Isaiah 49

The Servant Brings Salvation

49Coastlands, ^slisten to me;

distant peoples, pay attention.

The Lord called ^tme before I was born.

He named me while I was in my mother’s womb. ^u

²He made my words like a sharp sword; ^v

He hid me in the shadow of His hand. ^w

He made me like a sharpened arrow;

He hid me in His quiver.

³He said to me, “You are My Servant, Israel; ^x

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, ^y

to be My salvation to the ends of the earth.” ^z

⁷This is what the Lord,

the Redeemer ^aof Israel, his Holy One, says

to one who is despised,

to one abhorred by people, ^bc

to a servant of rulers:

“Kings will see and stand up,

and princes ^dwill bow down,

because of the Lord, who is faithful,

the Holy One of Israel ^e—and He has chosen you.” ^f

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. ^g

I will keep you, and I will appoint you

to be a covenant for the people, ^h

to restore the land,

to make them possess the desolate inheritances,

⁹saying to the prisoners: Come out, ⁱ

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. ^j

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. ^k

¹¹I will make all My mountains into a road,

and My highways will be raised up. ^l

¹²See, these will come from far away,

from the north and from the west, ^mn

and from the land of Sinim. ^op

¹³Shout for joy, you heavens! ^q

Earth, rejoice!

Mountains break into joyful shouts!

For the Lord has comforted His people, ^r

and will have compassion on His afflicted ones. ^s

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; ^t

your walls are continually before Me.

¹⁷Your builders ^uhurry;

those who destroy and devastate you will leave you.

¹⁸Look up, and look around.

They all gather together; they come to you. ^v

As I live”—

this is the Lord’s declaration—

“you will wear all your children ^was 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, ^x

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.’ ^y

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?’ ” ^z

²²This is what the Lord God says:

Look, I will lift up My hand to the nations,

and raise My banner to the peoples. ^a

They will bring your sons in their arms,

and your daughters will be carried on their shoulders. ^b

²³Kings will be your foster fathers,

and their queens ^cyour nursing mothers. ^d

They will bow down to you

with their faces to the ground,

and lick the dust at your feet. ^e

Then you will know that I am Yahweh; ^f

those who put their hope in Me

will not be put to shame. ^g

²⁴Can the prey be taken from the mighty,

or the captives of the righteous ^hbe 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, ⁱ

and they will be drunk with their own blood

as with sweet wine.

Then all flesh will know

that I, Yahweh, am your Savior, ^j

and your Redeemer, ^kthe Mighty One of Jacob.” ^l