Isaiah 49
1 Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye peoples, from far: Jehovah 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 he hath made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he kept me
close:
3 and he said unto me, Thou art my servant; Israel, in whom I will be glorified.
4 But I said, I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nought and
vanity; yet surely the justice [due] to me is with Jehovah, and my recompense
with my God.
5 And now saith Jehovah that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring
Jacob again to him, and that Israel be gathered unto him (for I am honorable in
the eyes of Jehovah, and my God is become my strength);
6 yea, he saith, It is too light a 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 Jehovah, 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, and they shall worship; because of Jehovah that is
faithful, [even] the Holy One of Israel, who hath chosen thee.
8 Thus saith Jehovah, In an acceptable time have I answered 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 raise up the land, to make them inherit the desolate
heritages:
9 saying to them that are bound, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Show
yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and on all bare heights shall be their
pasture.
10 They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them:
for he that hath mercy on them will lead them, even by springs of water will he
guide them.
11 And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted.
12 Lo, 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 Jehovah hath comforted his people, and will have compassion upon
his afflicted.
14 But Zion said, Jehovah hath forsaken me, and the 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, these may forget, yet will not I forget thee.
16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are
continually before me.
17 Thy children make haste; thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall
go forth from thee.
18 Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves
together, and come to thee. As I live, saith Jehovah, thou shalt surely clothe
thee with them all as with an ornament, and gird thyself with them, like a
bride.
19 For, as for thy waste and thy desolate places, and thy land that hath been
destroyed, surely now shalt thou be too strait for the inhabitants, and they
that swallowed thee up shall be far away.
20 The children of thy bereavement shall yet say in thine ears, The place is too
strait for me; give place to me that I may dwell.
21 Then shalt thou say in thy heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have
been bereaved of my children, and am solitary, an exile, and wandering to and
fro? and who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where were
they?
22 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations,
and set up my ensign to the peoples; and they shall bring thy sons in their
bosom, 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 faces to the earth, and lick the dust of
thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am Jehovah; and they that wait for me shall
not be put to shame.
24 Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captives be delivered?
25 But thus saith Jehovah, 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, Jehovah, am thy Saviour, and thy Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.