Isaiah 49
49
Israel, a Light to the Nations
1 #
Jer 1.5
Listen to me, distant nations,
you people who live far away!
Before I was born, the LORD chose me
and appointed me to be his servant.
2 #
Heb 4.12; Rev 1.16 He made my words as sharp as a sword.
With his own hand he protected me.#49.2 With his own hand… me; or He kept me hidden in his hand.
He made me like an arrow,
sharp and ready for use.
3He said to me, “Israel, you are my servant;
because of you, people will praise me.”
4I said, “I have worked, but how hopeless it is!
I have used up my strength, but have accomplished nothing.”
Yet I can trust the LORD to defend my cause;
he will reward me for what I do.
5Before I was born, the LORD appointed me;
he made me his servant to bring back his people,
to bring back the scattered people of Israel.
The LORD gives me honour;
he is the source of my strength.
6 #
Is 42.6; Lk 2.32; Acts 13.47; 26.23 The LORD said to me,
“I have a greater task for you, my servant.
Not only will you restore to greatness
the people of Israel who have survived,
but I will also make you a light to the nations —
so that all the world may be saved.”
7Israel's holy God and saviour says
to the one who is deeply despised,
who is hated by the nations
and is the servant of rulers:
“Kings will see you released
and will rise to show their respect;
princes also will see it,
and they will bow low to honour you.”
This will happen because the LORD has chosen his servant;
the holy God of Israel keeps his promises.
The Restoration of Jerusalem
8 #
2 Cor 6.2
The LORD says to his people,
“When the time comes to save you, I will show you favour
and answer your cries for help.
I will guard and protect you
and through you make a covenant with all peoples.
I will let you settle once again
in your land that is now laid waste.
9I will say to the prisoners, ‘Go free!’
and to those who are in darkness,
‘Come out to the light!’
They will be like sheep that graze on the hills;
10 #
Rev 7.16–17
they will never be hungry or thirsty.
Sun and desert heat will not hurt them,
for they will be led by one who loves them.
He will lead them to springs of water.
11“I will make a highway across the mountains
and prepare a road for my people to travel.
12My people will come from far away,
from the north and the west,
and from Aswan#49.12 Aswan: A city in southern Egypt, where a large Jewish community had settled. in the south.”
13Sing, heavens! Shout for joy, earth!
Let the mountains burst into song!
The LORD will comfort his people;
he will have pity on his suffering people.
14But the people of Jerusalem said,
“The LORD has abandoned us!
He has forgotten us.”
15So the LORD answers,
“Can a woman forget her own baby
and not love the child she bore?
Even if a mother should forget her child,
I will never forget you.
16Jerusalem, I can never forget you!
I have written your name on the palms of my hands.
17“Those who will rebuild you are coming soon,
and those who destroyed you will leave.
18Look around and see what is happening!
Your people are assembling — they are coming home!
As surely as I am the living God,
you will be proud of your people,
as proud as a bride is of her jewels.
19“Your country was ruined and desolate —
but now it will be too small
for those who are coming to live there.
And those who left you in ruins
will be far removed from you.
20Your people who were born in exile
will one day say to you,
‘This land is too small —
we need more room to live in!’
21Then you will say to yourself,
‘Who bore all these children for me?
I lost my children and could have no more.
I was exiled and driven away —
who brought these children up?
I was left all alone —
where did these children come from?’ ”
22The Sovereign LORD says to his people:
“I will signal to the nations,
and they will bring your children home.
23Kings will be like fathers to you;
queens will be like mothers.
They will bow low before you and honour you;
they will humbly show their respect for you.
Then you will know that I am the LORD;
no one who waits for my help will be disappointed.”
24Can you take away a soldier's loot?
Can you rescue the prisoners of a tyrant?
25The LORD replies,
“That is just what is going to happen.
The soldier's prisoners will be taken away,
and the tyrant's loot will be seized.
I will fight against whoever fights you,
and I will rescue your children.
26I will make your oppressors kill each other;
they will be drunk with murder and rage.
Then the whole human race will know that I am the LORD,
the one who saves you and sets you free.
They will know that I am Israel's powerful God.”
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Isaiah 49: GNBDK
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Good News Bible with Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. 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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