49:1 Listen to me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations: Before I was born the LORD called me; from my birth he has made mention of my name.
49:2 He made my mouth like a sharpened sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me into a polished arrow and concealed me in his quiver.
49:3 He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.”
49:4 But I said, “I have labored to no purpose; I have spent my strength in vain and for nothing. Yet what is due me is in the LORD’S hand, and my reward is with my God.”
49:5 And now the LORD says–he who formed me in the womb to be his servant to bring Jacob back to him and gather Israel to himself, for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD and my God has been my strength–
49:6 he says: “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”
49:7 This is what the LORD says–the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel–to him who was despised and abhorred by the nation, to the servant of rulers: “Kings will see you and rise up, princes will see and bow down, because of the LORD, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”
49:8 This is what the LORD says: “In the time of my favor I will answer you, and in the day of salvation I will help you; I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land and to reassign its desolate inheritances,
49:9 to say to the captives, ‘Come out,’ and to those in darkness, ‘Be free!’ “They will feed beside the roads and find pasture on every barren hill.
49:10 They will neither hunger nor thirst, nor will the desert heat or the sun beat upon them. He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water.
49:11 I will turn all my mountains into roads, and my highways will be raised up.
49:12 See, they will come from afar–some from the north, some from the west, some from the region of Aswan.”
49:13 Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice, O earth; burst into song, O mountains! For the LORD comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.
49:14 But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me.”
49:15 “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!
49:16 See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.
49:17 Your sons hasten back, and those who laid you waste depart from you.
49:18 Lift up your eyes and look around; all your sons gather and come to you. As surely as I live,” declares the LORD, “you will wear them all as ornaments; you will put them on, like a bride.
49:19 “Though you were ruined and made desolate and your land laid waste, now you will be too small for your people, and those who devoured you will be far away.
49:20 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.’
49:21 Then you will say in your heart, ‘Who bore me these? I was bereaved and barren; I was exiled and rejected. Who brought these up? I was left all alone, but these–where have they come from?’”
49:22 This is what the Sovereign LORD says: “See, I will beckon to the Gentiles, I will lift up my banner to the peoples; they will bring your sons in their arms and carry your daughters on their shoulders.
49:23 Kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow down before you with their faces to the ground; they will lick the dust at your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD; those who hope in me will not be disappointed.”
49:24 Can plunder be taken from warriors, or captives rescued from the fierce?
49:25 But this is what the LORD says: “Yes, captives will be taken from warriors, and plunder retrieved from the fierce; I will contend with those who contend with you, and your children I will save.
49:26 I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh; they will be drunk on their own blood, as with wine. Then all mankind will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior, your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”
49:1 Listen to me, O coastlands, / And hearken, you peoples from afar. / Jehovah has called me from the womb; / From the bowels of my mother He has made mention of my name.
49:2 And He has made my mouth like a sharp sword; / He has concealed me in the shadow of His hand, / And He has made me a polished arrow; / He has hidden me in His quiver.
49:3 And He said to me, You are My servant, / Israel, in whom I will be glorified.
49:4 But I said, I have labored in vain; / I have used up my strength for nothing and vanity; / Yet surely the justice due to me is with Jehovah, / And my recompense with my God.
49:5 And now says Jehovah, / Who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, / To bring Jacob back to Him, / So that Israel would be gathered to Him; / And I will be glorified in the sight of Jehovah, / And My God will be My strength.
49:6 He says, It is too small a thing that You would be My Servant / To raise up the tribes of Jacob / And bring back the preserved of Israel; / I will also set You as a light of the nations / That You may be My salvation unto the ends of the earth.
49:7 Thus says Jehovah, / The Redeemer of Israel, his Holy One, / To the despised One, the One abhorred by the nation, / The One subjected to tyrants, / Kings will see and arise, / And princes will bow down; / Because of Jehovah, who is faithful, / The Holy One of Israel, who has chosen You.
49:8 Thus says Jehovah, / In an acceptable time I have answered You, / And in a day of salvation I have helped You; / And I will preserve You and give You for a covenant of the people, / To restore the land, to apportion the desolate inheritances,
49:9 To say to the prisoners, Come forth, / To say to those who are in darkness, Show yourselves. They will feed along the roads, / And their pasture will be on all the bare heights;
49:10 They will not hunger or thirst; / Neither the scorching heat nor the sun will strike them; / For He who has compassion on them will lead them / And will guide them beside the springs of water;
49:11 And I will make all My mountains into a road, / And My highways will be raised up.
49:12 Indeed, these will come from a distance, / And indeed these will come from the north and the west, / And these from the land of the Sinim.
49:13 Give a ringing shout, O heavens, and exult, O earth, / And break forth into shouting, O mountains; / For Jehovah has comforted His people / And will have compassion on His afflicted ones.
49:14 But Zion has said, Jehovah has forsaken me, / And the Lord has forgotten me.
49:15 Can a woman forget her nursing child, / That she would not have compassion on the son of her womb? / Even though they may forget, / Yet I will not forget you.
49:16 Indeed, I have engraved you upon the palms of My hands; / Your walls are continually before Me.
49:17 Your children make haste; / Your destroyers and those who lay you waste / Will go forth from you.
49:18 Lift up your eyes and look around; / All of these gather themselves together and come to you. / As I live, declares Jehovah, / You will put all of them on like an ornament / And gird yourself with them like a bride.
49:19 For your waste and desolate places / And your devastated land ? / For you will be too constricted now because of its inhabitants, / And those who swallowed you up will be far away.
49:20 The children of whom you were bereaved / Will yet say in your ears, / This place is too constricted for me; / Make room for me that I may dwell here.
49:21 Then you will say in your heart, / Who has borne these for me, / Since I have been bereaved of children and am barren, / An exile and driven about? / And who brought these up? / Indeed, I was left alone; / From where did these come?
49:22 Thus says the Lord Jehovah, / Indeed, I will lift up My hand to the nations, / And unto the peoples I will lift up My banner; / And they will bring your sons in their arms, / And they will carry your daughters on their shoulders.
49:23 And kings will be your foster fathers; / And their princesses will be those who nurse you; / They will bow down to you with their faces toward the earth / And lick the dust of your feet; / And you will know that I am Jehovah; / Those who wait on Me will not be ashamed.
49:24 Can the booty be taken from the strong man, / Or the lawful captives be delivered?
49:25 Surely, thus says Jehovah, / Even the captive may be taken from the strong man, / And the booty may be released from the tyrant; / For I will strive with those who strive with you, / And I will save your children;
49:26 And I will feed those who oppress you with their own flesh; / And they will be drunk with their own blood as with sweet wine; / Then all flesh will know / That I am Jehovah your Savior / And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.