Isaiah 49
1 Hear yee me, O yles, and hearken, yee people from farre. The Lord hath called me from the wombe, and made mention of my name from my mothers bellie.
All you people who live on islands [in the ocean] and in other distant areas, pay attention [DOU] to what I will say! Yahweh called/chose me before I was born; he chose/appointed me when I was still in my mother’s womb.
2 And hee hath made my mouth like a sharpe sworde: vnder the shadowe of his hande hath he hid mee, and made me a chosen shafte, and hid me in his quiuer,
[When I grew up], he caused my messages to be like [SIM] a sharp sword. He has protected me with his hand [SYN]. [He protects me] [MET] like someone protects sharp arrows in a quiver.
3 And sayd vnto me, Thou art my seruaunt, Israel, for I will be glorious in thee.
He said to me, “You will serve my Israeli [people], and you will cause people to honor me.”
4 And I said, I haue labored in vaine: I haue spent my strength in vaine and for nothing: but my iudgement is with the Lord, and my woorke with my God.
I replied, “My work has been useless; I have used my strength, but I have accomplished nothing worthwhile; everything that I have done has been (in vain/useless). However, Yahweh can honor me as he pleases; my God is the one who will reward me [as I deserve].”
5 And now sayeth the Lord, that formed me from the wombe to be his seruaunt, that I may bring Iaakob againe to him (though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I bee glorious in the eyes of the Lord: and my God shall be my strength)
Yahweh formed me when I was in [my mother’s] womb in order that I would serve him; he appointed me to bring [the people of] Israel back to himself [DOU]. Yahweh has honored me, and he is the one who has caused me to be strong.
6 And hee sayde, It is a small thing that thou shouldest be my seruaunt, to raise vp the tribes of Iaakob, and to restore the desolations of Israel: I will also giue thee for a light of the Gentiles, that thou maiest bee my saluation vnto the ende of the worlde.
He says to me, “It is not enough for you to serve me by bringing the descendants of Jacob back to worship me again [DOU]; I also want you to be like [MET] a light for the non-Jews; I want you to take my [my message] about how to be saved to [people] all over the world.”
7 Thus sayeth the Lord the redeemer of Israel, and his Holie one, to him that is despised in soule, to a nation that is abhorred, to a seruaunt of rulers, Kinges shall see, and arise, and princes shall worship, because of the Lord, that is faithfull: and ye Holy one of Israel, which hath chosen thee.
Yahweh, the one who saves us, the Holy God of us Israeli [people], says to the one who was despised and rejected by the [people of many] nations, the one who is the slave of rulers, “[Some day] kings will stand up to respect you when they see you, and princes will bow down before you because [you serve] me, Yahweh, the one who faithfully [does what I promise]. I am the Holy God to whom you Israelis belong, the one who has chosen you.”
8 Thus sayeth the Lord, In an acceptable time haue I heard thee, and in a day of saluation haue I helped thee: and I will preserue thee, and wil giue thee for a couenant of ye people, that thou maiest raise vp the earth, and obtaine the inheritance of the desolate heritages:
This is also what Yahweh says: “At a time when it pleases me, I will answer your prayers. On the day when you will be rescued [from your oppressors], I will help you. I will protect you and enable you to establish an agreement with other nations. And by what you do, I will re-establish your nation of Israel and allow you to live/settle again in your land that was abandoned.
9 That thou maiest say to the prisoners, Goe foorth: and to them that are in darkenesse, Shewe your selues: they shall feede in the waies, and their pastures shall bee in all the toppes of the hilles.
I will say to those who were captured [and (exiled/taken to Babylonia)], ‘Leave [Babylonia] and return to your own country!’ And I will say to those who are in dark prisons, ‘Come out into the light!’ When that happens, they will again be like [MET] sheep that eat grass in green pastures, on hills where [previously] there was no grass.
10 They shall not be hungrie, neither shall they be thirstie, neither shall the heat smite them, nor the sunne: for he that hath compassion on them, shall leade them: euen to the springs of waters shall he driue them.
They will not be hungry or thirsty [any more]; the hot sun will not beat upon them again [DOU]. I, Yahweh, will act mercifully toward them and lead them; I will lead them to where there are springs of cool water.
11 And I will make all my mountaines, as a way, and my paths shalbe exalted.
And I will cause the mountains to become [as though they were] level roads, and I will prepare good highways [for my people to travel on, to return to Jerusalem].
12 Beholde, these shall come from farre: and loe, these from the North and from the West, and these from the land of Sinim.
My people will return from far away; some will come from the north, some from the west, some from southern Egypt.”
13 Reioyce, O heauens: and bee ioyfull, O earth: brast foorth into praise, O mountaines: for God hath comforted his people, and will haue mercie vpon his afflicted.
[Because of what Yahweh has promised to do], everything should shout joyfully— the sky and the earth and the mountains should sing, because Yahweh comforts his people, and he will pity those who are suffering.
14 But Zion saide, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me.
[The people of] Jerusalem say, “Yahweh has abandoned us; he has forgotten about us.”
15 Can a woman forget her childe, and not haue compassion on the sonne of her wombe? though they should forget, yet wil I not forget thee.
But [Yahweh replies], “That is not true! (Can a woman forget the infant that she is nursing?/A woman certainly cannot forget the infant that she is nursing!) [RHQ] (Can she stop being kind to the child to whom she has given birth?/She certainly cannot stop being kind to the child to whom she has given birth!) [RHQ] But even if a woman would do that, I will not forget you!
16 Behold, I haue grauen thee vpon the palme of mine hands: thy walles are euer in my sight.
Note that I have written your [names] on the palms of my hands; in my mind I can always see the walls of your city.
17 Thy builders make haste: thy destroiers and they that made thee waste, are departed from thee.
Soon your children will be returning there (OR, Those who rebuild your city will work more quickly than those who destroyed it), and all those who destroyed your city will leave.
18 Lift vp thine eies round about and behold: all these gather themselues together and come to thee: as I liue, sayeth the Lord, thou shalt surely put them all vpon thee as a garment, and girde thy selfe with them like a bride.
You will look around and see all of your children coming back to you. As surely as I live, they will be around you [for you to show to people] like [SIM] a bride shows her wedding ornaments!
19 For thy desolations, and thy waste places, and thy land destroied, shall surely be now narow for them that shall dwell in it, and they that did deuoure thee, shalbe farre away.
Your land has been ruined and caused to become desolate/abandoned [DOU], but [some day] it will be filled with people, and those who conquered you will be far away.
20 The children of thy barennesse shall say againe in thine eares, The place is straict for mee: giue place to me that I may dwell.
The children who were born while you were (exiled/in Babylonia) [MET] will return [to Jerusalem] and say, ‘This city is too small for us; We need more space to live in!’
21 Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten mee these, seeing I am baren and desolate, a captiue and a wanderer to and from? and who hath nourished them? beholde, I was left alone: whence are these?
Then you will think to yourselves [MTY], ‘It is amazing that we have [RHQ] all these children! Most of our children were dead, and the rest were exiled. We were left here alone; so we do not know [RHQ] where all these children have come from! Who raised them?'”
22 Thus sayeth the Lord God, Beholde, I will lift vp mine hande to the Gentiles and set vp my stadart to the people, and they shall bring thy sonnes in their armes: and thy daughters shall be caried vpon their shoulders.
This is what Yahweh our God says: “Watch! [It is as though] I will lift up my hand to signal to those who are not Israelis. And they will carry your little sons and daughters on their shoulders and bring them back to you.
23 And Kings shalbe thy nourcing fathers, and Queenes shalbe thy nources: they shall worship thee with their faces towarde the earth, and licke vp the dust of thy feete: and thou shalt knowe that I am the Lord: for they shall not be ashamed that waite for me.
Kings will serve you and will tutor/teach your children, and their queens will take care of your young children. They will prostrate themselves in front of you and [humble themselves by] licking the dust off your feet. When that happens, you will know that I, Yahweh, [have the power to do what I say that I will do]; and those who trust in me will never be disappointed.”
24 Shall the pray be taken from the mightie? or the iust captiuitie deliuered?
There is no one [RHQ] who can snatch valuable things from a soldier who has captured those things [in a war]; there is no one [RHQ] who can force a (tyrant/cruel man) to free the people whom he has captured.
25 But thus sayeth the Lord, euen the captiuitie of the mightie shall be taken away: and the pray of the tyrant shall be deliuered: for I wil contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will saue thy children,
But Yahweh says this: “[Some day], those who have been captured will be freed, and the valuable things that (tyrants/cruel men) have snatched from others will be returned, because I will fight against those who fight against you, and I will rescue your children.
26 And will feede them that spoile thee, with their owne flesh, and they shall be drunken with their owne bloode, as with sweete wine: and all flesh shall know that I the Lord am thy sauiour and thy redeemer, the mighty one of Iaakob.
And I will cause your enemies to destroy themselves [MET] instead of murdering others. When that happens, everyone [in the world] will know that I, Yahweh, am the one who saves you, the one who rescues you from your enemies; everyone will know that I am the mighty God to whom [you descendants of] [MTY] Jacob belong.”
