Isaiah 49

CHAPTER 49

I Will Give You as a Light of the Nations

¹Listen to Me, O ^acoastlands,

And pay attention, you peoples from afar.

^bYahweh called Me from the womb;

From the ¹body of My mother He made My name to be remembered.

²He has set My ^amouth like a sharp sword;

In the ^bshadow of His hand He has concealed Me;

And He has also set Me as a ¹select ^carrow;

He has hidden Me in His quiver.

³He said to Me, “^aYou are My Servant, Israel,

^bIn Whom I will ¹show forth My beautiful glory.”

⁴But I said, “I have ^atoiled in vain;

I have spent My might for ¹nothing and vanity;

Yet surely the justice due to Me is with Yahweh,

And My ^breward with My God.”

⁵So now says ^aYahweh, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant,

To return Jacob back to Him, so that ^bIsrael might be gathered to Him

(For I am ^cglorified in the sight of Yahweh,

And My God is My ^dstrength),

⁶He says, “It is too ¹small a thing that You should be My Servant

To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to cause the ^apreserved ones of Israel to return;

I will also give You as a ^blight ²of the nations

So that My salvation may ³reach to the ^cend of the earth.”

⁷Thus says Yahweh, the ^aRedeemer of Israel and its Holy One,

To the ^bdespised One,

To the One abhorred by the nation,

To the Servant of rulers,

“^cKings will see and arise,

Princes will also ^dbow down,

Because of Yahweh who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen You.”

⁸Thus says Yahweh,

“In an ^aacceptable time I have answered You,

And in a day of salvation I have helped You;

And I will ^bguard You and ^cgive You for a covenant of the people,

To ^destablish the land, to make them inherit the desolate ¹inheritance;

⁹Saying to those who are ^abound, ‘Go forth,’

To those who are in darkness, ‘¹Show yourselves.’

Along the roads they will ²feed,

And their pasture will be on all ^bbare heights.

¹⁰“They will ^anot hunger or thirst,

Nor will the scorching ^bheat or sun strike them down;

For ^cHe who has compassion on them will ^dguide them

And will lead them to ^esprings of water.

¹¹“I will set all ^aMy mountains as a road,

And My ^bhighways will be raised up.

¹²“Behold, these will come ^afrom afar;

And behold, these will come from the ^bnorth and from the west,

And these from the land of Sinim.”

^13aShout for joy, O heavens! And rejoice, O earth!

Break forth into joyful shouting, O mountains!

For ^bYahweh has comforted His people

And will ^chave compassion on His afflicted.

Promise to Zion

¹⁴But Zion said, “Yahweh has forsaken me,

And the Lord has forgotten me.”

¹⁵“Can a woman forget her infant

And have no compassion on the son of her womb?

Even these may forget, but ^aI will not forget you.

¹⁶“Behold, I have ^ainscribed you on the palms of My hands;

Your ^bwalls are continually before Me.

¹⁷“Your ¹builders hurry;

Your ^adestroyers and devastators

Will depart from you.

¹⁸“^aLift up your eyes and look around;

^bAll of them gather together; ^cthey come to you.

^dAs I live,” declares Yahweh,

“You will surely ^eput on all of them as ¹jewels and bind them on as a bride.

¹⁹“For ^ayour ¹devastated and desolate places and your destroyed land—

Surely now you will be ^btoo cramped for the inhabitants,

And those who ^cswallowed you will be far away.

²⁰“The ^achildren of ¹whom you were bereaved will yet say in your ears,

‘The place is too cramped for me;

Make room for me that I may live here.’

²¹“Then you will ^asay in your heart,

‘Who has borne these for me?

Indeed, I have been bereaved of my children

And am ^bbarren, an ^cexile and a wanderer.

And who has reared these?

Behold, I ^dremained alone;

^1eFrom where did these come?’”

²²Thus says Lord Yahweh,

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

And make high My ^astandard to the peoples;

And they will ^bbring your sons in their bosom,

And your daughters will be lifted up on their shoulders.

²³“^aKings will be your guardians,

And their princesses your nurses.

They will ^bbow down to you with their ¹faces to the earth

And ^click the dust of your feet;

And you will ^dknow that I am Yahweh;

Those who ^ehope in Me will ^fnot be put to shame.

²⁴“^aCan the prey be taken from the mighty man,

Or the captives of the ¹righteous be granted escape?”

²⁵Surely, thus says Yahweh,

“Even the ^acaptives of the mighty man will be taken away,

And the prey of the tyrant will be granted escape;

For I will contend with the one who contends with you,

And I will ^bsave your sons.

²⁶“I will feed ^athose who mistreat you with their ^bown flesh,

And they will become drunk with their own blood as with sweet wine;

And ^call flesh will know that I, Yahweh, am your ^dSavior

And your ^eRedeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”