1
Thus says the Lord :
“Where isgDeut. 24:1 your mother's certificate of divorce,
with whichhJer. 3:8; [Hos. 2:2] I sent her away?
Ori[2 Kgs. 4:1; Matt. 18:25] which of my creditors is it
to whom I have sold you?
jch. 59:2 Behold, for your iniquities you were sold,
and for your transgressions your mother was sent away.
2 k[ch. 42:18-23] Why, when I came, was there no man;
why, when I called, was there no one to answer?
lch. 59:1; Num. 11:23 Is my hand shortened, that it cannot redeem?
Or have I no power to deliver?
mPs. 104:7; 106:9; Nah. 1:4; [ch. 19:5, 6] Behold, by my rebuken[Ex. 14:21] I dry up the sea,
oJosh. 3:16 I make the rivers a desert;
p[Ex. 7:18, 21] their fish stink for lack of water
and die of thirst.
3 qJer. 14:22; Rev. 6:12 I clothe the heavens with blackness
and make sackcloth their covering. ”
4 The Lord God has givenr[Ex. 4:11] me
the tongue of those who are taught,
thats[ch. 40:1, 2] I may know how to sustain with a word
t[Matt. 11:28] him who is weary.
Morning by morning he awakens;
he awakens my ear
to hear as those who are taught.
5 uPs. 40:6 The Lord God has opened my ear,
v[John 14:31; Phil. 2:8; Heb. 5:8; 10:7] and I was not rebellious;
I turned not backward.
6 w[ch. 53:5; Matt. 26:67; 27:26; Mark 15:19; Luke 22:63] 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;
xEzek. 3:8, 9 therefore I have set my face like a flint,
and I know that I shall not be put to shame.
8 yRom. 8:33, 34 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 zch. 41:10 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 obeysaver. 4; ch. 49:2, 3 the voice of his servant?
bch. 42:16; [Mic. 7:8] 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!
c[John 9:39] This you have from my hand:
you shall lie down in torment.