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
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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