Yeshayah 49
49
1Listen, O iyim (islands), unto Me;#49:1 Moshiach and pay heed, ye nations afar off; Hashem hath called Me from the beten (belly, womb),#49:1 See Isa 7:14; Gn 3:15; Ps 22:9f; Mic 5:1-2 from the inward parts of immi hath He remembered My Shem.
2And He hath made My mouth like a sharpened cherev; in the tzel (shadow) of His Yad hath He concealed Me, and made Me a polished arrow; in His quiver hath He hid Me;
3And said unto Me,#49:3 Moshiach, i.e., the She'erit of the She'erit, the true and worthy Israel and also the King who personifies the People Thou art Avdi, O Yisroel, Thou in Whom I glorify Myself.
4Then I#49:4 Moshiach said, I have toiled in vain, I have spent My ko'ach for tohu, and hevel; yet surely My mishpat is with Hashem, and My peulah with Elohai.
5And now, saith Hashem My Yotzer from the beten to be Eved of Him, to bring back Ya'akov to Him, so that Yisroel would be gathered to Him; so shall I#49:5 Moshiach be honored in the eyes of Hashem, and Elohai shall be My oz (strength).
6And He said, It is too small a thing that Thou shouldest be Eved to Me to raise up the Shivtei Ya'akov, and to bring back the Netzurei Yisroel (Preserved of Israel, the She'erit); I will also give Thee for Ohr Goyim, that Thou mayest be My Yeshu'ah (Salvation) unto the ketzeh ha'aretz.
7Thus saith Hashem, the Go'el Yisroel, and His Kadosh, to Him of despised nefesh,#49:7 See 53:3,11 to Him whom the Goy#49:7 i.e., Israel; see Isa 53:3,8 (Nation) abhorreth, to the Eved Moshelim: Melachim shall see and arise, Sarim also shall worship,#49:7 52:15 because of Hashem Who is Ne'eman and the Kadosh Yisroel, that hath chosen Thee.
8Thus saith Hashem, In a time of [My] ratzon (favor) have I answered Thee,#49:8 Moshiach and in a Yom Yeshu'ah have I helped Thee; and I will preserve Thee, and give Thee for a Brit Am#49:8 See Jer 31:31-34; Mk 14:24 to raise up Eretz, to reapportion desolate nechalot#49:8 see Yehoshua chapters 13-21 (inheritances).#49:8 T.N. Notice that in the previous verse the Moshiach is depicted as a new Yehoshua, which is also his namesake, Yehoshua Tzemach Shmo, Zech 6:11-12.
9That thou mayest say to the asurim (the prisoners, those of the Golus) to them that are in choshech, Reveal yourselves. They shall feed in the derakhim and their pastures shall be in kol shefayim (high hills).
10They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the sharav#49:10 35:7 nor shemesh beat on them; for He that hath rachamim on them shall guide them, even by the springs of mayim shall He lead them.
11And I will make all My harim into derech, and My highways shall be exalted.
12Hinei, these shall come from afar; and, hinei, these from the tzafon and from the yam; and these from Eretz Sinim.#49:12 Sinites
13Sing joyfully, O Shomayim; and rejoice, O Eretz; and break forth into singing, O Harim; for Hashem hath comforted His people, and will have rachamim upon his afflicted ones.
14But Tziyon said, Hashem hath forsaken me, and Adonoi hath forgotten me.
15Can an isha forget her nursing baby, that she should not have rachamim on her ben beten? Indeed, they may forget, yet I will not forget thee.
16Behold, I have engraved thee upon the palms of My hands; thy chomot are continually before Me.
17Thy banim shall make haste;#49:17 to return from the Golus thy destroyers and they that laid thee waste shall depart from thee.
18Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold; all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith Hashem, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with jewelry and put them on like a kallah.
19For thy ruins and thy desolate places, and the eretz of thy devastation, shall even now be too narrow for the inhabitants,#49:19 of Tziyon returned from the Golus and they that devoured thee shall be far away.
20Furthermore, the Bnei Shikkulayich (the Children of thy Bereavement, i.e., the sons born while the Mother was bereaved of other children lost) shall say again in thine oznayim, The makom is too cramped for me; geshah (fall back, make room, give place) to me that I may dwell.
21Then shalt thou say in thine lev, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I am shekhulah (bereaved) of my children, and am galmudah (barren, incapable of having children), a captive of the Golus, and thrust away as rejected? So who has reared these? Behold I was left a lone survivor; these, where were they? Where did they come from?
22Thus saith Adonoi Hashem, Hinei, I will lift up Mine Yad to the Goyim, and set up My nes (banner, rallying flag)#49:22 i.e., Moshiach; see Isa 11:10 to the Nations; and they shall bring thy banim in their arms, and thy banot shall be carried upon their shoulders.
23And melachim shall be thy omenim (foster fathers, supporters, nurturers), and their sarot thy wet nurses; they shall bow down before thee with their face toward eretz, and lick the aphar of thy raglayim; and thou shalt know that I am Hashem; for they shall not be put to shame that wait for Me.
24Shall the malko'ach (plunder, prey, booty) be taken from the gibbor; shall the shevi tzaddik be delivered?
25But thus saith Hashem, Even the Shevi gibbor shall be taken, and the malko'ach of the aritz (the fierce, the tyrant) shall escape; for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy banim.
26And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own basar; and they shall be shikkor (drunk) with their own dahm, as with asis (new wine); and kol basar shall know that I Hashem am thy Moshi'a and thy Go'el, the Avir Ya'akov (Mighty One of Jacob).
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Yeshayah 49: TOJB2011
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THE ORTHODOX JEWISH BIBLE
FOURTH EDITION © Artists For Israel Intl Inc., 2002-2011, 2021.
Isaiah 49
49
The Lord’s Servant Commissioned
1Listen to me, all you in distant lands!
Pay attention, you who are far away!
The Lord called me before my birth;
from within the womb he called me by name.
2He made my words of judgment as sharp as a sword.
He has hidden me in the shadow of his hand.
I am like a sharp arrow in his quiver.
3He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel,
and you will bring me glory.”
4I replied, “But my work seems so useless!
I have spent my strength for nothing and to no purpose.
Yet I leave it all in the Lord’s hand;
I will trust God for my reward.”
5And now the Lord speaks—
the one who formed me in my mother’s womb to be his servant,
who commissioned me to bring Israel back to him.
The Lord has honored me,
and my God has given me strength.
6He says, “You will do more than restore the people of Israel to me.
I will make you a light to the Gentiles,
and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”
7The Lord, the Redeemer
and Holy One of Israel,
says to the one who is despised and rejected by the nations,
to the one who is the servant of rulers:
“Kings will stand at attention when you pass by.
Princes will also bow low
because of the Lord, the faithful one,
the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”
Promises of Israel’s Restoration
8This is what the Lord says:
“At just the right time, I will respond to you.#49:8 Greek version reads I heard you. Compare 2 Cor 6:2.
On the day of salvation I will help you.
I will protect you and give you to the people
as my covenant with them.
Through you I will reestablish the land of Israel
and assign it to its own people again.
9I will say to the prisoners, ‘Come out in freedom,’
and to those in darkness, ‘Come into the light.’
They will be my sheep, grazing in green pastures
and on hills that were previously bare.
10They will neither hunger nor thirst.
The searing sun will not reach them anymore.
For the Lord in his mercy will lead them;
he will lead them beside cool waters.
11And I will make my mountains into level paths for them.
The highways will be raised above the valleys.
12See, my people will return from far away,
from lands to the north and west,
and from as far south as Egypt.#49:12 As in Dead Sea Scrolls, which read from the region of Aswan, which is in southern Egypt. Masoretic Text reads from the region of Sinim.”
13Sing for joy, O heavens!
Rejoice, O earth!
Burst into song, O mountains!
For the Lord has comforted his people
and will have compassion on them in their suffering.
14Yet Jerusalem#49:14 Hebrew Zion. says, “The Lord has deserted us;
the Lord has forgotten us.”
15“Never! Can a mother forget her nursing child?
Can she feel no love for the child she has borne?
But even if that were possible,
I would not forget you!
16See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands.
Always in my mind is a picture of Jerusalem’s walls in ruins.
17Soon your descendants will come back,
and all who are trying to destroy you will go away.
18Look around you and see,
for all your children will come back to you.
As surely as I live,” says the Lord,
“they will be like jewels or bridal ornaments for you to display.
19“Even the most desolate parts of your abandoned land
will soon be crowded with your people.
Your enemies who enslaved you
will be far away.
20The generations born in exile will return and say,
‘We need more room! It’s crowded here!’
21Then you will think to yourself,
‘Who has given me all these descendants?
For most of my children were killed,
and the rest were carried away into exile.
I was left here all alone.
Where did all these people come from?
Who bore these children?
Who raised them for me?’”
22This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“See, I will give a signal to the godless nations.
They will carry your little sons back to you in their arms;
they will bring your daughters on their shoulders.
23Kings and queens will serve you
and care for all your needs.
They will bow to the earth before you
and lick the dust from your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord.
Those who trust in me will never be put to shame.”
24Who can snatch the plunder of war from the hands of a warrior?
Who can demand that a tyrant#49:24 As in Dead Sea Scrolls, Syriac version, and Latin Vulgate (also see 49:25); Masoretic Text reads a righteous person. let his captives go?
25But the Lord says,
“The captives of warriors will be released,
and the plunder of tyrants will be retrieved.
For I will fight those who fight you,
and I will save your children.
26I will feed your enemies with their own flesh.
They will be drunk with rivers of their own blood.
All the world will know that I, the Lord,
am your Savior and your Redeemer,
the Mighty One of Israel.#49:26 Hebrew of Jacob. See note on 14:1.”
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Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
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