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The Servant of the Lord

49 Listen to me, O coastlands,
    and pay attention, you peoples from afar.
The Lord called me from the womb;
    from the body of my mother He named me.
He has made my mouth like a sharp sword;
    in the shadow of His hand He has hidden me
and made me a select arrow;
    in His quiver He has hidden me.
He said to me, “You are My servant,
    Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”
Then I said, “I have labored in vain;
    I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity,
yet surely the justice due to me is with the Lord,
    and my reward with my God.”

Now says the Lord,
    who formed me from the womb to be His servant,
to bring Jacob back to Him,
    so that Israel might be gathered to Him
(yet I am honored in the eyes of the Lord,
    and my God is my strength),
He says,
“It is a light thing that you should be My servant
    to raise up the tribes of Jacob
    and to restore the preserved ones of Israel;
I will also make you a light to the nations
    so that My salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”

Thus says the Lord,
    the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One,
to the despised one, to the one whom the nation abhors,
    to the servant of rulers:
“Kings shall see and arise,
    princes also shall worship,
because of the Lord who is faithful
    and the Holy One of Israel who has chosen you.”

The Restoration of Israel

Thus says the Lord:

In an acceptable time I have heard you,
    and in a day of salvation I have helped you;
and I will preserve you, and give you
    as a covenant of the people,
to restore the earth,
    to make them inherit the desolate heritages,
saying to the prisoners, “Go forth,”
    to those who are in darkness, “Show yourselves.”

They shall feed along the paths,
    and their pastures shall be in all desolate heights;
10 they shall not hunger nor thirst,
    neither shall the heat nor sun strike them;
for He who has mercy on them shall lead them,
    even by the springs of water He shall guide them.
11 I will make all My mountains a road,
    and My highways shall be raised up.
12 See, these shall come from afar;
    and these will come 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 has comforted His people
    and will have mercy on His afflicted.

14 But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me,
    and the Lord has forgotten me.”

15 Can a woman forget her nursing child,
    and have no compassion on the son of her womb?
Even these may forget,
    yet I will not forget.
16 See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands;
    your walls are continually before Me;
17 your builders hurry;
    your destroyers and those who devastated you shall depart from you.
18 Lift up your eyes and look all around;
    all these gather themselves together and come to you.
As I live, says the Lord,
    you shall surely put on all of them as ornaments
    and bind them on you as a bride does.

19 For your waste and your desolate places,
    and the land of your destruction,
shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants,
    and those who swallowed you up shall be far away.
20 The children whom you shall have,
    after you have lost the others,
shall say again in your ears,
    “The place is too cramped for me;
    make room for me that I may dwell here.”
21 Then you shall say in your heart,
    “Who bore these for me,
since I have lost my children and am barren,
    a captive and a wanderer?
    And who has brought these up?
I was left alone;
    from where did these come?”

22 Thus says the Lord God:

See, I will lift up My hand to the nations
    and set up My standard to the peoples;
and they shall bring your sons in their arms,
    and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders;
23 kings shall be your foster fathers
    and their queens your nursing mothers;
they shall bow down to you with their faces toward the ground
    and lick up the dust of your feet.
And you shall know that I am the Lord,
    for those who wait for Me shall not be ashamed.

24 Can the prey be taken from the mighty
    or the captives of a tyrant be delivered?

25 For thus says the Lord:

Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away,
    and the prey of the tyrant shall be delivered;
for I will contend with him who contends with you,
    and I will save your sons.
26 I will feed those who oppress you with their own flesh,
    and they shall be drunk with their own blood as with sweet wine.
And all flesh shall know
    that I, the Lord, am your Savior
    and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.

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