Isaiah 49
49
Salvation Reaches to the Ends of the Earth
1Listen to Me, you islands,
And pay attention, you peoples from afar.
The Lord called Me from the womb;
From the #49:1 Lit inward partsbody of My mother He named Me.
2He has made My mouth like a sharp sword,
In the shadow of His hand He has concealed Me;
And He has also made Me a sharpened arrow,
He has hidden Me in His quiver.
3He said to Me, “You are My Servant, Israel,
In whom I will show My glory.”
4But I said, “I have labored in vain,
I have spent My strength for nothing and futility;
Nevertheless, the justice due to Me is with the Lord,
And My reward is with My God.”
5¶And 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
(For I am honored in the sight of the Lord,
And My God is My strength),
6He says, “It is too #49:6 Lit lightsmall a thing that You should be My Servant
To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the protected ones of Israel;
I will also make You a light #49:6 Or toof the nations
So that My salvation may #49:6 Lit bereach to the end of the earth.”
7This is what the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and its Holy One,
Says to the #49:7 Lit despised of souldespised One,
To the One abhorred by the nation,
To the Servant of rulers:
“Kings will see and arise,
Princes will also bow down,
Because of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen You.”
8¶This is what the Lord says:
“At a favorable time I answered You,
And on a day of salvation I helped You;
And I will watch over You and make You a covenant of the people,
To #49:8 Lit establishrestore the land, to give as inheritances the deserted hereditary lands;
9Saying to those who are bound, ‘#49:9 Lit Go outGo free,’
To those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’
They will feed along the roads,
And their pasture will be on all bare heights.
10“They will not hunger or thirst,
Nor will the scorching heat or sun strike them down;
For He who has compassion on them will lead them,
And He will guide them to springs of water.
11“I will make all My mountains a road,
And My highways will be raised up.
12“Behold, these will come from afar;
And behold, these will come from the north and from the west,
And these from the land of Aswan.”
13Shout for joy, you heavens! And rejoice, you earth!
Break forth into joyful shouting, mountains!
For the Lord has comforted His people
And will have compassion on His afflicted.
Promise to Zion
14¶But Zion said, “The Lord has abandoned me,
And the Lord has forgotten me.”
15“Can a woman forget her nursing child
And have no compassion on the son of her womb?
Even these may forget, but I will not forget you.
16“Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands;
Your walls are continually before Me.
17“Your #49:17 Ancient versions and DSS; MT sonsbuilders hurry;
Your destroyers and devastators
Will leave you.
18“Raise your eyes and look around;
All of them gather together, they come to you.
As I live,” declares the Lord,
“You will certainly put them all on as #49:18 Lit an ornamentjewelry and bind them on as a bride.
19“For your ruins and deserted places and your destroyed land—
Now you will certainly be too cramped for the inhabitants,
And those who swallowed you will be far away.
20“The children #49:20 Lit of your bereavementyou lost will yet say in your ears,
‘The place is too cramped for me;
Make room for me that I may live here.’
21“Then you will say in your heart,
‘Who has fathered these for me,
Since I have been bereaved of my children
And cannot conceive, and I am an exile, and a wanderer?
And who has raised these?
Behold, I was left alone;
# 49:21 Lit These, where are they? Where are these from?’ ”
22This is what the Lord #49:22 Heb YHWH, usually rendered LordGod says:
“Behold, I will lift up My hand to the nations
And set up My flag to the peoples;
And they will bring your sons #49:22 Lit on the chestin their arms,
And your daughters will be carried on their shoulders.
23“Kings will be your guardians,
And their princesses your nurses.
They will bow down to you with their faces to the ground
And lick the dust from your feet;
And you will know that I am the Lord;
Those who hopefully wait for Me will not be put to shame.
24¶“Can the prey be taken from a mighty man,
Or the captives of #49:24 Ancient versions and DSS; MT the righteous, cf. v 25a tyrant be rescued?”
25Indeed, this is what the Lord says:
“Even the captives of the mighty man will be taken away,
And the prey of a tyrant will be rescued;
For I will contend with the one who contends with you,
And I will save your sons.
26“I will feed your oppressors with their own flesh,
And they will become drunk with their own blood as with sweet wine;
And #49:26 Lit all fleshhumanity will know that I, the Lord, am your Savior
And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”
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Isaiah 49: NASB2020
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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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