Yahweh's power
50
1 This is also what Yahweh says:“You Israeli children, do not think that I forced your parents to be exiled to Babylonia
like some men send away their wives
after giving them a paper
on which they state that they were divorcing them!
I certainly did not get rid of you like a man who sells his children to get money to pay what he owes.
No, the reason that I forced you to be exiled
was to punish you because of the sins that you have committed.
2 When I came to you to rescue you,
why did no one answer when I called out to you?
Was there no one there?
Or, did you think that I do not have the power to rescue you?
Think about this:
I can speak to a sea and cause it to become dry!
I can cause rivers to become deserts,
with the result that the fish in the rivers die from thirst and they rot.
3 I cause the sky to become dark,
as though it was wearing black clothes because it was mourning because someone had died.”
4 Yahweh our God has given me his wise message
in order that I may encourage those who are weary.
Each morning he awakens me,
in order that I may listen to what he teaches me.
5 Yahweh our God has spoken to me,
and I have not rejected what he told me;
I have accepted it.
6 I allowed people to beat me on my back
and to pull out the whiskers in my beard because they hated me.
I did not turn away from them
when they made fun of me and spat on me.
7 But, because the Lord our God helps me,
I will never be humiliated.
Therefore, I am strongly determined to endure difficulties,
and I know that nothing will cause me to be ashamed.
8 God, the one who vindicates me, is near to me;
so if anyone stands in front of me and accuses me in a court,
he will not be able to show that I have done anything that is wrong.
9 The Lord our God defends me in court,
so no one will be able to declare that I am guilty.
All those who accuse me will disappear
like old clothes that have been eaten by larvae of moths.
10 If you revere Yahweh
and do what his servant tells you to do,
even if you are walking in darkness, and it seems that there is no light,
trust in Yahweh your God to help you.
11 But you people who oppose me,
who would like to throw me into a blazing fire,
walk in your own fires
and burn yourselves with your own torches!
This is what Yahweh will cause to happen to you:
you will be enduring great torment when you die!