Isaiah 49
49
The Servant of the Lord
1#Jer 1:5; Isa 42:1–4 Listen to me, O coastlands,
and pay attention, you peoples from afar.
The Lord called me from the womb;
from the body of my mother He named me.
2#Isa 11:4; Rev 1:16 He has made my mouth like a sharp sword;
in the shadow of His hand He has hidden me
and made me a select arrow;
in His quiver He has hidden me.
3#Isa 44:23; Zec 3:8 He said to me, “You are My servant,
Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”
4#Isa 53:10–12; 65:23 Then I said, “I have labored in vain;
I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity,
yet surely the justice due to me is with the Lord,
and my reward with my God.”
5#Mt 17:5; 28:18 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
(yet I am honored in the eyes of the Lord,
and my God is my strength),
6#Isa 42:6; Lk 2:32 He says,
“It is a light 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 make you a light to the nations
so that My salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”
7#Isa 52:15; 53:3 Thus says the Lord,
the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One,
to the despised one, to the one whom the nation abhors,
to the servant of rulers:
“Kings shall see and arise,
princes also shall worship,
because of the Lord who is faithful
and the Holy One of Israel who has chosen you.”
The Restoration of Israel
8#Isa 42:6; Ps 69:13; 2Co 6:2Thus says the Lord:
In an acceptable time I have heard you,
and in a day of salvation I have helped you;
and I will preserve you, and give you
as a covenant of the people,
to restore the earth,
to make them inherit the desolate heritages,
9#Isa 42:7; 61:1 saying to the prisoners, “Go forth,”
to those who are in darkness, “Show yourselves.”
They shall feed along the paths,
and their pastures shall be in all desolate heights;
10#Rev 7:16–17 they shall not hunger nor thirst,
neither shall the heat nor sun strike them;
for He who has mercy on them shall lead them,
even by the springs of water He shall guide them.
11#Isa 11:16; 62:10 I will make all My mountains a road,
and My highways shall be raised up.
12#Isa 43:5–6 See, these shall come from afar;
and these will come from the north and from the west,
and these from the land of Sinim.
13#Isa 44:23; 51:3 Sing, O heavens!
And be joyful, O earth!
And break forth into singing, Omountains!
For the Lord has comforted His people
and will have mercy on His afflicted.
14#Isa 40:27 But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me,
and the Lord has forgotten me.”
15#Isa 44:21 Can a woman forget her nursing child,
and have no compassion on the son of her womb?
Even these may forget,
yet I will not forget.
16#SS 8:6; Hag 2:23 See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands;
your walls are continually before Me;
17your builders hurry;
your destroyers and those who devastated you shall depart from you.
18#Isa 49:12; 54:9 Lift up your eyes and look all around;
all these gather themselves together and come to you.
As I live, says the Lord,
you shall surely put on all of them as ornaments
and bind them on you as a bride does.
19#Zec 10:10; Ps 56:1–2 For your waste and your desolate places,
and the land of your destruction,
shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants,
and those who swallowed you up shall be far away.
20The children whom you shall have,
after you have lost the others,
shall say again in your ears,
“The place is too cramped for me;
make room for me that I may dwell here.”
21Then you shall say in your heart,
“Who bore these for me,
since I have lost my children and am barren,
a captive and a wanderer?
And who has brought these up?
I was left alone;
from where did these come?”
22Thus says the Lord God:
See, I will lift up My hand to the nations
and set up My standard to the peoples;
and they shall bring your sons in their arms,
and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders;
23#Isa 60:3; 60:16 kings shall be your foster fathers
and their queens your nursing mothers;
they shall bow down to you with their faces toward the ground
and lick up the dust of your feet.
And you shall know that I am the Lord,
for those who wait for Me shall not be ashamed.
24#Mt 12:29 Can the prey be taken from the mighty
or the captives of a tyrant be delivered?
25#Jer 50:33–34For thus says the Lord:
Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away,
and the prey of the tyrant shall be delivered;
for I will contend with him who contends with you,
and I will save your sons.
26#Isa 9:20; Eze 39:7 I will feed those who oppress you with their own flesh,
and they shall be drunk with their own blood as with sweet wine.
And all flesh shall know
that I, the Lord, am your Savior
and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.
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Isaiah 49: MEV
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Military Bible Association
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.