Isaiah 49:14-16 New English Translation
The Lord Remembers Zion
14 “Zion said, ‘The Lord has abandoned me,
the Lord[a] has forgotten me.’
15 Can a woman forget her baby who nurses at her breast?[b]
Can she withhold compassion from the child she has borne?[c]
Even if mothers[d] were to forget,
I could never forget you![e]
16 Look, I have inscribed your name[f] on my palms;
your walls are constantly before me.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 49:14 tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (ʾadonay).
- Isaiah 49:15 tn Heb “her suckling”; NASB “her nursing child.”
- Isaiah 49:15 tn Heb “so as not to have compassion on the son of her womb?”
- Isaiah 49:15 tn Heb “these” (so ASV, NASB).
- Isaiah 49:15 sn The argument of v. 15 seems to develop as follows: The Lord has an innate attachment to Zion, just like a mother does for her infant child. But even if mothers were to suddenly abandon their children, the Lord would never forsake Zion. In other words, the Lord’s attachment to Zion is like a mother’s attachment to her infant child, but even stronger.
- Isaiah 49:16 tn Heb “you.” Here the pronoun is put by metonymy for the person’s name.
New English Translation (NET)
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