Isaiah 49

The Servant of the Lord

49Listen to me, ^kO coastlands,

and give attention, you peoples ^lfrom afar.

^mThe Lord called me from the womb,

from the body of my mother he named my name.

²ⁿHe made my mouth like a sharp sword;

^oin the shadow of his hand he hid me;

he made me a polished arrow;

in his quiver he hid me away.

³And he said to me, “You are my servant,

Israel, ^pin whom I will be glorified.”¹

^4qBut I said, “I have labored in vain;

I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;

yet surely my right is with the Lord,

and my recompense with my God.”

^5rAnd now the Lord says,

he ^mwho formed me from the womb to be his servant,

to bring Jacob back to him;

and that Israel might be gathered to him—

for ^sI am honored in the eyes of the Lord,

and my God has become my strength—

⁶he says:

“It is too light a thing that you should be my servant

to raise up the tribes of Jacob

and to bring back the preserved of Israel;

^tI will make you ^uas a light for the nations,

that ^vmy salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

⁷Thus says the Lord,

^wthe Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One,

^xto one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation,

the servant of rulers:

^y“Kings shall see and arise;

princes, and they shall prostrate themselves;

because of the Lord, who is faithful,

the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

The Restoration of Israel

⁸Thus says the Lord:

^z“In a ^atime of favor I have answered you;

in a day of salvation I have helped you;

I will keep you ^band give you

as a covenant to the people,

to establish the land,

^cto apportion the desolate heritages,

^9dsaying to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’

to those who are in darkness, ‘Appear.’

^eThey shall feed along the ways;

on all bare heights shall be their pasture;

^10fthey shall not hunger or thirst,

neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them,

for he who has pity on them ^gwill lead them,

and by springs of water will guide them.

^11hAnd I will make all my mountains a road,

and my highways shall be raised up.

¹²ⁱBehold, these shall come from afar,

and behold, ^jthese from the north and from the west,²

and these from the land of Syene.”³

^13kSing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth;

break forth, O mountains, into singing!

For the Lord ^lhas comforted his people

and will have compassion on his afflicted.

¹⁴But Zion said, ^m“The Lord has forsaken me;

my Lord has forgotten me.”

¹⁵ⁿ“Can a woman forget her nursing child,

that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?

Even these may forget,

yet I will not forget you.

¹⁶Behold, ^oI have engraved you on the palms of my hands;

your walls are continually before me.

¹⁷Your builders make haste;⁴

^pyour destroyers and those who laid you waste go out from you.

^18qLift up your eyes around and see;

they all gather, they come to you.

^rAs I live, declares the Lord,

^syou shall put them all on as an ornament;

you shall bind them on as a bride does.

¹⁹“Surely your waste and your desolate places

and your devastated land—

^tsurely now you will be too narrow for your inhabitants,

and those who swallowed you up will be far away.

^20uThe children of your bereavement

will yet say in your ears:

^t‘The place is too narrow for me;

make room for me to dwell in.’

²¹Then you will say in your heart:

‘Who has borne me these?

^uI was bereaved and barren,

exiled and put away,

but who has brought up these?

Behold, I was left alone;

from where have these come?’ ”

²²Thus says the Lord God:

“Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations,

^vand raise my signal to the peoples;

^wand they shall bring your sons in their arms,⁵

and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.

^23xKings shall be your foster fathers,

and their queens your nursing mothers.

^yWith their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you,

and ^zlick the dust of your feet.

Then you will know that I am the Lord;

^athose who wait for me ^bshall not be put to shame.”

²⁴Can the prey be taken from the mighty,

or the captives of a tyrant⁶ be rescued?

²⁵For thus says the Lord:

^c“Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken,

and the prey of the tyrant be rescued,

for I will contend with those who contend with you,

and I will save your children.

^26dI will make your oppressors eat their own flesh,

and they shall be drunk ^ewith their own blood as with wine.

Then all flesh shall know

that ^fI am the Lord your Savior,

and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”