Isaiah 49
49
The Servant Brings Salvation
1Coastlands, # Or Islands listen to me;
distant peoples, pay attention.
The Lord called # Is 44:2,24; 46:3; Jr 1:5 me before I was born.
He named me while I was in my mother’s womb. # Lk 1:15
2He made my words like a sharp sword; # Is 11:4; Heb 4:12; Rv 1:16; 2:12,16
He hid me in the shadow of His hand. # Is 51:16
He made me like a sharpened arrow;
He hid me in His quiver.
3He said to me, “You are My Servant, Israel; # Is 41:8-9; 42:1; 49:5-7; 50:10; 52:13; 53:11; Ezk 34:23-24; Zch 3:8; Ac 3:13
I will be glorified in him.”
4But I myself said: I have labored in vain,
I have spent my strength for nothing and futility;
yet my vindication is with the Lord,
and my reward is with my God.
5And 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 not enough for you to be My Servant
raising up the tribes of Jacob
and restoring the protected ones of Israel.
I will also make you a light for the nations, # Is 42:6; 51:4; Lk 2:32; Ac 13:47; 26:23
to be My salvation to the ends of the earth.” # Ac 13:47
7This is what the Lord,
the Redeemer # Is 41:14; 43:14 of Israel, his Holy One, says
to one who is despised,
to one abhorred by people, # Or by the nation # Ps 22:6-8; 69:7-9; Is 53:3
to a servant of rulers:
“Kings will see and stand up,
and princes # Lit princes and they will bow down,
because of the Lord, who is faithful,
the Holy One of Israel # Is 1:4 — and He has chosen you.” # Is 41:8-9; 42:1; 43:10,20; 44:1-2; 45:4; 65:9,15,22
8This is what the Lord says:
I will answer you in a time of favor,
and I will help you in the day of salvation. # Ps 69:13; 2Co 6:2
I will keep you, and I will appoint you
to be a covenant for the people, # Is 42:6
to restore the land,
to make them possess the desolate inheritances,
9saying to the prisoners: Come out, # Is 42:7; 61:1; Lk 4:18
and to those who are in darkness: Show yourselves.
They will feed along the pathways,
and their pastures will be on all the barren heights. # Is 41:18
10They will not hunger or thirst,
the scorching heat or sun will not strike them;
for their compassionate One will guide them,
and lead them to springs of water. # Ps 23:2; Is 40:11; Jn 4:10; Rv 7:16-17
11I will make all My mountains into a road,
and My highways will be raised up. # Is 40:4
12See, these will come from far away,
from the north and from the west, # Lit sea # Is 43:5-6
and from the land of Sinim. # DSS read of the Syenites # Perhaps modern Aswan in southern Egypt
13Shout for joy, you heavens! # Is 44:23
Earth, rejoice!
Mountains break into joyful shouts!
For the Lord has comforted His people, # Is 40:1
and will have compassion on His afflicted ones. # Is 54:7-10; Mt 11:29
Zion Remembered
14Zion says, “The Lord has abandoned me;
The Lord has forgotten me! ”
15“Can a woman forget her nursing child,
or lack compassion for the child of her womb?
Even if these forget,
yet I will not forget you.
16Look, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; # Sg 8:6; Hg 2:23
your walls are continually before Me.
17Your builders # DSS, Aq, Theod, Vg; MT, Syr, Sym read sons hurry;
those who destroy and devastate you will leave you.
18Look up, and look around.
They all gather together; they come to you. # Is 60:4
As I live” —
this is the Lord’s declaration —
“you will wear all your children # Lit all of them as jewelry,
and put them on as a bride does.
19For your waste and desolate places
and your land marked by ruins —
will now be indeed too small for the inhabitants, # Is 54:1-2; Zch 10:10
and those who swallowed you up will be far away.
20Yet as you listen, the children
that you have been deprived of will say,
‘This place is too small for me;
make room for me so that I may settle.’ # Is 54:1-3
21Then you will say within yourself,
‘Who fathered these for me?
I was deprived of my children and unable to conceive,
exiled and wandering —
but who brought them up?
See, I was left by myself —
but these, where did they come from? ’ ” # Lit where are they
22This is what the Lord God says:
Look, I will lift up My hand to the nations,
and raise My banner to the peoples. # Is 11:10-12; 18:3; 62:10
They will bring your sons in their arms,
and your daughters will be carried on their shoulders. # Is 14:2; 43:6; 60:4
23Kings will be your foster fathers,
and their queens # Lit princesses your nursing mothers. # Is 60:3,10-11
They will bow down to you
with their faces to the ground,
and lick the dust at your feet. # Is 14:1-2
Then you will know that I am Yahweh; # Is 41:20; 43:10; 60:16
those who put their hope in Me
will not be put to shame. # Ps 25:3; Is 45:17; Jl 2:27
24Can the prey be taken from the mighty,
or the captives of the righteous # DSS, Syr, Vg read fearsome one, or tyrant be delivered?
25For this is what the Lord says:
“Even the captives of a mighty man will be taken,
and the prey of a tyrant will be delivered;
I will contend with the one who contends with you,
and I will save your children.
26I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh, # Is 9:20
and they will be drunk with their own blood
as with sweet wine.
Then all flesh will know
that I, Yahweh, am your Savior, # Is 43:3
and your Redeemer, # Is 41:14 the Mighty One of Jacob.” # Gn 49:24; Ps 132:2,5; Is 60:16
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Isaiah 49: HCSB
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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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