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 Servant and Light to the Gentiles
(Acts 13:42–52)
1Listen to Me, O islands;#49:1 Or coastlands
pay attention, O distant peoples:
The Lord called Me from the womb;
from the body of My mother He named Me.
2He made My mouth like a sharp sword;
He hid Me in the shadow of His hand.
He made Me like a polished arrow;
He hid Me in His quiver.
3He said to Me, “You are My Servant, Israel,
in whom I will display My glory.”
4But I said, “I have labored in vain,
I have spent My strength in futility and vanity;
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,
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,
to raise up the tribes of Jacob,
and to restore the protected ones of Israel.
I will also make You a light for the nations,
to bring My salvation to the ends of the earth.”#49:6 Cited in Acts 13:47
7Thus says the Lord,
the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel,
to Him who was despised and abhorred by the nation,
to the Servant of rulers:
“Kings will see You and rise,
and princes will bow down,
because of the Lord, who is faithful,
the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen You.”
8This is what the Lord says:
“In the time of favor I will answer You,
and in the day of salvation I will help You;#49:8 LXX In the time of favor I heard You, and in the day of salvation I helped You; cited in 2 Corinthians 6:2
I will keep You and appoint You
to be a covenant for the people,
to restore the land,
to apportion its desolate inheritances,
9to say to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’
and to those in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’
They will feed along the pathways,
and find pasture on every barren hill.
10They will not hunger or thirst,
nor will scorching heat or sun beat down on them.#49:10 Cited in Revelation 7:16
For He who has compassion on them will guide them
and lead them beside springs of water.
11I will turn all My mountains into roads,
and My highways will be raised up.
12Behold, they will come from far away,
from the north and from the west,#49:12 Or from the sea
and from the land of Aswan.#49:12 That is, a region in southern Egypt (from DSS); MT the land of Sinim”
13Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice, O earth;
break forth in song, O mountains!
For the Lord has comforted His people,
and He will have compassion on His afflicted ones.
14But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me;
the Lord has forgotten me!”
15“Can a woman forget her nursing child,
or lack compassion for the son of her womb?
Even if she could forget,
I will not forget you!
16Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands;
your walls are ever before Me.
17Your builders #49:17 DSS; MT Your sons hasten back;
your destroyers and wreckers depart from you.
18Lift up your eyes and look around.
They all gather together; they come to you.
As surely as I live,” declares the Lord,
“you will wear them all as jewelry
and put them on like a bride.
19For your ruined and desolate places
and your ravaged land
will now indeed be too small for your people,
and those who devoured you will be far away.
20Yet the children of your bereavement
will say in your hearing,
‘This place is too small for us;
make room for us to live here.’
21Then you will say in your heart,
‘Who has begotten these for me?
I was bereaved and barren;
I was exiled and rejected.
So who has reared them?
Look, I was left all alone,
so where did they come from?’”
22This is what the Lord GOD says:
“Behold, I will lift up My hand to the nations,
and raise My banner to the peoples.
They will bring your sons in their arms #49:22 Hebrew in their bosom
and carry your daughters on their shoulders.
23Kings will be your foster fathers,
and their queens your nursing mothers.
They will bow to you facedown
and lick the dust at your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord;
those who hope in Me will never be put to shame.”
24Can the plunder be snatched from the mighty,
or the captives of a tyrant #49:24 DSS, Syriac, and Vulgate (see also verse 25); MT of the righteous be delivered?
25Indeed, this is what the Lord says:
“Even the captives of the mighty will be taken away,
and the plunder of the tyrant will be retrieved;
I will contend with those who contend with you,
and I will save your children.
26I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh;
they will be drunk on their own blood, as with wine.
Then all mankind will know that I, the Lord,
am your Savior and your Redeemer,
the Mighty One of Jacob.”
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