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[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]
I gave my back to those who beat me,
    my cheeks to those who tore out my beard;[c]
My face I did not hide
    from insults and spitting.(A)

The Lord God is my help,
    therefore I am not disgraced;
Therefore I have set my face like flint,
    knowing that I shall not be put to shame.(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.
  3. 50:6 He willingly submits to insults and beatings. Tore out my beard: a grave and painful insult.