Isaiah 49
49
The Lord’s Servant Will Bring Salvation to the Nations
1Listen to me, you islands.
Pay attention, you people far away.
Before I was born, the Lord chose me.
While I was in my mother’s womb, he recorded my name.
2He made my tongue like a sharp sword
and hid me in the palm of his hand.
He made me like a sharpened arrow
and hid me in his quiver.
3He said to me,
“You are my servant Israel.
I will display my glory through you.”
4But I said,
“I have worked hard for nothing.
I have used my strength, but I didn’t accomplish anything.
Yet, certainly my case is in the Lord’s hands,
and my reward is with my God.”
5The Lord formed me in the womb to be his servant
in order to bring Jacob back to him
and gather Israel to him.
(The Lord honors me,
and my God has become my strength.)
6Now, the Lord says,
“You are not just my servant
who restores the tribes of Jacob
and brings back those in Israel whom I have preserved.
I have also made you a light for the nations
so that you would save people all over the world.”
7The Lord is the defender of Israel, its Holy One.
This is what the Lord says to the despised one, to the one scorned by the nation, to the slave of rulers:
Kings will see ⌞you⌟ and stand.
Princes will see ⌞you⌟ and bow.
The Lord is faithful.
The Holy One of Israel has chosen you.
8This is what the Lord says:
In the time of favor I will answer you.
In the day of salvation I will help you.
I will protect you.
I will appoint you as my promise #49:8 Or “covenant.” to the people.
You will restore the land.
You will make them inherit the desolate inheritance.
9You will say to the prisoners, “Come out,”
and to those who are in darkness, “Show yourselves.”
They will graze along every path,
and they will find pastures on every bare hill.
10They will never be hungry or thirsty,
nor will the sun or the burning, hot wind strike them.
The one who has compassion on them will lead them
and guide them to springs.
11I will turn all my mountains into roads,
and my highways will be restored.
12They will come from far away.
They will come from the north and from the west,
and they will come from the land of Sinim.
13Sing with joy, you heavens!
Rejoice, you earth!
Break into shouts of joy, you mountains!
The Lord has comforted his people
and will have compassion on his humble people.
The LORD Has Not Forgotten Israel
14But Zion said, “The Lord has abandoned me.
My Lord has forgotten me.”
15Can a woman forget her nursing child?
Will she have no compassion on the child from her womb?
Although mothers may forget,
I will not forget you.
16I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.
Your walls are always in my presence.
17Your children will hurry back.
Those who destroyed you and laid waste to you will leave you.
18Look up, look around, and watch!
All of your children are gathering together and returning to you.
“I solemnly swear as I live,” declares the Lord,
“you will wear all of them like jewels
and display them on yourself as a bride would.”
19Though you are destroyed and demolished and your land is in ruins,
you will be too crowded for ⌞your⌟ people now.
Those who devoured you will be long gone.
20The children taken from you will say to you,
“This place is too crowded for me.
Make room for me to live here.”
21Then you will ask yourself,
“Who has fathered these ⌞children⌟ for me?
I was childless and unable to have children.
I was exiled and rejected.
Who raised these ⌞children for me⌟?
I was left alone.
Where have they come from?”
22This is what the Almighty Lord says:
I will lift my hand ⌞to signal⌟ the nations.
I will raise my flag for the people.
They will bring your sons in their arms
and carry your daughters on their shoulders.
23Then kings will be your foster fathers,
and their queens will nurse you.
They will bow in front of you
with their faces touching the ground.
They will lick the dust at your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord.
Those who wait with hope for me will not be put to shame.
24Can loot be taken away from mighty men
or prisoners be freed from conquerors?
25This is what the Lord says:
Prisoners will be freed from mighty men.
Loot will be taken away from tyrants.
I will fight your enemies,
and I will save your children.
26I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh,
and they will become drunk on their own blood
as though it were new wine.
Then all humanity will know that I am the Lord, who saves you,
the Mighty One of Jacob, who reclaims you.
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Isaiah 49: GW
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GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.
Isaiah 49
49
1Listen, islands, to me.
Listen, you peoples, from afar:
Yahweh has called me from the womb;
from the inside of my mother, he has mentioned my name.
2He has made my mouth like a sharp sword.
He has hidden me in the shadow of his hand.
He has made me a polished shaft.
He has kept me close in his quiver.
3He said to me, “You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”
4But I said, “I have labored in vain.
I have spent my strength in vain for nothing;
yet surely the justice due to me is with Yahweh,
and my reward with my God.”
5Now Yahweh, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant,
says to bring Jacob again to him,
and to gather Israel to him,
for I am honorable in Yahweh’s eyes,
and my God has become my strength.
6Indeed, he says, “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob,
and to restore the preserved of Israel.
I will also give you as a light to the nations,
that you may be my salvation to the end of the earth.”
7Yahweh, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One,
says to him whom man despises, to him whom the nation abhors, to a servant of rulers:
“Kings shall see and rise up,
princes, and they shall worship,
because of Yahweh who is faithful, even the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”
8Yahweh says, “I have answered you in an acceptable time.
I have helped you in a day of salvation.
I will preserve you and give you for a covenant of the people,
to raise up the land, to make them inherit the desolate heritage,
9saying to those who are bound, ‘Come out!’;
to those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves!’
“They shall feed along the paths,
and their pasture shall be on all treeless heights.
10They shall not hunger nor thirst;
neither shall the heat nor sun strike them,
for he who has mercy on them will lead them.
He will guide them by springs of water.
11I will make all my mountains a road,
and my highways shall be exalted.
12Behold, these shall come from afar,
and behold, these from the north and from the west,
and these from the land of Sinim.”
13Sing, heavens, and be joyful, earth!
Break out into singing, mountains!
For Yahweh has comforted his people,
and will have compassion on his afflicted.
14But Zion said, “Yahweh has forsaken me,
and the Lord has forgotten me.”
15“Can a woman forget her nursing child,
that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb?
Yes, these may forget,
yet I will not forget you!
16Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.
Your walls are continually before me.
17Your children hurry.
Your destroyers and those who devastated you will leave you.
18Lift up your eyes all around, and see:
all these gather themselves together, and come to you.
As I live,” says Yahweh, “you shall surely clothe yourself with them all as with an ornament,
and dress yourself with them, like a bride.
19“For, as for your waste and your desolate places,
and your land that has been destroyed,
surely now that land will be too small for the inhabitants,
and those who swallowed you up will be far away.
20The children of your bereavement will say in your ears,
‘This place is too small for me.
Give me a place to live in.’
21Then you will say in your heart, ‘Who has conceived these for me, since I have been bereaved of my children
and am alone, an exile, and wandering back and forth?
Who has brought these up?
Behold, I was left alone. Where were these?’”
22The Lord Yahweh says, “Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations,
and lift up my banner to the peoples.
They shall bring your sons in their bosom,
and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.
23Kings shall be your foster fathers,
and their queens your nursing mothers.
They will bow down to you with their faces to the earth,
and lick the dust of your feet.
Then you will know that I am Yahweh;
and those who wait for me won’t be disappointed.”
24Shall the plunder be taken from the mighty,
or the lawful captives be delivered?
25But Yahweh says, “Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away,
and the plunder retrieved from the fierce,
for I will contend with him who contends with you
and I will save your children.
26I will feed those who oppress you with their own flesh;
and they will be drunk on their own blood, as with sweet wine.
Then all flesh shall know that I, Yahweh, am your Savior
and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”
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