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
Israel, a Light to the Nations
1 #
Jer 1.5
Listen to me, distant nations,
you people who live far away!
Before I was born, the LORD chose me
and appointed me to be his servant.
2 #
Heb 4.12; Rev 1.16 He made my words as sharp as a sword.
With his own hand he protected me.#49.2 With his own hand… me; or He kept me hidden in his hand.
He made me like an arrow,
sharp and ready for use.
3He said to me, “Israel, you are my servant;
because of you, people will praise me.”
4I said, “I have worked, but how hopeless it is!
I have used up my strength, but have accomplished nothing.”
Yet I can trust the LORD to defend my cause;
he will reward me for what I do.
5Before I was born, the LORD appointed me;
he made me his servant to bring back his people,
to bring back the scattered people of Israel.
The LORD gives me honour;
he is the source of my strength.
6 #
Is 42.6; Lk 2.32; Acts 13.47; 26.23 The LORD said to me,
“I have a greater task for you, my servant.
Not only will you restore to greatness
the people of Israel who have survived,
but I will also make you a light to the nations —
so that all the world may be saved.”
7Israel's holy God and saviour says
to the one who is deeply despised,
who is hated by the nations
and is the servant of rulers:
“Kings will see you released
and will rise to show their respect;
princes also will see it,
and they will bow low to honour you.”
This will happen because the LORD has chosen his servant;
the holy God of Israel keeps his promises.
The Restoration of Jerusalem
8 #
2 Cor 6.2
The LORD says to his people,
“When the time comes to save you, I will show you favour
and answer your cries for help.
I will guard and protect you
and through you make a covenant with all peoples.
I will let you settle once again
in your land that is now laid waste.
9I will say to the prisoners, ‘Go free!’
and to those who are in darkness,
‘Come out to the light!’
They will be like sheep that graze on the hills;
10 #
Rev 7.16–17
they will never be hungry or thirsty.
Sun and desert heat will not hurt them,
for they will be led by one who loves them.
He will lead them to springs of water.
11“I will make a highway across the mountains
and prepare a road for my people to travel.
12My people will come from far away,
from the north and the west,
and from Aswan#49.12 Aswan: A city in southern Egypt, where a large Jewish community had settled. in the south.”
13Sing, heavens! Shout for joy, earth!
Let the mountains burst into song!
The LORD will comfort his people;
he will have pity on his suffering people.
14But the people of Jerusalem said,
“The LORD has abandoned us!
He has forgotten us.”
15So the LORD answers,
“Can a woman forget her own baby
and not love the child she bore?
Even if a mother should forget her child,
I will never forget you.
16Jerusalem, I can never forget you!
I have written your name on the palms of my hands.
17“Those who will rebuild you are coming soon,
and those who destroyed you will leave.
18Look around and see what is happening!
Your people are assembling — they are coming home!
As surely as I am the living God,
you will be proud of your people,
as proud as a bride is of her jewels.
19“Your country was ruined and desolate —
but now it will be too small
for those who are coming to live there.
And those who left you in ruins
will be far removed from you.
20Your people who were born in exile
will one day say to you,
‘This land is too small —
we need more room to live in!’
21Then you will say to yourself,
‘Who bore all these children for me?
I lost my children and could have no more.
I was exiled and driven away —
who brought these children up?
I was left all alone —
where did these children come from?’ ”
22The Sovereign LORD says to his people:
“I will signal to the nations,
and they will bring your children home.
23Kings will be like fathers to you;
queens will be like mothers.
They will bow low before you and honour you;
they will humbly show their respect for you.
Then you will know that I am the LORD;
no one who waits for my help will be disappointed.”
24Can you take away a soldier's loot?
Can you rescue the prisoners of a tyrant?
25The LORD replies,
“That is just what is going to happen.
The soldier's prisoners will be taken away,
and the tyrant's loot will be seized.
I will fight against whoever fights you,
and I will rescue your children.
26I will make your oppressors kill each other;
they will be drunk with murder and rage.
Then the whole human race will know that I am the LORD,
the one who saves you and sets you free.
They will know that I am Israel's powerful God.”
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.