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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.
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.

He said to me,
    “You are my servant Israel.
        I will display my glory through you.”
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.”

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.)

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.”

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.

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.
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

  1. Isaiah 49:8 Or “covenant.”

The Servant of the Lord

49 Listen(A) to me, you islands;(B)
    hear this, you distant nations:
Before I was born(C) the Lord called(D) me;
    from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name.(E)
He made my mouth(F) like a sharpened sword,(G)
    in the shadow of his hand(H) he hid me;
he made me into a polished arrow(I)
    and concealed me in his quiver.
He said to me, “You are my servant,(J)
    Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.(K)
But I said, “I have labored in vain;(L)
    I have spent my strength for nothing at all.
Yet what is due me is in the Lord’s hand,(M)
    and my reward(N) is with my God.”(O)

And now the Lord says—
    he who formed me in the womb(P) to be his servant
to bring Jacob back to him
    and gather Israel(Q) to himself,
for I am[a] honored(R) in the eyes of the Lord
    and my God has been my strength(S)
he says:
“It is too small a thing for you to be my servant(T)
    to restore the tribes of Jacob
    and bring back those of Israel I have kept.(U)
I will also make you a light(V) for the Gentiles,(W)
    that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”(X)

This is what the Lord says—
    the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel(Y)
to him who was despised(Z) and abhorred by the nation,
    to the servant of rulers:
“Kings(AA) will see you and stand up,
    princes will see and bow down,(AB)
because of the Lord, who is faithful,(AC)
    the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen(AD) you.”

Restoration of Israel

This is what the Lord says:

“In the time of my favor(AE) I will answer you,
    and in the day of salvation I will help you;(AF)
I will keep(AG) you and will make you
    to be a covenant for the people,(AH)
to restore the land(AI)
    and to reassign its desolate inheritances,(AJ)
to say to the captives,(AK) ‘Come out,’
    and to those in darkness,(AL) ‘Be free!’

“They will feed beside the roads
    and find pasture on every barren hill.(AM)
10 They will neither hunger nor thirst,(AN)
    nor will the desert heat or the sun beat down on them.(AO)
He who has compassion(AP) on them will guide(AQ) them
    and lead them beside springs(AR) of water.
11 I will turn all my mountains into roads,
    and my highways(AS) will be raised up.(AT)
12 See, they will come from afar(AU)
    some from the north, some from the west,(AV)
    some from the region of Aswan.[b]

13 Shout for joy,(AW) you heavens;
    rejoice, you earth;(AX)
    burst into song, you mountains!(AY)
For the Lord comforts(AZ) his people
    and will have compassion(BA) on his afflicted ones.(BB)

14 But Zion(BC) said, “The Lord has forsaken(BD) me,
    the Lord has forgotten me.”

15 “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast
    and have no compassion on the child(BE) she has borne?
Though she may forget,
    I will not forget you!(BF)
16 See, I have engraved(BG) you on the palms of my hands;
    your walls(BH) are ever before me.
17 Your children hasten back,
    and those who laid you waste(BI) depart from you.
18 Lift up your eyes and look around;
    all your children gather(BJ) and come to you.
As surely as I live,(BK)” declares the Lord,
    “you will wear(BL) them all as ornaments;
    you will put them on, like a bride.

19 “Though you were ruined and made desolate(BM)
    and your land laid waste,(BN)
now you will be too small for your people,(BO)
    and those who devoured(BP) you will be far away.
20 The 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.’(BQ)
21 Then you will say in your heart,
    ‘Who bore me these?(BR)
I was bereaved(BS) and barren;
    I was exiled and rejected.(BT)
    Who brought these(BU) up?
I was left(BV) all alone,(BW)
    but these—where have they come from?’”

22 This is what the Sovereign Lord(BX) says:

“See, I will beckon to the nations,
    I will lift up my banner(BY) to the peoples;
they will bring(BZ) your sons in their arms
    and carry your daughters on their hips.(CA)
23 Kings(CB) will be your foster fathers,
    and their queens your nursing mothers.(CC)
They will bow down(CD) before you with their faces to the ground;
    they will lick the dust(CE) at your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord;(CF)
    those who hope(CG) in me will not be disappointed.(CH)

24 Can plunder be taken from warriors,(CI)
    or captives be rescued from the fierce[c]?

25 But this is what the Lord says:

“Yes, captives(CJ) will be taken from warriors,(CK)
    and plunder retrieved from the fierce;(CL)
I will contend with those who contend with you,(CM)
    and your children I will save.(CN)
26 I will make your oppressors(CO) eat(CP) their own flesh;
    they will be drunk on their own blood,(CQ) as with wine.
Then all mankind will know(CR)
    that I, the Lord, am your Savior,(CS)
    your Redeemer,(CT) the Mighty One of Jacob.(CU)

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 49:5 Or him, / but Israel would not be gathered; / yet I will be
  2. Isaiah 49:12 Dead Sea Scrolls; Masoretic Text Sinim
  3. Isaiah 49:24 Dead Sea Scrolls, Vulgate and Syriac (see also Septuagint and verse 25); Masoretic Text righteous

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.

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;

And said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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;

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.