Isaiah 49
49
The Lord’s Special Servant
1Listen to what I have to say, you islands.
Pay attention to me, you who live in distant lands.
Yahweh called me as his own before I was born
and named me while I was still in my mother’s womb.
2He gives me words that pierce and penetrate. # 49:2 Or “He makes my mouth a sharp sword.” See Heb. 4:12; Rev. 1:16; 2:12, 16; 19:15.
He hid me and protected me in the shadow of his hand. # 49:2 Jesus was “hidden” in Nazareth for thirty years.
He prepared me like a polished arrow
and concealed me in his quiver.
3And he said to me,
“Israel, you are my special servant;
in you I will be glorified.” # 49:3 See Gen. 32:28; Deut. 7:6; 26:18–19; Eph. 1:4–6.
4I said, “I’ve worked and served for nothing.
I have used up all my strength for nothing.” # 49:4 Or “empty breath.”
Yet my rights I leave in Yahweh’s hands,
and my just reward is with my God.
5And now, the Lord Yahweh—
who shaped me in the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob’s tribes back to him
that Israel would be gathered back to him,
for I am honored in the sight of Yahweh.
I find the source of all my strength in my God—
6who says:
“Is it too small a thing for you, my servant,
to restore greatness to Jacob’s tribes and the survivors of Israel?
I will make you to be a light to the nations and
to bring the light of my salvation to the ends of the earth!” # 49:6 Although Israel is named in this chapter, the future fulfillment of this prophecy is found in Jesus Christ, the true Servant of the Lord. He was called and named from the womb (v. 1). He was equipped and prepared by God (v. 2). He was appointed and commissioned as God’s Servant (v. 3). He would bring Israel back to God (v. 5). He is highly favored in the sight of God (v. 5). Jesus found all his strength in his Father and did only what pleased him (v. 5). He is light and salvation to the nations (gentiles; v. 6).
7Yahweh, Israel’s Kinsman-Redeemer and Holy One,
says to the one who is deeply despised and repulsed by rulers
and a slave to the ruling class:
“Kings will see and stand up in respect;
princes will bow down to honor the faithfulness of Yahweh,
the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”
God’s Faithfulness
8Yahweh says:
“When the time of showing you favor has come, # 49:8 This may be a reference to the year of Jubilee (see Lev. 25:8–13). Believers today are now living in that season of God’s favor. See Luke 4:18–19.
I will answer your heart’s cry.
I will help you in the day of salvation,
for I have fixed my eyes on you.
I have made you a covenant people to restore the land
and to resettle families on forgotten inheritances.
9You will declare to prisoners, ‘You’re free!’
and to those in darkness, ‘Step out into the light!’
They will be like sheep that graze beside the roads
and find pasture on the barren hillside.
10They will never be hungry or thirsty.
Neither scorching sun nor desert wind will hurt them, # 49:10 See Rev. 7:16.
for he, the Loving One, will guide them
and lead them to restful, renewing streams of water. # 49:10 See Ps. 23:1–3.
11I will level all my mountains as a road for them
and raise up my highways.
12Look! They will come from faraway lands—
some from the north, some from the west,
and some from the land of Sinim.” # 49:12 There is much scholarly debate about the land of Sinim. There are some convincing arguments that link Sinim etymologically and historically to the Qin dynasty, which eventually grew and became modern-day China. The Sinites as a people group are mentioned in Gen. 10:17 and 1 Chron. 1:15. Others see Sinim as a Persian province, a variant name for Phoenicia, or a region in Aswan (Egypt).
13Sing for joy, you heavens!
Shout, you earth, and rejoice with dancing, shouting, and glee!
Burst into joyous songs, you mountains,
for Yahweh has comforted his beloved people.
He will show tenderness and compassion # 49:13 The Hebrew word for “compassion” is racham, a Hebrew homophone for “womb.” The implication is that God has a compassionate love for you, greater than a birth mother has for her child. God’s love comes from deep within his innermost being and births living mercy poured out over us. Racham can be translated “pity,” “grace,” “favor,” “tender affection,” or “compassion.” The very core of God’s being is filled with love and compassion for you.
to his suffering ones.
God Will Not Forget Zion
14But Zion has said, “Yahweh has forsaken me.
My Lord has forgotten me—I’m all alone.”
15Yahweh responds, “But how could a loving mother forget her nursing child
and not deeply love the one she bore?
Even if there is a mother who forgets her child,
I could never, no never, forget you.
16Can’t you see?
I have carved your name on the palms of my hands!
Your walls are always my concern. # 49:16 Although this is an apparent reference to the walls of Jerusalem, there is an application here for each of us. Wherever you are today, your limitations—your walls—are before God’s eyes. He knows where you are and what you face.
17Your children, your builders, # 49:17 The Hebrew root word for “children” (bnyk) is a homonym for “builders.” This translation includes both terms. See also v. 18. are running back to you
as those who ruined and destroyed you are running away.
18Lift up your head and look all around you.
See! All your children, your builders, gather to come back to you.
As surely as I live, I make this promise,” says Yahweh.
“You will wear them all like jewels,
as a radiant bride wears her beautiful jewelry! # 49:18 The Hebrew word for “bride” (kallah) also means “completed,” “perfected,” or “finished.” A mature bride will arise, wearing her sons and daughters as her jewelry and crown. See 1 Thess. 2:19.
19“See? Your ruins and devastated places
will soon be overcrowded with settlers
while your destroyers stay far away.
20You thought you had lost the children, # 49:20 Or “the children of your bereavement.”
but you will hear them say,
‘This place is too cramped for me.
Make more room for me to live in.’
21And you will say to yourself,
‘Where in the world did all these children come from?
Who birthed these for me?
I thought I was bereaved and barren.
I thought I was all alone, forgotten in exile—
so how did they all get here?’ ”
22This is what Lord Yahweh says:
“Soon I will raise my hand and signal to the nations,
and they will come with your little boys bundled in their arms # 49:22 Or “lap” or “bosom.”
and your little daughters carried on their shoulders.
23Kings will be their babysitters
and queens their nursing mothers.
With faces bowed to the ground,
they will lick the dust of your feet.
Then you will know that I am Yahweh,
and I will never disappoint those
who entwine their hearts with mine.” # 49:23 Or “whoever waits on me.”
24Who can snatch the prey
from the hands of a mighty warrior
or rescue captives from a conqueror? # 49:24 Or “tyrant” (1QIsaa, Vulgate, Aramaic). The Hebrew reads “a righteous one.”
25But Yahweh says:
“The prey will be freed from the mighty warrior,
and captives will be rescued from a conqueror!
For I will fight with those who fight with you, # 49:25 See Gen. 12:1–3.
and I myself will save your children.
26I will cause the violence of your oppressors
to come back upon them, # 49:26 Or “I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh,” a figure of speech for violently turning on one another.
and your enemies will kill one another in a killing frenzy! # 49:26 Or “they will get drunk on their own blood as with wine.” See Rev. 16:6.
Then all the earth will know that I am Yahweh,
your Savior, your Kinsman-Redeemer,
the mighty hero of Jacob’s tribes.”
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Isaiah 49: TPT
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Learn More About The Passion TranslationIsaiah 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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