Isaiah 49

1 Listen to Me, O islands; pay attention, O distant peoples: The LORD called Me from the womb; from the body of My mother He named Me.

Hearken, ye Coastlands, unto me, And give ear ye peoples afar off, —Yahweh, called me, from my birth, From my nativity, made he mention of my name;

2 He made My mouth like a sharp sword; He hid Me in the shadow of His hand. He made Me like a polished arrow; He hid Me in His quiver.

And he made my mouth, like a sharp sword, In the shadow of his hand, he concealed me, —And made of me a polished arrow, In his quiver, he hid me;

3 He said to Me, “You are My Servant, Israel, in whom I will display My glory.”

And said to me My Servant, thou art, —Israel, in whom I will get myself glory.

4 But I said, “I have labored in vain, I have spent My strength in futility and vanity; yet My vindication is with the LORD, and My reward is with My God.”

But I, said, To no purpose, have I toiled, For waste and mist—my vigour, have I spent, —Surely, my vindication, is, with, Yahweh, And, my recompence, with my God.

5 And now says the LORD, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, to bring Jacob back to Him, that Israel might be gathered to Him— for I am honored in the sight of the LORD, and My God is My strength—

Now, therefore, said Yahweh—Fashioning me from birth To be Servant to him, To restore Jacob unto him, And that, Israel, unto him, might be gathered And I be honourable in the eyes of Yahweh, And, my God, be proved to have been my strength,

6 He says: “It is not enough for You to be My Servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the protected ones of Israel. I will also make You a light for the nations, to bring My salvation to the ends of the earth.”

Yea he said—It is too small a thing, for being my Servant, That thou shouldest raise up the tribes of Jacob, And the preserved of Israel, shouldst restore, —So I will give thee to become a light of nations, That, my salvation, may reach as far as the end of the earth.

7 Thus says the LORD, 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, and princes will bow down, because of the LORD, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen You.”

Thus, saith Yahweh—the Redeemer of Israel, his Holy One To him that is despised of the soul, To the abhorred of the nation To the servant of rulers, Kings, shall see and arise, Princes, lo! they have bowed themselves down, —Because of Yahweh, who is faithful, The Holy One of Israel, lo! he hath chosen thee.

8 This is what the LORD says: “In the time of favor I will answer You, and in the day of salvation I will help You; I will keep You and appoint You to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land, to apportion its desolate inheritances,

Thus, saith Yahweh—In a time of acceptance, have I answered thee, In a day of salvation, have I helped thee, —That I may preserve thee And give thee as the covenant of a people, To establish the land, To bring into possession the desolate heritages;

9 to say to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’ and to those in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’ They will feed along the pathways, and find pasture on every barren hill.

Saying To them who are bound Go forth, To them who are in darkness, Shew yourselves, —By the roads, shall they graze, And on all bare places, shall be their pasture:

10 They will not hunger or thirst, nor will scorching heat or sun beat down on them. For He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water.

They shall neither hunger, nor thirst, Nor shall smite them the glowing sand, or the glaring sun, —For, he that hath compassion upon them, will lead them, And unto springs of water, will he conduct them.

11 I will turn all My mountains into roads, and My highways will be raised up.

Then will I make of all my mountains, a road, And my highways, shall be upraised.

12 Behold, they will come from far away, from the north and from the west, and from the land of Aswan.”

Lo! these, from afar, shall come in, —And lo! these, from the North and from the West, And these, from the land of Sinim.

13 Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice, O earth; break forth in song, O mountains! For the LORD has comforted His people, and He will have compassion on His afflicted ones.

Shout in triumph—O heavens! And exult—O earth! And break forth, ye mountains, into shouts of triumph, —For Yahweh hath comforted his people, And on his humbled ones, taketh he compassion.

14 But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me; the Lord has forgotten me!”

But Zion had said. Yahweh hath forsaken me, —Even, My Lord, hath forgotten me!

15 “Can a woman forget her nursing child, or lack compassion for the son of her womb? Even if she could forget, I will not forget you!

Can, a woman, forget, her sucking child, Past taking compassion on the son of her womb? Even these, may forget, Yet will, I, not forget, thee:

16 Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; your walls are ever before Me.

Lo! on the palms of my hands, have I portrayed thee, —Thy walls are before me continually.

17 Your builders hasten back; your destroyers and wreckers depart from you.

In haste are thy sons, —They who have been tearing thee down and laying thee waste, out of thee, let them go forth!

18 Lift up your eyes and look around. They all gather together; they come to you. As surely as I live,” declares the LORD, “you will wear them all as jewelry and put them on like a bride.

Lift up, round about, thine eyes and see, All those, have gathered themselves together—have come to thee! As I live, Declareth Yahweh, —Surely all those as an ornament, shalt thou put on, And bind them about thee for a girdle as a bride.

19 For your ruined and desolate places and your ravaged land will now indeed be too small for your people, and those who devoured you will be far away.

Surely, as for thy wastes, and thy desolations, and thy land of ruins, Surely, now, shalt thou be too strait for thine inhabitants, And, far off, shall be they who have been swallowing thee up.

20 Yet the children of your bereavement will say in your hearing, ‘This place is too small for us; make room for us to live here.’

The children of whom thou wast bereaved shall yet say in thine ears, —Too strait for me, is the place Make room for me that I may settle down.

21 Then you will say in your heart, ‘Who has begotten these for me? I was bereaved and barren; I was exiled and rejected. So who has reared them? Look, I was left all alone, so where did they come from?’”

Then shalt thou say in thy heart, —Who hath borne me, these, Seeing, I, have been bereaved and unfruitful, a captive and banished? These, therefore, who hath brought them up? Lo! I, was left, alone, These, where were they?

22 This is what the Lord GOD says: “Behold, I will lift up My hand to the nations, and raise My banner to the peoples. They will bring your sons in their arms and carry your daughters on their shoulders.

Thus, saith My Lord, Yahweh—Lo! I will lift up, unto nations my hand, Yea unto peoples, will I raise high my banner, —And they shall bring in thy sons in their bosom, And, thy daughters, on the shoulder shall be borne;

23 Kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow to you facedown and lick the dust at your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD; those who hope in Me will never be put to shame.”

And, kings, shall be, thy foster-fathers. And their queens, thy nursing mothers, With face to the ground, shall they bow down to thee, The dust of thy feet, shall they lick, —So shalt thou know that, I, am Yahweh, In that, they shall not be put to shame, Who were waiting for me.

24 Can the plunder be snatched from the mighty, or the captives of a tyrant be delivered?

Shall prey, be taken from a mighty one? Or the captive of one in the right, be delivered?

25 Indeed, this is what the LORD says: “Even the captives of the mighty will be taken away, and the plunder of the tyrant will be retrieved; I will contend with those who contend with you, and I will save your children.

Surely, thus, saith Yahweh—Even the captive of the mighty one, shall be taken away, And the prey of the tyrant, be delivered; And thine opposers, I, will oppose, And thy children, I, will save;

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 and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”

Then will I feed thy tormentors with their own flesh, And as with new wine—with their own blood, shall they be drunk, —So shall all flesh, know, that, I—Yahweh, am thy Saviour, And, thy Redeemer, is the Mighty One of Jacob.