Isaiah 50-52

English Standard Version

⁴ The Lord God has given ^(L)me
    the tongue of those who are taught,
that ^(M)I may know how to sustain with a word
    ^(N)him who is weary.
Morning by morning he awakens;
    he awakens my ear
    to hear as those who are taught.
^5 (O)The Lord God has opened my ear,
    ^(P)and I was not rebellious;
    I turned not backward.
^6 (Q)I gave my back to those who strike,
    and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard;
I hid not my face
    from disgrace and spitting.

⁷ But the Lord God helps me;
    therefore I have not been disgraced;
^(R)therefore I have set my face like a flint,
    and I know that I shall not be put to shame.
^{8     (S)}He who vindicates me is near.
Who will contend with me?
    Let us stand up together.
Who is my adversary?
    Let him come near to me.
^9 (T)Behold, the Lord God helps me;
    who will declare me guilty?
Behold, all of them will wear out like a garment;
    the moth will eat them up.

¹⁰ Who among you fears the Lord
    and obeys ^(U)the voice of his servant?
^(V)Let him who walks in darkness
    and has no light
trust in the name of the Lord
    and rely on his God.
¹¹ Behold, all you who kindle a fire,
    who equip yourselves with burning torches!
Walk by the light of your fire,
    and by the torches that you have kindled!
^(W)This you have from my hand:
    you shall lie down in torment.

^4 (AD)“Give attention to me, my people,
    and give ear to me, my nation;
^(AE)for a law^[a] will go out from me,
    and I will set my justice for a light to the peoples.
^5 (AF)My righteousness draws near,
    my salvation has gone out,
    and my arms will judge the peoples;
^(AG)the coastlands hope for me,
    and for my arm they wait.
^6 (AH)Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
    and look at the earth beneath;
^(AI)for the heavens vanish like smoke,
    the earth will wear out like a garment,
    and they who dwell in it will die in like manner;^[b]
(AJ)but my salvation will be forever,
    and my righteousness will never be dismayed.

^7 (AK)“Listen to me, you who know righteousness,
    the people ^(AL)in whose heart is my law;
^(AM)fear not the reproach of man,
    nor be dismayed at their revilings.
^8 (AN)For the moth will eat them up like a garment,
    and the worm will eat them like wool,
^(AO)but my righteousness will be forever,
    and my salvation to all generations.”

^9 (AP)Awake, awake, ^(AQ)put on strength,
    O ^(AR)arm of the Lord;
awake, ^(AS)as in days of old,
    the generations of long ago.
Was it not you who cut ^(AT)Rahab in pieces,
    who pierced ^(AU)the dragon?
^10 (AV)Was it not you who dried up the sea,
    the waters of the great deep,
who made the depths of the sea a way
    for the redeemed to pass over?
^11 (AW)And the ransomed of the Lord shall return
    and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
    they shall obtain gladness and joy,
    and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

¹² “I, I am he ^(AX)who comforts you;
    who are you that you are afraid of ^(AY)man who dies,
    of the son of man who is made ^(AZ)like grass,
¹³ and have forgotten the Lord, your Maker,
    ^(BA)who stretched out the heavens
    and ^(BB)laid the foundations of the earth,
and you fear continually all the day
    because of the wrath of ^(BC)the oppressor,
when he sets himself to destroy?
    And where is the wrath of ^(BD)the oppressor?
^14 (BE)He who is bowed down shall speedily be released;
    he shall not die and go down ^(BF)to the pit,
    neither shall his bread be lacking.
¹⁵ I am the Lord your God,
    ^(BG)who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—
    the Lord of hosts is his name.
^16 (BH)And I have put my words in your mouth
    ^(BI)and covered you in the shadow of my hand,
^(BJ)establishing^[c] the heavens
    and ^(BK)laying the foundations of the earth,
    and saying to Zion, ‘You are my people.’”

^17 (BL)Wake yourself, wake yourself,
    stand up, O Jerusalem,
^(BM)you who have drunk from the hand of the Lord
    the cup of his wrath,
who have drunk to the dregs
    the bowl, ^(BN)the cup of staggering.
^18 (BO)There is none to guide her
    among all the sons she has borne;
there is none to take her by the hand
    among all the sons she has brought up.
^19 (BP)These two things have happened to you—
    who will console you?—
devastation and destruction, famine and sword;
    who will comfort you?^[d]
20 (BQ)Your sons have fainted;
    they lie at the head of every street
    like an ^(BR)antelope ^(BS)in a net;
they are full of the wrath of the Lord,
    the rebuke of your God.

^21 (BT)Therefore hear this, you who are afflicted,
    who are drunk, but not with wine:
²² Thus says your Lord, the Lord,
    your God ^(BU)who pleads the cause of his people:
“Behold, I have taken from your hand ^(BV)the cup of staggering;
the bowl of my wrath you shall drink no more;
^23 (BW)and I will put it into the hand of your tormentors,
    ^(BX)who have said to you,
    ‘Bow down, that we may pass over’;
and ^(BY)you have made your back like the ground
    and like the street for them to pass over.”

^7 (CK)How beautiful upon the mountains
    are the feet of him who brings good news,
who publishes peace, ^(CL)who brings good news of happiness,
    who publishes salvation,
    who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”
⁸ The voice of ^(CM)your watchmen—they lift up their voice;
    together they sing for joy;
^(CN)for eye to eye they see
    the return of the Lord to Zion.
^9 (CO)Break forth together into singing,
    ^(CP)you waste places of Jerusalem,
for ^(CQ)the Lord has comforted his people;
    he has redeemed Jerusalem.
^10 (CR)The Lord has bared his holy arm
    before the eyes of all the nations,
^(CS)and all the ends of the earth shall see
    the salvation of our God.

^11 (CT)Depart, depart, go out from there;
    touch no unclean thing;
go out from the midst of her; purify yourselves,
    ^(CU)you who bear the vessels of the Lord.
¹² For you shall not ^(CV)go out in haste,
    and you shall not go in flight,
^(CW)for the Lord will go before you,
    ^(CX)and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.