Isaiah 49
49
The Servant of the Lord
1People who live on the islands, listen to me.
Pay attention, you nations far away.
Before I was born the Lord chose me to serve him.
Before I was born the Lord spoke my name.
2He made my words like a sharp sword.
He hid me in the palm of his hand.
He made me into a sharpened arrow.
He took good care of me and kept me safe.
3He said to me, “You are my true servant Israel.
I will show my glory through you.”
4But I said, “In spite of my hard work,
I feel as if I haven’t accomplished anything.
I’ve used up all my strength.
It seems as if everything I’ve done is worthless.
But the Lord will give me what I should receive.
My God will reward me.”
5The Lord formed me in my mother’s body to be his servant.
He wanted me to bring the family of Jacob back to him.
He wanted me to gather the people of Israel to himself.
The Lord will honor me.
My God will give me strength.
6Here is what the Lord says to me.
“It is not enough for you as my servant
to bring the tribes of Jacob back to their land.
It is not enough for you to bring back
the people of Israel I have kept alive.
I will also make you a light for the Gentiles.
Then you will make it possible for the whole world to be saved.”
7The Lord sets his people free.
He is the Holy One of Israel.
He speaks to his servant, who is looked down on and hated by the nations.
He speaks to the servant of rulers. He says to him,
“Kings will see you and stand up to honor you.
Princes will see you and bow down to show you their respect.
I am the Lord. I am faithful.
I am the Holy One of Israel.
I have chosen you.”
Israel Is Brought Back to Their Land
8The Lord says to his servant,
“When it is time to have mercy on you, I will answer your prayers.
When it is time to save you, I will help you.
I will keep you safe.
You will put into effect my covenant with the people of Israel.
Then their land will be made like new again.
Each tribe will be sent back to its territory that was left empty.
9I want you to say to the prisoners, ‘Come out.’
Tell those who are in their dark cells, ‘You are free!’
“On their way home they will eat beside the roads.
They will find plenty to eat on every bare hill.
10They will not get hungry or thirsty.
The heat from the desert sun will not beat down on them.
The God who has tender love for them will guide them.
Like a shepherd, he will lead them beside springs of water.
11I will make roads across the mountains.
I will build wide roads for my people.
12They will come from far away.
Some of them will come from the north.
Others will come from the west.
Still others will come from Aswan in the south.”
13Shout for joy, you heavens!
Be glad, you earth!
Burst into song, you mountains!
The Lord will comfort his people.
He will show his tender love to those who are suffering.
14But the city of Zion said, “The Lord has deserted me.
The Lord has forgotten me.”
15The Lord answers, “Can a mother forget the baby
who is nursing at her breast?
Can she stop having tender love
for the child who was born to her?
She might forget her child.
But I will not forget you.
16I have written your name on the palms of my hands.
Your walls are never out of my sight.
17Your people will hurry back.
Those who destroyed you so completely will leave you.
18Look up. Look all around you.
All your people are getting together
to come back to you.
You can be sure that I live,”
announces the Lord.
“And you can be just as sure that your people
will be like decorations you will wear.
Like a bride, you will wear them proudly.
19“Zion, you were destroyed. Your land was left empty.
It was turned into a dry and empty desert.
But now you will be too small to hold all your people.
And those who destroyed you will be far away.
20The children born during your time of sorrow
will speak to you. They will say,
‘This city is too small for us.
Give us more space to live in.’
21Then you will say to yourself,
‘Whose children are these?
I lost my children.
And I couldn’t have any more.
My children were taken far away from me.
And no one wanted them.
Who brought these children up?
I was left all alone.
So where have these children come from?’ ”
22The Lord and King continues,
“I will call out to the nations.
I will give a signal to them.
They will bring back your sons in their arms.
They will carry your daughters on their hips.
23Their kings will become like fathers to you.
Their queens will be like mothers who nurse you.
They will bow down to you with their faces toward the ground.
They will kiss the dust at your feet to show you their respect.
Then you will know that I am the Lord.
Those who put their hope in me will not be ashamed.”
24Can goods that were stolen by soldiers be taken away from them?
Can prisoners be set free from the powerful Babylonians?
25“Yes, they can,” the Lord answers.
“Prisoners will be taken away from soldiers.
Stolen goods will be taken back from the powerful Babylonians.
Zion, I will fight against those who fight against you.
And I will save your people.
26I will make those who treat you badly eat the flesh of others.
They will drink blood and get drunk on it as if it were wine.
Then everyone on earth will know
that I am the one who saves you.
I am the Lord. I set you free.
I am the Mighty One of Jacob.”
Currently Selected:
Isaiah 49: NIrV
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998, 2014 by Biblica, Inc.®
Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Isaiah 49
49
The Servant Brings Salvation
1Coasts and islands,#49:1 Or Islands listen to me;
distant peoples, pay attention.
The Lord called#Is 44:2,24; 46:3; Jr 1:5 me before I was born.
He named me while I was in my mother’s womb.#Lk 1:15
2He made my words like a sharp sword;#Is 11:4; Heb 4:12; Rv 1:16; 2:12,16
he hid me in the shadow of his hand.#Is 51:16
He made me like a sharpened arrow;
he hid me in his quiver.
3He said to me, “You are my servant,#Is 41:8–9; 42:1; 49:5–7; 50:10; 52:13; 53:11; Ezk 34:23–24; Zch 3:8; Ac 3:13
Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”
4But I myself said: I have labored in vain,
I have spent my strength for nothing and futility;
yet my vindication is with the Lord,
and my reward is with my God.
5And now, says the Lord,
who formed me from the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him
so that Israel might be gathered to him;
for I am honored in the sight of the Lord,
and my God is my strength —
6he says,
“It is not enough for you to be my servant
raising up the tribes of Jacob
and restoring the protected ones of Israel.
I will also make you a light for the nations,#Is 42:6; 51:4; Lk 2:32; Ac 13:47; 26:23
to be my salvation to the ends of the earth.”#Ac 13:47
7This is what the Lord,
the Redeemer#Is 41:14; 43:14 of Israel, his Holy One, says
to one who is despised,
to one abhorred by people,#49:7 Or by the nation#Ps 22:6–8; 69:7–9; Is 53:3
to a servant of rulers:
“Kings will see, princes will stand up,
and they#49:7 Lit princes and they will all bow down
because of the Lord, who is faithful,
the Holy One of Israel#Is 1:4 — and he has chosen you.”#Is 41:8–9; 42:1; 43:10,20; 44:1–2; 45:4; 65:9,15,22
8This is what the Lord says:
I will answer you in a time of favor,
and I will help you in the day of salvation.#Ps 69:13; 2Co 6:2
I will keep you, and I will appoint you
to be a covenant for the people,#Is 42:6
to restore the land,
to make them possess the desolate inheritances,
9saying to the prisoners, “Come out,”#Is 42:7; 61:1; Lk 4:18
and to those who are in darkness, “Show yourselves.”
They will feed along the pathways,
and their pastures will be on all the barren heights.#Is 41:18
10They will not hunger or thirst,
the scorching heat or sun will not strike them;
for their compassionate one will guide them,
and lead them to springs.#Ps 23:2; Is 40:11; Jn 4:10; Rv 7:16–17
11I will make all my mountains into a road,
and my highways will be raised up.#Is 40:4
12See, these will come from far away,
from the north and from the west,#49:12 Lit sea#Is 43:5–6
and from the land of Sinim.#49:12 DSS read of the Syenites#49:12 Perhaps modern Aswan in southern Egypt
13Shout for joy, you heavens!#Is 44:23
Earth, rejoice!
Mountains break into joyful shouts!
For the Lord has comforted his people,#Is 40:1
and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.#Is 54:7–10; Mt 11:29
Zion Remembered
14Zion says, “The Lord has abandoned me;
the Lord has forgotten me!”
15“Can a woman forget her nursing child,
or lack compassion for the child of her womb?
Even if these forget,
yet I will not forget you.
16Look, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands;#Sg 8:6; Hg 2:23
your walls are continually before me.
17Your builders#49:17 DSS, Aq, Theod, Vg; MT, Syr, Sym read sons hurry;
those who destroy and devastate you will leave you.
18Look up, and look around.
They all gather together; they come to you.#Is 60:4
As I live” —
this is the Lord’s declaration —
“you will wear all your children#49:18 Lit all of them as jewelry,
and put them on as a bride does.
19For your waste and desolate places
and your land marked by ruins
will now be indeed too small for the inhabitants,#Is 54:1–2; Zch 10:10
and those who swallowed you up will be far away.
20Yet as you listen, the children
that you have been deprived of will say,
‘This place is too small for me;
make room for me so that I may settle.’#Is 54:1–3
21Then you will say within yourself,
‘Who fathered these for me?
I was deprived of my children and unable to conceive,
exiled and wandering —
but who brought them up?
See, I was left by myself —
but these, where did they come from?’” #49:21 Lit where are they
22This is what the Lord God says:
Look, I will lift up my hand to the nations,
and raise my banner to the peoples.#Is 11:10–12; 18:3; 62:10
They will bring your sons in their arms,
and your daughters will be carried on their shoulders.#Is 14:2; 43:6; 60:4
23Kings will be your guardians
and their queens#49:23 Lit princesses your nursing mothers.#Is 60:3,10–11
They will bow down to you
with their faces to the ground
and lick the dust at your feet.#Is 14:1–2
Then you will know that I am the Lord;#Is 41:20; 43:10; 60:16
those who put their hope in me
will not be put to shame.#Ps 25:3; Is 45:17; Jl 2:27
24Can the prey be taken from a mighty man,
or the captives of a tyrant#49:24 DSS, Syr, Vg; MT reads a righteous man be delivered?
25For this is what the Lord says:
“Even the captives of a mighty man will be taken,
and the prey of a tyrant will be delivered;
I will contend with the one who contends with you,
and I will save your children.
26I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh,#Is 9:20
and they will be drunk with their own blood
as with sweet wine.
Then all humanity will know
that I, the Lord, am your Savior,#Is 43:3
and your Redeemer,#Is 41:14 the Mighty One of Jacob.”#Gn 49:24; Ps 132:2,5; Is 60:16
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers