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Isaiah 50
1The LORD says, “Where is the bill of your mother’s divorce, with which I have put her away? Or to which of my creditors have I sold you? Behold, you were sold for your iniquities, and your mother was put away for your transgressions.
2Why, when I came, was there no one? When I called, why was there no one to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it can’t ? Or have I no power to deliver? Behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea. I make the rivers a . Their fish stink because there is no water, and die of thirst.
3I clothe the heavens with blackness. I make sackcloth their covering.”
4The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with words him who is weary. He awakens morning by morning, he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught.
5The Lord GOD has opened my ear. I was not rebellious. I have not turned back.
6I gave my back to those who beat me, and my cheeks to those who plucked off the hair. I didn’t hide my face from shame and spitting.
7For the Lord GOD will help me. Therefore I have not been confounded. Therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I won’t be disappointed.
8He who me is near. Who will bring charges against me? Let us stand up together. Who is my adversary? Let him come near to me.
9Behold, the Lord GOD will help me! Who is he who will condemn me? Behold, they will all grow old like a garment. The moths will eat them up.
10Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the voice of his servant? He who walks in darkness and has no light, let him ’s name, and rely on his God.
11Behold, all you who kindle a fire, who adorn yourselves with torches around yourselves, walk in the flame of your fire, and among the torches that you have kindled. You will have this from my hand: you will lie down in sorrow.
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Questions this passage answers
Who is God?
God is the one living Creator who made everything and depends on nothing, and Scripture answers this question mainly by telling us his character rather than by defining his substance. When God described himself to Moses he said he is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abundant in loving kindness and truth, and yet will by no means clear the guilty. The New Testament adds that this God is finally known in Jesus Christ, who has made him known.
Can the Bible be trusted?
Scripture claims to be true and invites examination rather than avoiding it. It says God's word is truth and that it stands when everything else fades, and the New Testament writers appeal to eyewitnesses, named places and public events rather than to private experience. Trust in Scripture is finally trust in the God who speaks in it, and the clearest reason a Christian gives for that trust is that Jesus treated these writings as God's own word.
What is sin?
Scripture defines sin as lawlessness, as falling short of God's glory, and as failing to do the good we know we should do. It is not only a list of bad actions but a condition of the heart that produces them, and it is first against God rather than only against people. Scripture also says all have sinned, that its wage is death, and that God is faithful to forgive those who confess.
What does the Bible say about fear?
Scripture never tells a frightened person that fear is imaginary. It says do not be afraid hundreds of times, and almost always attaches a reason rather than a technique: I am with you, I have redeemed you, you are of more value than sparrows. It also distinguishes the fear that must go from the fear of the Lord, which is commanded and which shrinks every smaller fear.