Isaiah 49
1 Listen to me, you people of the islands! Pay attention, you who live far away! The Lord called me before I was born; he gave me my name while I was still in my mother's womb.
Listen, O islands, to Me, And attend, O peoples, from afar, YHWH has called Me from the womb, From the bowels of My mother He has made mention of My Name.
2 The words he gave me to speak are like a sharp sword. He has protected me by covering me with his hand. He put me in his quiver like a sharp arrow, keeping me safe there.
And He makes My mouth as a sharp sword, He has hid Me in the shadow of His hand, And He makes Me for a clear arrow, He has hid Me in His quiver.
3 He told me, “You are my servant, Israel, and I will reveal my glory through you.”
And He says to me, “You are My servant, O Israel, In whom I beautify Myself.”
4 But I replied, “I've worked for nothing! I've exhausted myself, and for what? Even so, I leave it with the Lord to do what's right, and my reward is with my God.”
And I said, “I labored in vain, I consumed my power for emptiness and vanity, But my judgment [is] with YHWH, And my wage with my God.”
5 Now my Lord is going to speak, the one who formed me in the womb as his servant to bring Jacob back to him, to gather Israel to himself. I am honored in the Lord's sight, and my God has given me strength.
“And now,” said YHWH, who is forming Me from the belly—His Servant, To bring Jacob back to Him (Though Israel is not gathered, Yet I am honored in the eyes of YHWH, And My God has been My strength).
6 He says, “It's nothing much for you to be my servant to bring back the tribes of Jacob, those people of Israel that I've preserved. I'm also going to make you a light for the foreigners so that my salvation may reach everybody.”
And He says, “It has been a light thing That You are My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob, And to bring back the preserved of Israel, And I have given You for a light to the nations, To be My salvation to the end of the earth.”
7 This is what the Lord says, the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel, to the one who was despised and detested by the nation, to the one who is the servant of rulers: Kings will see you and stand up, and princes will bow down to you, because the Lord, who is trustworthy, the Holy One of Israel, has chosen you.
Thus said YHWH, Redeemer of Israel, His Holy One, To the despised in soul, To the detested of a nation, To the Servant of rulers: “Kings see, and have risen, princes, and worship, For the sake of YHWH, who is faithful, The Holy of Israel, and He chooses You.”
8 This is what the Lord says: I will answer you at the proper time; I will help you on the day of salvation. I will take care of you, and I will give you to the people as my agreement with them, to restore the land and to reassign the parts that have been abandoned.
Thus said YHWH: “In a time of good pleasure I answered You, And in a day of salvation I helped You, And I keep You, and give You, For a covenant of the people, To establish the earth, To cause to inherit desolate inheritances.
9 Tell the prisoners, “Come out!” Tell those living in darkness, “Come into the light!” Like sheep they will feed along the roads and in the pastures on hills that once were barren.
To say to the bound, Go out, To those in darkness, Be uncovered. They feed on the ways, And their pasture is in all high places.
10 They won't be hungry or thirsty, and they won't get hot in the sun, for the one who loves them will lead them to springs, and guide them to water.
They do not hunger, nor thirst, Nor do mirage and sun strike them, For He who is pitying them leads them, And tends them by fountains of waters.
11 I will turn all my mountains into a road; my highways will be really high!
And I have made all My mountains for a way, And My highways are lifted up.
12 Look at these people coming from far away! Look at these people coming from the north, and from the west, and from Upper Egypt.
Behold, these come in from afar, And behold, these from the north, and from the sea, And these from the land of Sinim.”
13 Heavens, shout for joy! Earth, celebrate! Mountains, sing out in happiness! The Lord has come to care for his people, and he will treat his suffering people kindly.
Sing, O heavens, and rejoice, O earth, And break forth, O mountains, with singing, For YHWH has comforted His people, And He pities His afflicted ones.
14 But Zion said, “The Lord has given up on me; the Lord has forgotten about me.”
And Zion says, “YHWH has forsaken me, And my Lord has forgotten me.”
15 Really? Can a mother forget her nursing baby? Can she forget to be kind to the child she carried in her womb? Even if she could forget, I will never forget you!
“Does a woman forget her suckling, The loved one—the son of her womb? Indeed, these forget—but I do not forget you.
16 Look at your names I've written on the palms of my hands! I'm always thinking about your walls.
Behold, I have carved you on the palms of the hand, Your walls [are] continually before Me.
17 Soon your children will come running back. Your destroyers, those that devastated your land, will be gone.
Those building you have hurried, Those destroying you, and laying you waste, go out from you.
18 Take a look around. See all your children gathering and coming back to you. As I live, declares the Lord, you will wear them all as jewelry, proudly putting them on like a bride.
Lift up your eyes, [look] around and see, All of them have been gathered, They have come to you. [As] I live,” a declaration of YHWH! “Surely you put on all of them as an ornament, And you bind them on like a bride.
19 Your ruined towns and abandoned places and devastated lands will be crowded with people, while those who took over your country will be long gone.
Because your ruins, and your desolate places, And the land of your ruins, Are now surely restricted because of inhabitants, And those consuming you have been far off.
20 The children born during your time of mourning in exile will say, “This place is too crowded for me! Make room so I have a place to live!”
Again the sons of your bereavement say in your ears: The place is too narrow for me, Come near to me—and I dwell.
21 Then you will say to yourself, “Who gave birth to all these children for me? My children were killed and I was unable to have more; I was exiled and thrown aside—so who brought these children up? Look, I was abandoned, so where did they come from?”
And you have said in your heart: Who has begotten these for me? And I [am] bereaved and barren, A captive, and turned aside, And who has nourished these? Behold, I was left by myself, these—where [are] they from?”
22 This is what the Lord God says, Watch as I give the signal to the nations, as I raise my flag to let everyone know. They will bring them back, carrying your sons in their arms, and lifting your daughters onto their shoulders.
Thus said Lord YHWH: “Behold, I lift up My hand to nations, And I raise up My ensign to peoples, And they have brought your sons in the bosom, And your daughters are carried on the shoulder.
23 Kings will be your child-minders; queens will be your nurses. They will bow low before you, and lick the dust from your feet. Then you will know that I am the Lord, and that those who put their trust in me will never be ashamed.
And kings have been your nursing fathers, And their princesses—your nursing mothers; Face to the earth—they bow down to you, And they lick up the dust of your feet, And you have known that I [am] YHWH, That those expecting Me are not ashamed.”
24 Can loot be taken from a warrior? Can prisoners be rescued from a dictator?
Is prey taken from the mighty? And the captive of the righteous delivered?
25 But this is what the Lord says: Even the prisoners of warriors will be won back; even loot will be recovered from a dictator. I will fight with your enemies, and I will rescue your children.
For thus said YHWH: “Even the captive of the mighty is taken, And the prey of the terrible is delivered, And I strive with your striver, and I save your sons.
26 I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh and drink their own blood like wine. Then everyone will know that I, the Lord, am your Savior and Redeemer, the Mighty One of Israel.
And I have caused your oppressors to eat their own flesh, And they drink their own blood as new wine, And all flesh has known that I, YHWH, Your Savior, and your Redeemer, [Am] the Mighty One of Jacob!”
