Isaiah 49:1–26
The Servant, the Light to the Gentiles
49 “Listen, aO coastlands, to Me,
And take heed, you peoples from afar!
bThe Lord has called Me from the womb;
From the 1matrix of My mother He has made mention of My name.
2 And He has made cMy mouth like a sharp sword;
dIn the shadow of His hand He has hidden Me,
And made Me ea polished shaft;
In His quiver He has hidden Me.”
f‘You are My servant, O Israel,
gIn whom I will be glorified.’
4 hThen I said, ‘I have labored in vain,
I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain;
Yet surely my 2just reward is with the Lord,
And my 3work with my God.’ ”
Who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant,
To bring Jacob back to Him,
So that Israel iis 4gathered to Him
(For I shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord,
And My God shall be My strength),
‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant
To raise up the tribes of Jacob,
And to restore the preserved ones of Israel;
I will also give You as a jlight to the Gentiles,
That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ”
The Redeemer of Israel, 5their Holy One,
To Him whom the nation abhors,
To the Servant of rulers:
l“Kings shall see and arise,
Princes also shall worship,
Because of the Lord who is faithful,
The Holy One of Israel;
And He has chosen You.”
“In an macceptable 7time I have heard You,
And in the day of salvation I have helped You;
I will 8preserve You nand give You
As a covenant to the people,
To restore the earth,
To cause them to inherit the desolate 9heritages;
9 That You may say oto the prisoners, ‘Go forth,’
To those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’
“They shall feed along the roads,
And their pastures shall be on all desolate heights.
10 They shall neither phunger nor thirst,
qNeither heat nor sun shall strike them;
For He who has mercy on them rwill lead them,
Even by the springs of water He will guide them.
11 sI will make each of My mountains a road,
And My highways shall be elevated.
12 Surely tthese shall come from afar;
Look! Those from the north and the west,
And these from the land of Sinim.”
13 uSing, O heavens!
Be joyful, O earth!
And break out in singing, O mountains!
For the Lord has comforted His people,
And will have mercy on His afflicted.
14 vBut Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me,
And my Lord has forgotten me.”
15 “Can wa woman forget her nursing child,
1And not have compassion on the son of her womb?
Surely they may forget,
xYet I will not forget you.
16 See, yI have inscribed you on the palms of My hands;
Your walls are continually before Me.
17 Your 2sons shall make haste;
Your destroyers and those who laid you waste
Shall go away from you.
18 zLift up your eyes, look around and see;
All these gather together and come to you.
As I live,” says the Lord,
“You shall surely clothe yourselves with them all aas an ornament,
And bind them on you as a bride does.
19 “For your waste and desolate places,
And the land of your destruction,
bWill even now be too small for the inhabitants;
And those who swallowed you up will be far away.
20 cThe children you will have,
dAfter you have lost the others,
Will say again in your ears,
‘The place is too small for me;
Give me a place where I may dwell.’
21 Then you will say in your heart,
‘Who has begotten these for me,
Since I have lost my children and am desolate,
A captive, and wandering to and fro?
And who has brought these up?
There I was, left alone;
But these, where were they?’ ”
22 eThus says the Lord God:
“Behold, I will lift My hand in an oath to the nations,
And set up My 3standard for the peoples;
They shall bring your sons in their 4arms,
And your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders;
23 fKings shall be your foster fathers,
And their queens your nursing mothers;
They shall bow down to you with their faces to the earth,
And glick up the dust of your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord,
hFor they shall not be ashamed who wait for Me.”
24 iShall the prey be taken from the mighty,
Or the captives 5of the righteous be delivered?
“Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away,
And the prey of the terrible be delivered;
For I will contend with him who contends with you,
And I will save your children.
26 I will jfeed those who oppress you with their own flesh,
And they shall be drunk with their own kblood as with sweet wine.
All flesh lshall know
That I, the Lord, am your Savior,
And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”