruined properties.
I tell prisoners, ‘Come on out. You’re free!’
and those huddled in fear, ‘It’s all right. It’s safe now.’
There’ll be foodstands along all the roads,
picnics on all the hills—
Nobody hungry, nobody thirsty,
shade from the sun, shelter from the wind,
For the Compassionate One guides them,
takes them to the best springs.
I’ll make all my mountains into roads,
turn them into a superhighway.
Look: These coming from far countries,
and those, out of the north,
These streaming in from the west,
and those from all the way down the Nile!”
13 Heavens, raise the roof! Earth, wake the dead!
Mountains, send up cheers!
God has comforted his people.
He has tenderly nursed his beaten-up, beaten-down people.
14 But Zion said, “I don’t get it. God has left me.
My Master has forgotten I even exist.”
15-18 “Can a mother forget the infant at her breast,
walk away from the baby she bore?
But even if mothers forget,
I’d never forget you—never.
Look, I’ve written your names on the backs of my hands.
The walls you’re rebuilding are never out of my sight.
Your builders are faster than your wreckers.
The demolition crews are gone for good.
Look up, look around, look well!
See them all gathering, coming to you?
As sure as I am the living God”—God’s Decree—
“you’re going to put them on like so much jewelry,
you’re going to use them to dress up like a bride.
19-21 “And your ruined land?
Your devastated, decimated land?
Filled with more people than you know what to do with!
And your barbarian enemies, a fading memory.
The children born in your exile will be saying,
‘It’s getting too crowded here. I need more room.’
And you’ll say to yourself,
‘Where on earth did these children come from?
I lost everything, had nothing, was exiled and penniless.
So who reared these children?
How did these children get here?’”
22-23 The Master, God, says:
“Look! I signal to the nations,
I raise my flag to summon the people.
Here they’ll come: women carrying your little boys in their arms,
men carrying your little girls on their shoulders.
Kings will be your babysitters,
princesses will be your nursemaids.
They’ll offer to do all your drudge work—
scrub your floors, do your laundry.
You’ll know then that I am God.
No one who hopes in me ever regrets it.”
24-26 Can plunder be retrieved from a giant,
prisoners of war gotten back from a tyrant?
But God says, “Even if a giant grips the plunder
and a tyrant holds my people prisoner,
I’m the one who’s on your side,
defending your cause, rescuing your children.
And your enemies, crazed and desperate, will turn on themselves,
killing each other in a frenzy of self-destruction.
Then everyone will know that I, God,
have saved you—I, the Mighty One of Jacob.”
Who Out There Fears God?
50 1-3 God says:
“Can you produce your mother’s divorce papers
proving I got rid of her?
Can you produce a receipt
proving I sold you?
Of course you can’t.
It’s your sins that put you here,
your wrongs that got you shipped out.
So why didn’t anyone come when I knocked?
Why didn’t anyone answer when I called?
Do you think I’ve forgotten how to help?
Am I so decrepit that I can’t deliver?
I’m as powerful as ever,
and can reverse what I once did:
I can dry up the sea with a word,
turn river water into desert sand,
And leave the fish stinking in the sun,
stranded on dry land . . .
Turn all the lights out in the sky
and pull down the curtain.”
* * *
4-9 The Master, God, has given me
a well-taught tongue,
So I know how to encourage tired people.
He wakes me up in the morning,
Wakes me up, opens my ears
to listen as one ready to take orders.
The Master, God, opened my ears,
and I didn’t go back to sleep,
didn’t pull the covers back over my head.
I followed orders,
stood there and took it while they beat me,
held steady while they pulled out my beard,
Didn’t dodge their insults,
faced them as they spit in my face.
And the Master, God, stays right there and helps me,
so I’m not disgraced.
Therefore I set my face like flint,
confident that I’ll never regret this.
My champion is right here.
Let’s take our stand together!
Who dares bring suit against me?
Let him try!
Look! the Master, God, is right here.
Who would dare call me guilty?
Look! My accusers are a clothes bin of threadbare
socks and shirts, fodder for moths!
* * *
10-11 Who out there fears God,
actually listens to the voice of his servant?
For anyone out there who doesn’t know where you’re going,
anyone groping in the dark,
Here’s what: Trust in God.
Lean on your God!
But if all you’re after is making trouble,
playing with fire,
Go ahead and see where it gets you.
Set your fires, stir people up, blow on the flames,
But don’t expect me to just stand there and watch.
I’ll hold your feet to those flames.
Committed to Seeking God
51 1-3 “Listen to me, all you who are serious about right living
and committed to seeking God.
Ponder the rock from which you were cut,
the quarry from which you were dug.
Yes, ponder Abraham, your father,
and Sarah, who bore you.
Think of it! One solitary man when I called him,
but once I blessed him, he multiplied.
Likewise I, God, will comfort Zion,
comfort all her mounds of ruins.
I’ll transform her dead ground into Eden,
her moonscape into the garden of God,
A place filled with exuberance and laughter,
thankful voices and melodic songs.
4-6 “Pay attention, my people.
Listen to me, nations.
Revelation flows from me.
My decisions light up the world.
My deliverance arrives on the run,
my salvation right on time.
I’ll bring justice to the peoples.
Even faraway islands will look to me
and take hope in my saving power.
Look up at the skies,
ponder the earth under your feet.
The skies will fade out like smoke,
the earth will wear out like work pants,
and the people will die off like flies.
But my salvation will last forever,
my setting-things-right will never be obsolete.
7-8 “Listen now, you who know right from wrong,
you who hold my teaching inside you:
Pay no attention to insults, and when mocked
don’t let it get you down.
Those insults and mockeries are moth-eaten,
from brains that are termite-ridden,
But my setting-things-right lasts,
my salvation goes on and on and on.”
9-11 Wake up, wake up, flex your muscles, God!
Wake up as in the old days, in the long ago.
Didn’t you once make mincemeat of Rahab,
dispatch the old chaos-dragon?
And didn’t you once dry up the sea,
the powerful waters of the deep,
And then made the bottom of the ocean a road
for the redeemed to walk across?
In the same way God’s ransomed will come back,
come back to Zion cheering, shouting,
Joy eternal wreathing their heads,
exuberant ecstasies transporting them—
and not a sign of moans or groans.
What Are You Afraid of—or Who?
12-16 “I, I’m the One comforting you.
What are you afraid of—or who?
Some man or woman who’ll soon be dead?
Some poor wretch destined for dust?
You’ve forgotten me, God, who made you,
who unfurled the skies, who founded the earth.
And here you are, quaking like an aspen
before the tantrums of a tyrant
who thinks he can kick down the world.
But what will come of the tantrums?
The victims will be released before you know it.
They’re not going to die.
They’re not even going to go hungry.
For I am God, your very own God,
who stirs up the sea and whips up the waves,
named God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
I teach you how to talk, word by word,
and personally watch over you,
Even while I’m unfurling the skies,
setting earth on solid foundations,
and greeting Zion: ‘Welcome, my people!’”
17-20 So wake up! Rub the sleep from your eyes!
Up on your feet, Jerusalem!
You’ve drunk the cup God handed you,
the strong drink of his anger.
You drank it down to the last drop,
staggered and collapsed, dead-drunk.
And nobody to help you home,
no one among your friends or children
to take you by the hand and put you in bed.
You’ve been hit with a double dose of trouble
—does anyone care?
Assault and battery, hunger and death
—will anyone comfort?
Your sons and daughters have passed out,
strewn in the streets like stunned rabbits,
Sleeping off the strong drink of God’s anger,
the rage of your God.
21-23 Therefore listen, please,
you with your splitting headaches,
You who are nursing the hangovers
that didn’t come from drinking wine.
Your Master, your God, has something to say,
your God has taken up his people’s case:
“Look, I’ve taken back the drink that sent you reeling.
No more drinking from that jug of my anger!
I’ve passed it over to your abusers to drink, those who ordered you,
‘Down on the ground so we can walk all over you!’
And you had to do it. Flat on the ground,
you were the dirt under their feet.”
Isaiah 47-51
New International Version
Isaiah 47-51
New International Version
The Fall of Babylon
47 “Go down, sit in the dust,(A)
Virgin Daughter(B) Babylon;
sit on the ground without a throne,
queen city of the Babylonians.[a](C)
No more will you be called
tender or delicate.(D)
2 Take millstones(E) and grind(F) flour;
take off your veil.(G)
Lift up your skirts,(H) bare your legs,
and wade through the streams.
3 Your nakedness(I) will be exposed
and your shame(J) uncovered.
I will take vengeance;(K)
I will spare no one.(L)”
5 “Sit in silence,(Q) go into darkness,(R)
queen city of the Babylonians;(S)
no more will you be called
queen(T) of kingdoms.(U)
6 I was angry(V) with my people
and desecrated my inheritance;(W)
I gave them into your hand,(X)
and you showed them no mercy.(Y)
Even on the aged
you laid a very heavy yoke.
7 You said, ‘I am forever(Z)—
the eternal queen!’(AA)
But you did not consider these things
or reflect(AB) on what might happen.(AC)
8 “Now then, listen, you lover of pleasure,
lounging in your security(AD)
and saying to yourself,
‘I am, and there is none besides me.(AE)
I will never be a widow(AF)
or suffer the loss of children.’
9 Both of these will overtake you
in a moment,(AG) on a single day:
loss of children(AH) and widowhood.(AI)
They will come upon you in full measure,
in spite of your many sorceries(AJ)
and all your potent spells.(AK)
10 You have trusted(AL) in your wickedness
and have said, ‘No one sees me.’(AM)
Your wisdom(AN) and knowledge mislead(AO) you
when you say to yourself,
‘I am, and there is none besides me.’
11 Disaster(AP) will come upon you,
and you will not know how to conjure it away.
A calamity will fall upon you
that you cannot ward off with a ransom;
a catastrophe you cannot foresee
will suddenly(AQ) come upon you.
12 “Keep on, then, with your magic spells
and with your many sorceries,(AR)
which you have labored at since childhood.
Perhaps you will succeed,
perhaps you will cause terror.
13 All the counsel you have received has only worn you out!(AS)
Let your astrologers(AT) come forward,
those stargazers who make predictions month by month,
let them save(AU) you from what is coming upon you.
14 Surely they are like stubble;(AV)
the fire(AW) will burn them up.
They cannot even save themselves
from the power of the flame.(AX)
These are not coals for warmth;
this is not a fire to sit by.
15 That is all they are to you—
these you have dealt with
and labored(AY) with since childhood.
All of them go on in their error;
there is not one that can save(AZ) you.
Stubborn Israel
48 “Listen to this, you descendants of Jacob,
you who are called by the name of Israel(BA)
and come from the line of Judah,(BB)
you who take oaths(BC) in the name of the Lord(BD)
and invoke(BE) the God of Israel—
but not in truth(BF) or righteousness—
2 you who call yourselves citizens of the holy city(BG)
and claim to rely(BH) on the God of Israel—
the Lord Almighty is his name:(BI)
3 I foretold the former things(BJ) long ago,
my mouth announced(BK) them and I made them known;
then suddenly(BL) I acted, and they came to pass.
4 For I knew how stubborn(BM) you were;
your neck muscles(BN) were iron,
your forehead(BO) was bronze.
5 Therefore I told you these things long ago;
before they happened I announced(BP) them to you
so that you could not say,
‘My images brought them about;(BQ)
my wooden image and metal god ordained them.’
6 You have heard these things; look at them all.
Will you not admit them?
“From now on I will tell you of new things,(BR)
of hidden things unknown to you.
7 They are created(BS) now, and not long ago;(BT)
you have not heard of them before today.
So you cannot say,
‘Yes, I knew(BU) of them.’
8 You have neither heard nor understood;(BV)
from of old your ears(BW) have not been open.
Well do I know how treacherous(BX) you are;
you were called a rebel(BY) from birth.
9 For my own name’s sake(BZ) I delay my wrath;(CA)
for the sake of my praise I hold it back from you,
so as not to destroy you completely.(CB)
10 See, I have refined(CC) you, though not as silver;
I have tested(CD) you in the furnace(CE) of affliction.
11 For my own sake,(CF) for my own sake, I do this.
How can I let myself be defamed?(CG)
I will not yield my glory to another.(CH)
Israel Freed
12 “Listen(CI) to me, Jacob,
Israel, whom I have called:(CJ)
I am he;(CK)
I am the first and I am the last.(CL)
13 My own hand laid the foundations of the earth,(CM)
and my right hand spread out the heavens;(CN)
when I summon them,
they all stand up together.(CO)
14 “Come together,(CP) all of you, and listen:
Which of the idols has foretold(CQ) these things?
The Lord’s chosen ally(CR)
will carry out his purpose(CS) against Babylon;(CT)
his arm will be against the Babylonians.[b]
15 I, even I, have spoken;
yes, I have called(CU) him.
I will bring him,
and he will succeed(CV) in his mission.
16 “Come near(CW) me and listen(CX) to this:
“From the first announcement I have not spoken in secret;(CY)
at the time it happens, I am there.”
17 This is what the Lord says—
your Redeemer,(DC) the Holy One(DD) of Israel:
“I am the Lord your God,
who teaches(DE) you what is best for you,
who directs(DF) you in the way(DG) you should go.
18 If only you had paid attention(DH) to my commands,
your peace(DI) would have been like a river,(DJ)
your well-being(DK) like the waves of the sea.
19 Your descendants(DL) would have been like the sand,(DM)
your children like its numberless grains;(DN)
their name would never be blotted out(DO)
nor destroyed from before me.”
20 Leave Babylon,
flee(DP) from the Babylonians!
Announce this with shouts of joy(DQ)
and proclaim it.
Send it out to the ends of the earth;(DR)
say, “The Lord has redeemed(DS) his servant Jacob.”
21 They did not thirst(DT) when he led them through the deserts;
he made water flow(DU) for them from the rock;
he split the rock
and water gushed out.(DV)
The Servant of the Lord
49 Listen(DY) to me, you islands;(DZ)
hear this, you distant nations:
Before I was born(EA) the Lord called(EB) me;
from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name.(EC)
2 He made my mouth(ED) like a sharpened sword,(EE)
in the shadow of his hand(EF) he hid me;
he made me into a polished arrow(EG)
and concealed me in his quiver.
3 He said to me, “You are my servant,(EH)
Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.(EI)”
4 But I said, “I have labored in vain;(EJ)
I have spent my strength for nothing at all.
Yet what is due me is in the Lord’s hand,(EK)
and my reward(EL) is with my God.”(EM)
5 And now the Lord says—
he who formed me in the womb(EN) to be his servant
to bring Jacob back to him
and gather Israel(EO) to himself,
for I am[c] honored(EP) in the eyes of the Lord
and my God has been my strength(EQ)—
6 he says:
“It is too small a thing for you to be my servant(ER)
to restore the tribes of Jacob
and bring back those of Israel I have kept.(ES)
I will also make you a light(ET) for the Gentiles,(EU)
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”(EV)
7 This is what the Lord says—
the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel(EW)—
to him who was despised(EX) and abhorred by the nation,
to the servant of rulers:
“Kings(EY) will see you and stand up,
princes will see and bow down,(EZ)
because of the Lord, who is faithful,(FA)
the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen(FB) you.”
Restoration of Israel
8 This is what the Lord says:
“In the time of my favor(FC) I will answer you,
and in the day of salvation I will help you;(FD)
I will keep(FE) you and will make you
to be a covenant for the people,(FF)
to restore the land(FG)
and to reassign its desolate inheritances,(FH)
9 to say to the captives,(FI) ‘Come out,’
and to those in darkness,(FJ) ‘Be free!’
“They will feed beside the roads
and find pasture on every barren hill.(FK)
10 They will neither hunger nor thirst,(FL)
nor will the desert heat or the sun beat down on them.(FM)
He who has compassion(FN) on them will guide(FO) them
and lead them beside springs(FP) of water.
11 I will turn all my mountains into roads,
and my highways(FQ) will be raised up.(FR)
12 See, they will come from afar(FS)—
some from the north, some from the west,(FT)
some from the region of Aswan.[d]”
13 Shout for joy,(FU) you heavens;
rejoice, you earth;(FV)
burst into song, you mountains!(FW)
For the Lord comforts(FX) his people
and will have compassion(FY) on his afflicted ones.(FZ)
15 “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast
and have no compassion on the child(GC) she has borne?
Though she may forget,
I will not forget you!(GD)
16 See, I have engraved(GE) you on the palms of my hands;
your walls(GF) are ever before me.
17 Your children hasten back,
and those who laid you waste(GG) depart from you.
18 Lift up your eyes and look around;
all your children gather(GH) and come to you.
As surely as I live,(GI)” declares the Lord,
“you will wear(GJ) them all as ornaments;
you will put them on, like a bride.
19 “Though you were ruined and made desolate(GK)
and your land laid waste,(GL)
now you will be too small for your people,(GM)
and those who devoured(GN) you will be far away.
20 The children born during your bereavement
will yet say in your hearing,
‘This place is too small for us;
give us more space to live in.’(GO)
21 Then you will say in your heart,
‘Who bore me these?(GP)
I was bereaved(GQ) and barren;
I was exiled and rejected.(GR)
Who brought these(GS) up?
I was left(GT) all alone,(GU)
but these—where have they come from?’”
22 This is what the Sovereign Lord(GV) says:
“See, I will beckon to the nations,
I will lift up my banner(GW) to the peoples;
they will bring(GX) your sons in their arms
and carry your daughters on their hips.(GY)
23 Kings(GZ) will be your foster fathers,
and their queens your nursing mothers.(HA)
They will bow down(HB) before you with their faces to the ground;
they will lick the dust(HC) at your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord;(HD)
those who hope(HE) in me will not be disappointed.(HF)”
25 But this is what the Lord says:
“Yes, captives(HH) will be taken from warriors,(HI)
and plunder retrieved from the fierce;(HJ)
I will contend with those who contend with you,(HK)
and your children I will save.(HL)
26 I will make your oppressors(HM) eat(HN) their own flesh;
they will be drunk on their own blood,(HO) as with wine.
Then all mankind will know(HP)
that I, the Lord, am your Savior,(HQ)
your Redeemer,(HR) the Mighty One of Jacob.(HS)”
Israel’s Sin and the Servant’s Obedience
50 This is what the Lord says:
“Where is your mother’s certificate of divorce(HT)
with which I sent her away?
Or to which of my creditors
did I sell(HU) you?
Because of your sins(HV) you were sold;(HW)
because of your transgressions your mother was sent away.
2 When I came, why was there no one?
When I called, why was there no one to answer?(HX)
Was my arm too short(HY) to deliver you?
Do I lack the strength(HZ) to rescue you?
By a mere rebuke(IA) I dry up the sea,(IB)
I turn rivers into a desert;(IC)
their fish rot for lack of water
and die of thirst.
3 I clothe the heavens with darkness(ID)
and make sackcloth(IE) its covering.”
4 The Sovereign Lord(IF) has given me a well-instructed tongue,(IG)
to know the word that sustains the weary.(IH)
He wakens me morning by morning,(II)
wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.(IJ)
5 The Sovereign Lord(IK) has opened my ears;(IL)
I have not been rebellious,(IM)
I have not turned away.
6 I offered my back to those who beat(IN) me,
my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard;(IO)
I did not hide my face
from mocking and spitting.(IP)
7 Because the Sovereign Lord(IQ) helps(IR) me,
I will not be disgraced.
Therefore have I set my face like flint,(IS)
and I know I will not be put to shame.(IT)
8 He who vindicates(IU) me is near.(IV)
Who then will bring charges against me?(IW)
Let us face each other!(IX)
Who is my accuser?
Let him confront me!
9 It is the Sovereign Lord(IY) who helps(IZ) me.
Who will condemn(JA) me?
They will all wear out like a garment;
the moths(JB) will eat them up.
10 Who among you fears(JC) the Lord
and obeys(JD) the word of his servant?(JE)
Let the one who walks in the dark,
who has no light,(JF)
trust(JG) 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,(JH)
go, walk in the light of your fires(JI)
and of the torches you have set ablaze.
This is what you shall receive from my hand:(JJ)
You will lie down in torment.(JK)
Everlasting Salvation for Zion
51 “Listen(JL) to me, you who pursue righteousness(JM)
and who seek(JN) the Lord:
Look to the rock(JO) from which you were cut
and to the quarry from which you were hewn;
2 look to Abraham,(JP) your father,
and to Sarah, who gave you birth.
When I called him he was only one man,
and I blessed him and made him many.(JQ)
3 The Lord will surely comfort(JR) Zion(JS)
and will look with compassion on all her ruins;(JT)
he will make her deserts like Eden,(JU)
her wastelands(JV) like the garden of the Lord.
Joy and gladness(JW) will be found in her,
thanksgiving(JX) and the sound of singing.
4 “Listen to me, my people;(JY)
hear me,(JZ) my nation:
Instruction(KA) will go out from me;
my justice(KB) will become a light to the nations.(KC)
5 My righteousness draws near speedily,
my salvation(KD) is on the way,(KE)
and my arm(KF) will bring justice to the nations.
The islands(KG) will look to me
and wait in hope(KH) for my arm.
6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
look at the earth beneath;
the heavens will vanish like smoke,(KI)
the earth will wear out like a garment(KJ)
and its inhabitants die like flies.
But my salvation(KK) will last forever,(KL)
my righteousness will never fail.(KM)
7 “Hear me, you who know what is right,(KN)
you people who have taken my instruction to heart:(KO)
Do not fear the reproach of mere mortals
or be terrified by their insults.(KP)
8 For the moth will eat them up like a garment;(KQ)
the worm(KR) will devour them like wool.
But my righteousness will last forever,(KS)
my salvation through all generations.”
9 Awake, awake,(KT) arm(KU) of the Lord,
clothe yourself with strength!(KV)
Awake, as in days gone by,
as in generations of old.(KW)
Was it not you who cut Rahab(KX) to pieces,
who pierced that monster(KY) through?
10 Was it not you who dried up the sea,(KZ)
the waters of the great deep,(LA)
who made a road in the depths of the sea(LB)
so that the redeemed(LC) might cross over?
11 Those the Lord has rescued(LD) will return.
They will enter Zion with singing;(LE)
everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy(LF) will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee away.(LG)
12 “I, even I, am he who comforts(LH) you.
Who are you that you fear(LI) mere mortals,(LJ)
human beings who are but grass,(LK)
13 that you forget(LL) the Lord your Maker,(LM)
who stretches out the heavens(LN)
and who lays the foundations of the earth,
that you live in constant terror(LO) every day
because of the wrath of the oppressor,
who is bent on destruction?
For where is the wrath of the oppressor?(LP)
14 The cowering prisoners will soon be set free;(LQ)
they will not die in their dungeon,
nor will they lack bread.(LR)
15 For I am the Lord your God,
who stirs up the sea(LS) so that its waves roar(LT)—
the Lord Almighty(LU) is his name.
16 I have put my words in your mouth(LV)
and covered you with the shadow of my hand(LW)—
I who set the heavens in place,
who laid the foundations of the earth,(LX)
and who say to Zion, ‘You are my people.(LY)’”
The Cup of the Lord’s Wrath
17 Awake, awake!(LZ)
Rise up, Jerusalem,
you who have drunk from the hand of the Lord
the cup(MA) of his wrath,(MB)
you who have drained to its dregs(MC)
the goblet that makes people stagger.(MD)
18 Among all the children(ME) she bore
there was none to guide her;(MF)
among all the children she reared
there was none to take her by the hand.(MG)
19 These double calamities(MH) have come upon you—
who can comfort you?(MI)—
ruin and destruction,(MJ) famine(MK) and sword(ML)—
who can[f] console you?
20 Your children have fainted;
they lie at every street corner,(MM)
like antelope caught in a net.(MN)
They are filled with the wrath(MO) of the Lord,
with the rebuke(MP) of your God.
21 Therefore hear this, you afflicted(MQ) one,
made drunk,(MR) but not with wine.
22 This is what your Sovereign Lord says,
your God, who defends(MS) his people:
“See, I have taken out of your hand
the cup(MT) that made you stagger;
from that cup, the goblet of my wrath,
you will never drink again.
23 I will put it into the hands of your tormentors,(MU)
who said to you,
‘Fall prostrate(MV) that we may walk(MW) on you.’
And you made your back like the ground,
like a street to be walked on.”(MX)
Footnotes
- Isaiah 47:1 Or Chaldeans; also in verse 5
- Isaiah 48:14 Or Chaldeans; also in verse 20
- Isaiah 49:5 Or him, / but Israel would not be gathered; / yet I will be
- Isaiah 49:12 Dead Sea Scrolls; Masoretic Text Sinim
- Isaiah 49:24 Dead Sea Scrolls, Vulgate and Syriac (see also Septuagint and verse 25); Masoretic Text righteous
- Isaiah 51:19 Dead Sea Scrolls, Septuagint, Vulgate and Syriac; Masoretic Text / how can I
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.