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I clothe the heavens in black,
    and make sackcloth their covering.

[a]The Lord God has given me
    a well-trained tongue,
That I might know how to answer the weary
    a word that will waken them.
Morning after morning
    he wakens my ear to hear as disciples do;
The Lord God opened my ear;
    I did not refuse,
    did not turn away.[b]

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Footnotes

  1. 50:4–11 The third of the four “servant of the Lord” oracles (cf. note on 42:1–4); in vv. 4–9 the servant speaks; in vv. 10–11 God addresses the people directly.
  2. 50:5 The servant, like a well-trained disciple, does not refuse the divine vocation.

I clothe the heavens with darkness(A)
    and make sackcloth(B) its covering.”

The Sovereign Lord(C) has given me a well-instructed tongue,(D)
    to know the word that sustains the weary.(E)
He wakens me morning by morning,(F)
    wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.(G)
The Sovereign Lord(H) has opened my ears;(I)
    I have not been rebellious,(J)
    I have not turned away.

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