Isaiah 50

Israel's Sin and the Servant's Obedience

1 Thus says the LORD:
"Where is a the certificate of your mother's divorce,
Whom I have put away?
Or which of My b creditors is it to whom I have sold you?
For your iniquities c you have sold yourselves,
And for your transgressions your mother has been put away.
2 Why, when I came, was there no man?
Why, when I called, was there none to answer?
Is My hand shortened at all that it cannot redeem?
Or have I no power to deliver?
Indeed with My d rebuke I dry up the sea,
I make the rivers a wilderness;
Their fish stink because there is no water,
And die of thirst.
3 e I clothe the heavens with blackness,
f And I make sackcloth their covering."

4 "The g Lord GOD has given Me
The tongue of the learned,
That I should know how to speak
A word in season to him who is h weary.
He awakens Me morning by morning,
He awakens My ear
To hear as the learned.
5 The Lord GOD i has opened My ear;
And I was not j rebellious,
Nor did I turn away.
6 k I gave My back to those who struck Me,
And l My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard;
I did not hide My face from shame and m spitting.

7 "For the Lord GOD will help Me;
Therefore I will not be disgraced;
Therefore n I have set My face like a flint,
And I know that I will not be ashamed.
8 o He is near who justifies Me;
Who will contend with Me?
Let us stand together.
Who is 1 My adversary?
Let him come near Me.
9 Surely the Lord GOD will help Me;
Who is he who will condemn Me?
p Indeed they will all grow old like a garment;
q The moth will eat them up.

10 "Who among you fears the LORD?
Who obeys the voice of His Servant?
Who r walks in darkness
And has no light?
s Let him trust in the name of the LORD
And rely upon his God.
11 Look, all you who kindle a fire,
Who encircle yourselves with sparks:
Walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks you have kindled -
t This you shall have from My hand:
You shall lie down u in torment.

  1. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 24:1
    When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some uncleanness in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house.
    Jeremiah 3:8
    Then I saw that for all the causes for which backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a certificate of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but went and played the harlot also.
  2. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 32:30
    How could one chase a thousand, And two put ten thousand to flight, Unless their Rock had sold them, And the LORD had surrendered them?
    2 Kings 4:1
    A certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, "Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the LORD. And the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves.
    Nehemiah 5:5
    "Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children; and indeed we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters have been brought into slavery. It is not in our power to redeem them, for other men have our lands and vineyards."
  3. Cross References
    Isaiah 52:3
    For thus says the LORD: "You have sold yourselves for nothing, And you shall be redeemed without money.
  4. Cross References
    Psalms 106:9
    He rebuked the Red Sea also, and it dried up; So He led them through the depths, As through the wilderness.
    Nahum 1:4
    He rebukes the sea and makes it dry, And dries up all the rivers. Bashan and Carmel wither, And the flower of Lebanon wilts.
  5. Cross References
    Exodus 10:21
    Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, darkness which may even be felt.
  6. Cross References
    Isaiah 13:10
    For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not give their light; The sun will be darkened in its going forth, And the moon will not cause its light to shine.
    Revelation 6:12
    I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood.
  7. Cross References
    Exodus 4:11
    So the LORD said to him, "Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the LORD?
  8. Cross References
    Matthew 11:28
    Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
  9. Cross References
    Psalms 40:6
    Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; My ears You have opened. Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require.
    Isaiah 35:5
    Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
  10. Cross References
    Matthew 26:39
    He went a little farther and fell on His face, ...
    Mark 14:36
    And He said, "Abba, Father, all things are poss...
    Luke 22:42
    Saying, "Father, if it is Your will, take this ...
    John 8:29
    "And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has ...
    John 14:31
    But that the world may know that I love the Fat...
    John 15:10
    If you keep My commandments, you will abide in ...
    Acts 26:19
    Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient ...
    Philippians 2:8
    And being found in appearance as a man, He humb...
    Hebrews 5:8
    Though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience b...
    Hebrews 10:7
    Then I said, 'Behold, I have come - In the volu...
  11. Cross References
    Matthew 27:26
    Then he released Barabbas to them; and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified.
    John 18:22
    And when He had said these things, one of the officers who stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, "Do You answer the high priest like that?
  12. Cross References
    Matthew 26:67
    Then they spat in His face and beat Him; and others struck Him with the palms of their hands.
    Matthew 27:30
    Then they spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him on the head.
    Mark 14:65
    Then some began to spit on Him, and to blindfold Him, and to beat Him, and to say to Him, "Prophesy!" And the officers struck Him with the palms of their hands.
    Mark 15:19
    Then they struck Him on the head with a reed and spat on Him; and bowing the knee, they worshiped Him.
  13. Cross References
    Lamentations 3:30
    Let him give his cheek to the one who strikes him, And be full of reproach.
  14. Cross References
    Ezekiel 3:8
    Behold, I have made your face strong against their faces, and your forehead strong against their foreheads.
    Ezekiel 3:9
    "Like adamant stone, harder than flint, I have made your forehead; do not be afraid of them, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house."
    Luke 9:51
    Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem.
  15. Cross References
    Acts 2:24
    Whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it.
    Romans 8:32 - 34
    He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?
  16. Cross References
    Job 13:28
    Man decays like a rotten thing, Like a garment that is moth-eaten.
    Psalms 102:26
    They will perish, but You will endure; Yes, they will all grow old like a garment; Like a cloak You will change them, And they will be changed.
    Hebrews 1:11
    They will perish, but You remain; And they will all grow old like a garment.
  17. Cross References
    Isaiah 51:6
    Lift up your eyes to the heavens, And look on the earth beneath. For the heavens will vanish away like smoke, The earth will grow old like a garment, And those who dwell in it will die in like manner; But My salvation will be forever, And My righteousness will not be abolished.
    Isaiah 51:8
    For the moth will eat them up like a garment, And the worm will eat them like wool; But My righteousness will be forever, And My salvation from generation to generation.
  18. Cross References
    Psalms 23:4
    Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
  19. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 20:20
    So they rose early in the morning and went out into the Wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, "Hear me, O Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem: Believe in the LORD your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.
  20. Cross References
    John 9:39
    And Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.
  21. Cross References
    Psalms 16:4
    Their sorrows shall be multiplied who hasten after another god; Their drink offerings of blood I will not offer, Nor take up their names on my lips.
New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
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