Isaiah 49
49
God Calls His Special Servant
1All of you people in faraway places, listen to me.
Listen, all you nations far away.
Before I was born, the Lord called me to serve him.
The Lord named me while I was still in my mother’s body.
2The Lord made my tongue like a sharp sword.
He hid me in the shadow of his hand.
The Lord made me like a sharp arrow.
He hid me in the holder for his arrows.
3The Lord told me, “Israel, you are my servant.
I will show my glory through you.”
4But I said, “I have worked hard for nothing.
I have used all my power, but I did nothing useful.
But the Lord will decide what my work is worth.
God will decide my reward.”
5The Lord made me in the body of my mother
so I would be his servant.
He made me to lead the people of Jacob back to him.
He made me so that Israel might be gathered to him.
The Lord will honor me.
I will get my strength from my God.
6The Lord told me,
“You are an important servant to me.
You will bring back the tribes of Jacob.
You will bring back the people of Israel who are left alive.
But, more importantly, I will make you a light for all nations.
You will show people all over the world the way to be saved.”
7The Lord is your close relative who saves you.
He is the Holy One of Israel.
He speaks to the one who is hated by the people.
He speaks to the servant of rulers.
The Lord says, “Kings will see you and stand to honor you.
Great leaders will bow down before you.
This is because the Lord can be trusted.
He is the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”
The Day of Salvation
8This is what the Lord says:
“At the right time I will hear your prayers.
On the day of salvation I will help you.
I will protect you.
And you will be the sign of my agreement with the people.
You will bring back the people to the land.
You will give the land that is now ruined back to its owners.
9You will tell the prisoners, ‘Come out of your prison.’
You will tell those in darkness, ‘Come into the light.’
The people will eat beside the roads.
They will find food even on bare hills.
10They will not be hungry or thirsty.
Neither the hot sun nor the desert wind will hurt them.
The God who comforts them will lead them.
He will lead them by springs of water.
11I will make my mountains into roads for my people.
And the roads will be raised up.
12Look, people are coming to me from far away.
They are coming from the north and from the west.
They are coming from Aswan in southern Egypt.”
13Heavens and earth, be happy.
Mountains, shout with joy.
Be happy because the Lord comforts his people.
He will comfort those who suffer.
Jerusalem and Her Children
14But Jerusalem said, “The Lord has left me.
The Lord has forgotten me.”
15The Lord answers, “Can a woman forget the baby she nurses?
Can she feel no kindness for the child she gave birth to?
Even if she could forget her children,
I will not forget you.
16See, I have written your name on my hand.
Jerusalem, I always think about your walls.
17Your children will soon return to you.
And the people who defeated you and destroyed you will leave.
18Look up and look around you.
All your children are gathering to return to you.”
The Lord says, “As surely as I live,
your children will be like jewels.
You will be as proud of them as a bride is of her jewels.
19“You were destroyed and defeated.
Your land was made useless.
But now you will have more people than the land can hold.
And those people who destroyed you will be far away.
20Children were born to you while you were sad.
But they will say to you,
‘This place is too small for us.
Give us a bigger place to live.’
21Then you will say to yourself,
‘Who gave me all these children?
I was sad and lonely.
I was defeated and away from my people.
So who reared these children?
I was left all alone.
Where did all these children come from?’”
22This is what the Lord God says:
“See, I will lift my hand to signal the nations.
I will raise my banner for all people to see.
Then they will bring your sons back to you in their arms.
They will carry your daughters on their shoulders.
23Kings will teach your children.
Daughters of kings will take care of those children.
They will bow down before you.
They will kiss the dirt at your feet.
Then you will know I am the Lord.
Anyone who trusts in me will not be disappointed.”
24Can the wealth a soldier wins in war be taken away from him?
Can a prisoner be freed from a powerful soldier?
25But this is what the Lord says:
“The prisoners will be taken from the strong soldiers.
What the soldiers have taken will be saved.
I will fight your enemies.
I will save your children.
26I will force those who trouble you to eat their own flesh.
Their own blood will be the wine that makes them drunk.
Then everyone will know
I, the Lord, am the One who saves you.
I am the Powerful One of Jacob who saves you.”
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Isaiah 49: ICB
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Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Isaiah 49
49
Yahweh’s Servant Brings Salvation
1Listen to me, coastlands,
and listen attentively, peoples from far away!
Yahweh called me from the womb;
from the body#Literally “intestines” of my mother he made my name known.
2And he made#Literally “put” my mouth like a sharp sword;
he hid me in the shadow of his hand,
and he made#Literally “put” me like an sharpened arrow;
he hid me in his quiver.
3And he said to me, “You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will show my glory.”
4But#Or “And” I myself said, “I have labored in#Or “for” vain;
I have used up my strength for nothing and vanity!
Nevertheless, my justice is with Yahweh,
and my reward is with my God.”
5And now Yahweh says,
who formed me from the womb as a servant for him,
to bring Jacob back to him,
and that Israel might not#The reading tradition (Qere) has “to him” be gathered,
for#Or “and” I am honored in the eyes of Yahweh,
and my God has become my strength.
6And he says, “It is trivial for you to be#Literally “from being you” a servant for me,
to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to bring back the preserved of Israel.
I will give you as a light to the nations,
to be my salvation to the end of the earth.”
7Thus says Yahweh, the redeemer of Israel, his holy one,
to the one who despises#A Dead Sea Scroll reads “is despised with respect to” life,
to the one who abhors the nation,
to the slave of rulers:
“Kings shall see and stand up;
princes, and they shall bow down,
for the sake of Yahweh, who is faithful,
the holy one of Israel, and he has chosen you.”
Yahweh Restores the Afflicted
8Thus says Yahweh:
“I have answered you in a time of favor,
and helped you on a day of salvation,
and watched over you,
and given you as a covenant of the people,
to raise up the land,
to give the desolate hereditary property as an inheritance,
9saying to the prisoners,#Literally “captured ones” “Come out!”
to those who are in darkness, “Show yourselves!”
they shall feed along#Literally “on” the ways,
and their pasturage shall be on all the barren heights.
10They shall not be hungry or thirsty,
and heat and sun shall not strike them,
for he who takes pity on them will lead them,
and he will guide them to springs of water.
11And I will make#Literally “put” all my mountains like a road,
and my highways shall lead up.#Or “be high”
12Look! These shall come from afar,
And look! These from the north and from the west
and these from the land of Sinim.”
13Sing for joy, heavens, and rejoice, earth!
Mountains must break forth in rejoicing!
For Yahweh has comforted his people,
and he will take pity on his afflicted ones.
Yahweh Remembers Zion
14But#Or “And” Zion said, “Yahweh has forsaken me,
and the Lord has forgotten me!”
15Can a woman forget her suckling,
refrain from having compassion on the child of her womb?
Indeed, these may forget,
but#Or “and” I, I will not forget you!
16Look, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands;
your walls are continually before me.
17Your children hasten;
your destroyers and those who laid you waste depart#Or “move away” from you.
18Lift your eyes up all around and see;
all of them gather; they come to you.
As surely as I live,#Literally “Life I”
declares#Literally “declaration of” Yahweh,
surely you shall put on all of them like an ornament,
and you shall bind them on like a bride.
19Surely your sites of ruins and desolate places and land of ruins,#Hebrew “ruin”
surely now you will be too cramped for your#Literally “cramped by” inhabitants,#Hebrew “inhabitant”
and those who engulfed you will be far away.
20Yet the children born when you were bereaved#Literally “of your bereavement” will say in your hearing,#Literally “ears”
“The place is too cramped for me;
make room#Literally “approach” for me so that I can dwell.”
21Then#Or “And” you will say in your heart,
“Who has borne me these?”
And, “I was bereaved and barren,
exiled and thrust away;
so#Or “and” who raised these?
Look at me! I was left alone;
where have these come from?”#Literally “these where they”
22Thus says the Lord Yahweh:
“Look! I will lift my hand up to the nations,
and I will raise my signal to the peoples,
and they shall bring your sons in their bosom,
and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.#Hebrew “shoulder”
23And kings shall be your guardians,#Literally “those who nurture”
and their queens your nurses.
They shall bow down, faces#Literally “noses” to the ground, to you,
and they will lick up the dust of your feet.
Then#Or “And” you will know that I am Yahweh;
those who await me shall not be ashamed.
24Can war-booty be taken from the mighty?
or can a captive of a righteous#The Dead Sea Scroll has “violent” person be rescued?
25But thus says Yahweh:
“Indeed a captive of the mighty shall be taken,
and the war-booty of the tyrant shall be rescued,
for#Or “and” I myself will dispute with your opponent,
and I myself will save your children.
26And I will feed your oppressors their own flesh,
and they shall be drunk with their blood as with wine.
Then#Or “And” all flesh shall know that I am Yahweh,
your savior and redeemer, the strong one of Jacob.”
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