Isaiah 49–50

49TH CHAPTER

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^ato 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. 

50TH CHAPTER

The Lord’s People Were Sold because of Their Sin

¹This is what the Lord says: 

Where are your mother’s divorce papers? 

Did I give her any to get rid of her? 

To which of my creditors did I sell you? 

You were sold because of your sins. 

I got rid of your mother because of your rebellion. 

²Why was no one here when I came? 

Why was no one here to answer when I called? 

Am I too weak to reclaim you? 

Don’t I have the power to rescue you? 

I dry up the sea with my command, 

and I turn rivers into deserts. 

Their fish stink because there is no water, 

and people die of thirst. 

³I clothe the heavens in darkness 

and cover them with sackcloth. 

The Lord’s Servant Trusts in the Lord’s Help

⁴The Almighty Lord will teach me what to say, 

so I will know how to encourage weary people. 

Morning after morning he will wake me 

to listen like a student. 

⁵The Almighty Lord will open my ears. 

I will not rebel, nor will I turn away ⸤from him⸥. 

⁶I will offer my back to those who whip me 

and my cheeks to those who pluck hairs out of my beard. 

I will not turn my face away from those who humiliate me 

and spit on me. 

⁷The Almighty Lord helps me. 

That is why I will not be ashamed. 

I have set my face like a flint. 

I know that I will not be put to shame. 

⁸The one who pronounces me innocent is near. 

Who will bring a case against me? 

Let us confront each other! 

Who accuses me? 

Let him confront me! 

⁹The Almighty Lord helps me. 

Who will find me guilty? 

They will all wear out like a garment. 

Moths will eat them. 

¹⁰Who among you fears the Lord 

and obeys his servant? 

Let those who walk in darkness and have no light 

trust the name of the Lord 

and depend upon their God. 

¹¹But all of you light fires 

and arm yourselves with flaming torches. 

So walk in your own light 

and among the torches you have lit. 

This is what you will receive from me: 

You will be tormented.