Isaiah 49–57

The Servant of the Lord

49Listen^s to me, you islands;^t

hear this, you distant nations:

Before I was born^u the Lord called^v me;

from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name.^w

²He made my mouth^x like a sharpened sword,^y

in the shadow of his hand^z he hid me;

he made me into a polished arrow^a

and concealed me in his quiver.

³He said to me, “You are my servant,^b

Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.^c”

⁴But I said, “I have labored in vain;^d

I have spent my strength for nothing at all.

Yet what is due me is in the Lord’s hand,^e

and my reward^f is with my God.”^g

⁵And now the Lord says—

he who formed me in the womb^h to be his servant

to bring Jacob back to him

and gather Israelⁱ to himself,

for I am^a honored^j in the eyes of the Lord

and my God has been my strength^k—

⁶he says:

“It is too small a thing for you to be my servant^l

to restore the tribes of Jacob

and bring back those of Israel I have kept.^m

I will also make you a lightⁿ for the Gentiles,^o

that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”^p

⁷This is what the Lord says—

the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel^q—

to him who was despised^r and abhorred by the nation,

to the servant of rulers:

“Kings^s will see you and stand up,

princes will see and bow down,^t

because of the Lord, who is faithful,^u

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

Restoration of Israel

⁸This is what the Lord says:

“In the time of my favor^w I will answer you,

and in the day of salvation I will help you;^x

I will keep^y you and will make you

to be a covenant for the people,^z

to restore the land^a

and to reassign its desolate inheritances,^b

⁹to say to the captives,^c ‘Come out,’

and to those in darkness,^d ‘Be free!’

“They will feed beside the roads

and find pasture on every barren hill.^e

¹⁰They will neither hunger nor thirst,^f

nor will the desert heat or the sun beat down on them.^g

He who has compassion^h on them will guideⁱ them

and lead them beside springs^j of water.

¹¹I will turn all my mountains into roads,

and my highways^k will be raised up.^l

¹²See, they will come from afar^m—

some from the north, some from the west,ⁿ

some from the region of Aswan.^b”

¹³Shout for joy,^o you heavens;

rejoice, you earth;^p

burst into song, you mountains!^q

For the Lord comforts^r his people

and will have compassion^s on his afflicted ones.^t

¹⁴But Zion^u said, “The Lord has forsaken^v me,

the Lord has forgotten me.”

¹⁵“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast

and have no compassion on the child^w she has borne?

Though she may forget,

I will not forget you!^x

¹⁶See, I have engraved^y you on the palms of my hands;

your walls^z are ever before me.

¹⁷Your children hasten back,

and those who laid you waste^a depart from you.

¹⁸Lift up your eyes and look around;

all your children gather^b and come to you.

As surely as I live,^c” declares the Lord,

“you will wear^d them all as ornaments;

you will put them on, like a bride.

¹⁹“Though you were ruined and made desolate^e

and your land laid waste,^f

now you will be too small for your people,^g

and those who devoured^h you will be far away.

²⁰The children born during your bereavement

will yet say in your hearing,

‘This place is too small for us;

give us more space to live in.’ⁱ

²¹Then you will say in your heart,

‘Who bore me these?^j

I was bereaved^k and barren;

I was exiled and rejected.^l

Who brought these^m up?

I was leftⁿ all alone,^o

but these—where have they come from?’ ”

²²This is what the Sovereign Lord^p says:

“See, I will beckon to the nations,

I will lift up my banner^q to the peoples;

they will bring^r your sons in their arms

and carry your daughters on their hips.^s

²³Kings^t will be your foster fathers,

and their queens your nursing mothers.^u

They will bow down^v before you with their faces to the ground;

they will lick the dust^w at your feet.

Then you will know that I am the Lord;^x

those who hope^y in me will not be disappointed.^z”

²⁴Can plunder be taken from warriors,^a

or captives be rescued from the fierce^c?

²⁵But this is what the Lord says:

“Yes, captives^b will be taken from warriors,^c

and plunder retrieved from the fierce;^d

I will contend with those who contend with you,^e

and your children I will save.^f

²⁶I will make your oppressors^g eat^h their own flesh;

they will be drunk on their own blood,ⁱ as with wine.

Then all mankind will know^j

that I, the Lord, am your Savior,^k

your Redeemer,^l the Mighty One of Jacob.^m”

Israel’s Sin and the Servant’s Obedience

50This is what the Lord says:

“Where is your mother’s certificate of divorceⁿ

with which I sent her away?

Or to which of my creditors

did I sell^o you?

Because of your sins^p you were sold;^q

because of your transgressions your mother was sent away.

²When I came, why was there no one?

When I called, why was there no one to answer?^r

Was my arm too short^s to deliver you?

Do I lack the strength^t to rescue you?

By a mere rebuke^u I dry up the sea,^v

I turn rivers into a desert;^w

their fish rot for lack of water

and die of thirst.

³I clothe the heavens with darkness^x

and make sackcloth^y its covering.”

⁴The Sovereign Lord^z has given me a well-instructed tongue,^a

to know the word that sustains the weary.^b

He wakens me morning by morning,^c

wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.^d

⁵The Sovereign Lord^e has opened my ears;^f

I have not been rebellious,^g

I have not turned away.

⁶I offered my back to those who beat^h me,

my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard;ⁱ

I did not hide my face

from mocking and spitting.^j

⁷Because the Sovereign Lord^k helps^l me,

I will not be disgraced.

Therefore have I set my face like flint,^m

and I know I will not be put to shame.ⁿ

⁸He who vindicates^o me is near.^p

Who then will bring charges against me?^q

Let us face each other!^r

Who is my accuser?

Let him confront me!

⁹It is the Sovereign Lord^s who helps^t me.

Who will condemn^u me?

They will all wear out like a garment;

the moths^v will eat them up.

¹⁰Who among you fears^w the Lord

and obeys^x the word of his servant?^y

Let the one who walks in the dark,

who has no light,^z

trust^a in the name of the Lord

and rely on their God.

¹¹But now, all you who light fires

and provide yourselves with flaming torches,^b

go, walk in the light of your fires^c

and of the torches you have set ablaze.

This is what you shall receive from my hand:^d

You will lie down in torment.^e

Everlasting Salvation for Zion

51“Listen^f to me, you who pursue righteousness^g

and who seek^h the Lord:

Look to the rockⁱ from which you were cut

and to the quarry from which you were hewn;

²look to Abraham,^j your father,

and to Sarah, who gave you birth.

When I called him he was only one man,

and I blessed him and made him many.^k

³The Lord will surely comfort^l Zion^m

and will look with compassion on all her ruins;ⁿ

he will make her deserts like Eden,^o

her wastelands^p like the garden of the Lord.

Joy and gladness^q will be found in her,

thanksgiving^r and the sound of singing.

⁴“Listen to me, my people;^s

hear me,^t my nation:

Instruction^u will go out from me;

my justice^v will become a light to the nations.^w

⁵My righteousness draws near speedily,

my salvation^x is on the way,^y

and my arm^z will bring justice to the nations.

The islands^a will look to me

and wait in hope^b for my arm.

⁶Lift up your eyes to the heavens,

look at the earth beneath;

the heavens will vanish like smoke,^c

the earth will wear out like a garment^d

and its inhabitants die like flies.

But my salvation^e will last forever,^f

my righteousness will never fail.^g

⁷“Hear me, you who know what is right,^h

you people who have taken my instruction to heart:ⁱ

Do not fear the reproach of mere mortals

or be terrified by their insults.^j

⁸For the moth will eat them up like a garment;^k

the worm^l will devour them like wool.

But my righteousness will last forever,^m

my salvation through all generations.”

⁹Awake, awake,ⁿ arm^o of the Lord,

clothe yourself with strength!^p

Awake, as in days gone by,

as in generations of old.^q

Was it not you who cut Rahab^r to pieces,

who pierced that monster^s through?

¹⁰Was it not you who dried up the sea,^t

the waters of the great deep,^u

who made a road in the depths of the sea^v

so that the redeemed^w might cross over?

¹¹Those the Lord has rescued^x will return.

They will enter Zion with singing;^y

everlasting joy will crown their heads.

Gladness and joy^z will overtake them,

and sorrow and sighing will flee away.^a

¹²“I, even I, am he who comforts^b you.

Who are you that you fear^c mere mortals,^d

human beings who are but grass,^e

¹³that you forget^f the Lord your Maker,^g

who stretches out the heavens^h

and who lays the foundations of the earth,

that you live in constant terrorⁱ every day

because of the wrath of the oppressor,

who is bent on destruction?

For where is the wrath of the oppressor?^j

¹⁴The cowering prisoners will soon be set free;^k

they will not die in their dungeon,

nor will they lack bread.^l

¹⁵For I am the Lord your God,

who stirs up the sea^m so that its waves roarⁿ—

the Lord Almighty^o is his name.

¹⁶I have put my words in your mouth^p

and covered you with the shadow of my hand^q—

I who set the heavens in place,

who laid the foundations of the earth,^r

and who say to Zion, ‘You are my people.^s’ ”

The Cup of the Lord’s Wrath

¹⁷Awake, awake!^t

Rise up, Jerusalem,

you who have drunk from the hand of the Lord

the cup^u of his wrath,^v

you who have drained to its dregs^w

the goblet that makes people stagger.^x

¹⁸Among all the children^y she bore

there was none to guide her;^z

among all the children she reared

there was none to take her by the hand.^a

¹⁹These double calamities^b have come upon you—

who can comfort you?^c—

ruin and destruction,^d famine^e and sword^f—

who can^a console you?

²⁰Your children have fainted;

they lie at every street corner,^g

like antelope caught in a net.^h

They are filled with the wrathⁱ of the Lord,

with the rebuke^j of your God.

²¹Therefore hear this, you afflicted^k one,

made drunk,^l but not with wine.

²²This is what your Sovereign Lord says,

your God, who defends^m his people:

“See, I have taken out of your hand

the cupⁿ that made you stagger;

from that cup, the goblet of my wrath,

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