Isaiah 49–57

Israel, A Light to the Nations

49^*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*

He made my words as sharp as a sword.

With his own hand he protected me.^z 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*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*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*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^a 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.”

50The Lord says,

“Do you think I sent my people away

like a man who divorces his wife?

Where, then, are the papers of divorce?

Do you think I sold you into captivity

like a man who sells his children as slaves?

No, you went away captive because of your sins;

you were sent away because of your crimes.

²“Why did my people fail to respond

when I went to them to save them?

Why did they not answer when I called?

Am I too weak to save them?

I can dry up the sea with a command

and turn rivers into a desert,

so that the fish in them die for lack of water.

³I can make the sky turn dark,

as if it were in mourning for the dead.”

The Obedience of the ’s Servant

⁴The Sovereign Lord has taught me what to say,

so that I can strengthen the weary.

Every morning he makes me eager

to hear what he is going to teach me.

⁵The Lord has given me understanding,

and I have not rebelled

or turned away from him.

^6*I bared my back to those who beat me.

I did not stop them when they insulted me,

when they pulled out the hairs of my beard

and spat in my face.

⁷But their insults cannot hurt me

because the Sovereign Lord gives me help.

I brace myself to endure them.

I know that I will not be disgraced,

^8*for God is near,

and he will prove me innocent.

Does anyone dare to bring charges against me?

Let us go to court together!

Let him bring his accusation!

^9*The Sovereign Lord himself defends me—

who, then, can prove me guilty?

All my accusers will disappear;

they will vanish like moth-eaten cloth.

¹⁰All of you that honour the Lord

and obey the words of his servant,

the path you walk may be dark indeed,

but trust in the Lord, rely on your God.

¹¹All of you that plot to destroy others

will be destroyed by your own plots.

The Lord himself will make this happen;

you will suffer a miserable fate.

Words of Comfort to Jerusalem

51The Lord says,

“Listen to me,

you that want to be saved, you that come to me for help.

Think of the rock from which you came,

the quarry from which you were dug.

²Think of your ancestor, Abraham,

and of Sarah, from whom you are descended.

When I called Abraham, he was childless,

but I blessed him and gave him children;

I made his descendants numerous.

³“I will show compassion to Jerusalem,

to all who live in her ruins.

Though her land is a desert, I will make it a garden,

like the garden I planted in Eden.

Joy and gladness will be there,

and songs of praise and thanks to me.

⁴“Listen to me, my people,

listen to what I say:

I give my teaching to the nations;

my laws will bring them light.

⁵I will come quickly and save them;

the time of my victory is near.

I myself will rule over the nations.

Distant lands wait for me to come;

they wait with hope for me to save them.

⁶Look up at the heavens; look at the earth!

The heavens will disappear like smoke;

the earth will wear out like old clothing,

and all its people will die like flies.

But the deliverance I bring will last for ever;

my victory will be final.

⁷“Listen to me, you that know what is right,

who have my teaching fixed in your hearts.

Do not be afraid when people taunt and insult you;

⁸they will vanish like moth-eaten clothing!

But the deliverance I bring will last for ever;

my victory will endure for all time.”

⁹Wake up, Lord, and help us!

Use your power and save us;

use it as you did in ancient times.

It was you that cut the sea monster Rahab^b to pieces.

¹⁰It was you also who dried up the sea

and made a path through the water,

so that those you were saving could cross.

¹¹Those whom you have rescued

will reach Jerusalem with gladness,

singing and shouting for joy.

They will be happy

for ever, for ever free from sorrow and grief.

¹²The Lord says,

“I am the one who strengthens you.

Why should you fear mortals,

who are no more enduring than grass?

¹³Have you forgotten the Lord who made you,

who stretched out the heavens

and laid the earth’s foundations?

Why should you live in constant fear

of the fury of those who oppress you,

of those who are ready to destroy you?

Their fury can no longer touch you.

¹⁴Those who are prisoners will soon be set free;

they will live a long life

and have all the food they need.

¹⁵“I am the Lord your God;

I stir up the sea

and make its waves roar.

My name is the Lord Almighty!

¹⁶I stretched out^c the heavens

and laid the earth’s foundations;

I say to Jerusalem, ‘You are my people!

I have given you my teaching,

and I protect you with my hand.’ ”

The End of Jerusalem’s Suffering

¹⁷Jerusalem, wake up!

Rouse yourself and get up!

You have drunk the cup of punishment

that the Lord in his anger gave you to drink;

you drank it down, and it made you stagger.

¹⁸There is no one to lead you,

no one among your people

to take you by the hand.

¹⁹A double disaster has fallen on you:

your land has been devastated by war,

and your people have starved.

There is no one to show you sympathy.

²⁰At the corner of every street

your people collapse from weakness;

they are like deer caught in a hunter’s net.

They have felt the force of God’s anger.

²¹You suffering people of Jerusalem,

you that stagger as though you were drunk,

²²the Lord your God defends you and says,

“I am taking away the cup

that I gave you in my anger.

You will no longer have to drink

the wine that makes you stagger.

²³I will give it to those who oppressed you,

to those who made you lie down in the streets

and trampled on you as if you were dirt.”

God Will Rescue Jerusalem

52^*Jerusalem, be strong and great again!

Holy city of God, clothe yourself with splendour!

The heathen will never enter your gates again.

²Shake yourself free, Jerusalem!

Rise from the dust and sit on your throne!

Undo the chains that bind you,

captive people of Zion!

³The Sovereign…