Isaiah 49
49
The Servant, the Light to the Gentiles
1“Listen, #Is. 41:1O coastlands, to Me,
And take heed, you peoples from afar!
#Jer. 1:5; Matt. 1:20; Luke 1:35; John 1:14; 10:36The Lord has called Me from the womb;
From the matrix of My mother He has made mention of My name.
2And He has made #Is. 11:4; Hos. 6:5; (Heb. 4:12); Rev. 1:16; 2:12My mouth like a sharp sword;
#Is. 51:16In the shadow of His hand He has hidden Me,
And made Me #Ps. 45:5a polished shaft;
In His quiver He has hidden Me.”
3“And He said to me,
#(Is. 41:8; 42:1; Zech. 3:8)‘You are My servant, O Israel,
#Is. 44:23; Matt. 12:18; (John 13:31, 32; 14:13; 15:8; 17:4; Eph. 1:6)In whom I will be glorified.’
4#(Ezek. 3:19)Then I said, ‘I have labored in vain,
I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain;
Yet surely my just reward is with the Lord,
And my work with my God.’ ”
5“And now the Lord says,
Who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant,
To bring Jacob back to Him,
So that Israel #Matt. 23:37; (Rom. 11:25–29)is gathered to Him
(For I shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord,
And My God shall be My strength),
6Indeed He says,
‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant
To raise up the tribes of Jacob,
And to restore the preserved ones of Israel;
I will also give You as a #Is. 42:6; 51:4; (Luke 2:32); Acts 13:47; (Gal. 3:14)light to the Gentiles,
That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ”
7Thus says the Lord,
The Redeemer of Israel, their Holy One,
#(Ps. 22:6; Is. 53:3; Matt. 26:67; 27:41); Mark 15:29; Luke 23:35To Him whom man despises,
To Him whom the nation abhors,
To the Servant of rulers:
#(Is. 52:15)“Kings shall see and arise,
Princes also shall worship,
Because of the Lord who is faithful,
The Holy One of Israel;
And He has chosen You.”
8Thus says the Lord:
“In an #Ps. 69:13; 2 Cor. 6:2acceptable time I have heard You,
And in the day of salvation I have helped You;
I will preserve You #Is. 42:6and give You
As a covenant to the people,
To restore the earth,
To cause them to inherit the desolate heritages;
9That You may say #Is. 61:1; Zech. 9:12; Luke 4:18to the prisoners, ‘Go forth,’
To those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’
“They shall feed along the roads,
And their pastures shall be on all desolate heights.
10They shall neither #Is. 33:16; 48:21; Rev. 7:16hunger nor thirst,
#Ps. 121:6Neither heat nor sun shall strike them;
For He who has mercy on them #Ps. 23:2; Is. 40:11; 48:17will lead them,
Even by the springs of water He will guide them.
11#Is. 40:4I will make each of My mountains a road,
And My highways shall be elevated.
12Surely #Is. 43:5, 6these shall come from afar;
Look! Those from the north and the west,
And these from the land of Sinim.”
13#Is. 44:23Sing, O heavens!
Be joyful, O earth!
And break out in singing, O mountains!
For the Lord has comforted His people,
And will have mercy on His afflicted.
God Will Remember Zion
14#Is. 40:27But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me,
And my Lord has forgotten me.”
15“Can#Ps. 103:13; Mal. 3:17 a woman forget her nursing child,
And not have compassion on the son of her womb?
Surely they may forget,
#Rom. 11:29Yet I will not forget you.
16See, #Ex. 13:9; Song 8:6; Hag. 2:23I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands;
Your walls are continually before Me.
17Your sons shall make haste;
Your destroyers and those who laid you waste
Shall go away from you.
18#Is. 60:4; John 4:35Lift up your eyes, look around and see;
All these gather together and come to you.
As I live,” says the Lord,
“You shall surely clothe yourselves with them all #Prov. 17:6as an ornament,
And bind them on you as a bride does.
19“For your waste and desolate places,
And the land of your destruction,
#Is. 54:1, 2; Zech. 10:10Will even now be too small for the inhabitants;
And those who swallowed you up will be far away.
20#Is. 60:4The children you will have,
#(Matt. 3:9; Rom. 11:11)After you have lost the others,
Will say again in your ears,
‘The place is too small for me;
Give me a place where I may dwell.’
21Then you will say in your heart,
‘Who has begotten these for me,
Since I have lost my children and am desolate,
A captive, and wandering to and fro?
And who has brought these up?
There I was, left alone;
But these, where were they?’ ”
22#Is. 60:4Thus says the Lord God:
“Behold, I will lift My hand in an oath to the nations,
And set up My standard for the peoples;
They shall bring your sons in their arms,
And your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders;
23#Ps. 72:11; Is. 52:15Kings shall be your foster fathers,
And their queens your nursing mothers;
They shall bow down to you with their faces to the earth,
And #Ps. 72:9; Mic. 7:17lick up the dust of your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord,
#Ps. 34:22; (Rom. 5:5)For they shall not be ashamed who wait for Me.”
24#Matt. 12:29; Luke 11:21, 22Shall the prey be taken from the mighty,
Or the captives of the righteous be delivered?
25But thus says the Lord:
“Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away,
And the prey of the terrible be delivered;
For I will contend with him who contends with you,
And I will save your children.
26I will #Is. 9:20feed those who oppress you with their own flesh,
And they shall be drunk with their own #Rev. 14:20blood as with sweet wine.
All flesh #Ps. 9:16; Is. 60:16shall know
That I, the Lord, am your Savior,
And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”
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Isaiah 49: NKJV
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Isaiah 49
49
The Work of the Lord's Servant
1 #
Jr 1.5. Everyone, listen,
even you foreign nations
across the sea.
The Lord chose me
and gave me a name
before I was born.
2 #
He 4.12; Rev 1.16. He made my words pierce
like a sharp sword
or a pointed arrow;
he kept me safely hidden
in the palm of his hand.
3The Lord said to me,
“Israel, you are my servant;
and because of you
I will be highly honored.”
4I said to myself,
“I'm completely worn out;
my time has been wasted.
But I did it for the Lord God,
and he will reward me.”
5Even before I was born,
the Lord God chose me
to serve him and to lead back
the people of Israel.
So the Lord has honored me
and made me strong.
6 #
Is 42.6; Lk 2.32; Ac 26.23;
Ac 13.47. Now the Lord says to me,
“It isn't enough for you
to be merely my servant.
You must do more than lead back
survivors from the tribes
of Israel.
I have placed you here as a light
for other nations;
you must take my saving power
to everyone on earth.”
The Lord Will Rescue His People
7Israel, I am the holy Lord God,
the one who rescues you.
You are slaves of rulers
and of a nation
who despises you.#49.7 You … you: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
Now this is what I promise:
Kings and rulers will honor you
by kneeling at your feet.
You can trust me! I am your Lord,
the holy God of Israel,
and you are my chosen ones.
The Lord Will Lead His People Home
8 #
2 Co 6.2. This is what the Lord says:
I will answer your prayers
because I have set a time
when I will help
by coming to save you.
I have chosen you
to take my promise of hope
to other nations.#49.8 my … nations: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
You will rebuild the country
from its ruins,
then people will come
and settle there.
9You will set prisoners free
from dark dungeons
to see the light of day.
On their way home,
they will find plenty to eat,
even on barren hills.
10 #
Rev 7.16,17. They won't go hungry
or get thirsty;
they won't be bothered
by the scorching sun
or hot desert winds.
I will be merciful
while leading them along
to streams of water.
11I will level the mountains
and make roads.
12Then my people will return
from distant lands
in the north and the west
and from the city of Syene.#49.12 Syene: The Dead Sea Scrolls; the Standard Hebrew Text “Sinim.” This city was located at the first cataract of the Nile near the site of modern-day Aswan.
The Lord's Mercy
13Tell the heavens and the earth
to celebrate and sing;
command every mountain
to join in the song.
The Lord's people have suffered,
but he has shown mercy
and given them comfort.
14The people of Zion said,
“The Lord has turned away
and forgotten us.”
15The Lord answered,
“Could a mother forget a child
who nurses at her breast?
Could she fail to love an infant
who came from her own body?
Even if a mother could forget,
I will never forget you.
16A picture of your city
is drawn on my hand.
You are always in my thoughts!
17“Your city will be built faster
than it was destroyed#49.17 Your city … destroyed: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.—
those who attacked it
will retreat and leave.
18Look around! You will see
your people coming home.
As surely as I live,
I, the Lord, promise
that your city with its people
will be as lovely as a bride
wearing her jewelry.”
Jerusalem's Bright Future
19Jerusalem is now in ruins!
Nothing is left of the city.
But it will be rebuilt
and soon overcrowded;
its cruel enemies
will be gone far away.
20Jerusalem is a woman
whose children were born
while she was in deep sorrow#49.20 whose children … sorrow: These “children” are Jews who were born in foreign countries during the time that Jerusalem was in ruins. Jerusalem probably stands for all the cities in Judah that were destroyed by the Babylonians.
over the loss of her husband.
Now those children
will come and seek room
in the crowded city,
21and Jerusalem will ask,
“Am I really their mother?
How could I have given birth
when I was still mourning
in a foreign land?
Who raised these children?
Where have they come from?”
22 #
Ba 5.6. The Lord God says:
“I will soon give a signal
for the nations
to return your sons
and your daughters
to the arms of Jerusalem.
23The kings and queens
of those nations
where they were raised
will come and bow down.
They will take care of you
just like a slave
taking care of a child.
Then you will know
that I am the Lord.
You won't be disappointed
if you trust me.”
The Lord Is on Our Side
24Is it possible to rescue victims
from someone strong
and cruel?#49.24 cruel: The Dead Sea Scrolls and two ancient translations; the Standard Hebrew Text “good.”
25But the Lord has promised
to fight on our side
and to rescue our children
from those strong
and violent enemies.
26He will make those cruel people
dine on their own flesh
and get drunk from drinking
their own blood.
Then everyone will know
that the Lord is our Savior;
the powerful God of Israel
has rescued his people.
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.