Isaiah 49
Names of God Bible
The Lord’s Servant Will Bring Salvation to the Nations
49 Listen to me, you islands.
Pay attention, you people far away.
Before I was born, Yahweh chose me.
While I was in my mother’s womb, he recorded my name.
2 He 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.
3 He said to me,
“You are my servant Israel.
I will display my glory through you.”
4 But 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 Yahweh’s hands,
and my reward is with my Elohim.”
5 Yahweh formed me in the womb to be his servant
in order to bring Jacob back to him
and gather Israel to him.
(Yahweh honors me,
and my Elohim has become my strength.)
6 Now, Yahweh 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.”
7 Yahweh is the Go’el of Israel, its Holy One.
This is what Yahweh 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.
Yahweh is faithful.
Qedosh Yisrael has chosen you.
8 This is what Yahweh 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[a] to the people.
You will restore the land.
You will make them inherit the desolate inheritance.
9 You 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.
10 They 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.
11 I will turn all my mountains into roads,
and my highways will be restored.
12 They will come from far away.
They will come from the north and from the west,
and they will come from the land of Sinim.
13 Sing with joy, you heavens!
Rejoice, you earth!
Break into shouts of joy, you mountains!
Yahweh has comforted his people
and will have compassion on his humble people.
The Lord Has Not Forgotten Israel
14 But Zion said, “Yahweh has abandoned me.
My Adonay has forgotten me.”
15 Can 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.
16 I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.
Your walls are always in my presence.
17 Your children will hurry back.
Those who destroyed you and laid waste to you will leave you.
18 Look up, look around, and watch!
All of your children are gathering together and returning to you.
“I solemnly swear as I live,” declares Yahweh,
“you will wear all of them like jewels
and display them on yourself as a bride would.”
19 Though 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.
20 The children taken from you will say to you,
“This place is too crowded for me.
Make room for me to live here.”
21 Then 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?”
22 This is what Adonay Yahweh 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.
23 Then 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 Yahweh.
Those who wait with hope for me will not be put to shame.
24 Can loot be taken away from mighty men
or prisoners be freed from conquerors?
25 This is what Yahweh 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.
26 I 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 Yahweh, who saves you,
the Mighty One of Jacob, who reclaims you.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 49:8 Or “covenant.”
Isaiah 49
King James Version
49 Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The Lord hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name.
2 And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me;
3 And said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.
4 Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God.
5 And now, saith the Lord that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be my strength.
6 And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.
7 Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the Lord that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee.
8 Thus saith the Lord, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages;
9 That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places.
10 They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them.
11 And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted.
12 Behold, these shall come from far: and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim.
13 Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.
14 But Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me.
15 Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.
16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.
17 Thy children shall make haste; thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee.
18 Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the Lord, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride doeth.
19 For thy waste and thy desolate places, and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away.
20 The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, The place is too strait for me: give place to me that I may dwell.
21 Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? and who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been?
22 Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.
23 And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.
24 Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered?
25 But thus saith the Lord, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.
26 And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.