Esias 49

1 Listen to me, you islands; and attend, you Gentiles; after a long time it shall come to pass, says the Lord: from my mother's womb he has called my name:

Listen to me, ye distant lands! Attend, ye nations from afar! Jehovah called me at my birth; In my very childhood he called me by name.

2 and he has made my mouth as a sharp sword, and he has hid me under the shadow of his hand; he has made me as a choice shaft, and he has hid me in his quiver;

He made my mouth like a sharp sword; In the shadow of his hand did he hide me. He made me a polished shaft; In his quiver did he hide me.

3 and said to me, You are my servant, O Israel, and in you I will be glorified.

He said to me, Thou art my servant; Israel, in whom I will be glorified.

4 Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have given my strength for vanity and for nothing: therefore is my judgment with the Lord, and my labor before my God.

Then I said, I have labored in vain; For naught, for vanity, have I spent my strength; Yet my cause is with Jehovah, And my reward with my God.

5 And now, thus says the Lord that formed me from the womb to be his own servant, to gather Jacob to him and Israel. I shall be gathered and glorified before the Lord, and my God shall be my strength.

And now thus saith Jehovah, Who formed me from my birth to be his servant To bring Jacob to him again, And that Israel might be gathered to him, —For I am honored in the eyes of Jehovah, And my God is my strength, —

6 And he said to me, [It is] a great thing for you to be called my servant, to establish the tribes of Jacob, and to recover the dispersion of Israel: behold, I have given you for the covenant of a race, for a light of the Gentiles, that you should be for salvation to the end of the earth.

He said, It is a small tiling that thou shouldst be my servant, To raise up the tribes of Jacob, And to restore the preserved of Israel; I will also make thee the light of the nations, That my salvation may reach the ends of the earth.

7 Thus says the Lord that delivered you, the God of Israel, Sanctify him that despises his life, him that is abhorred by the nations that are the servants of princes: kings shall behold him, and princes shall arise, and shall worship him, for the Lord's sake: for the Holy One of Israel is faithful, and I have chosen you.

Thus saith Jehovah, the Redeemer of Israel, his Holy One, To him that is despised by men, abhorred by the people, To the servant of tyrants; Kings shall see, and stand up, Princes, and they shall pay homage, On account of Jehovah, who is faithful, The Holy One of Israel, who hath chosen thee.

8 Thus says the Lord, In an acceptable time have I heard you, and in a day of salvation have I succored you: and I have formed you, and given you for a covenant of the nations, to establish the earth, and to cause to inherit the desert heritages:

Thus saith Jehovah; In the time of favor will I hear thee; In the day of deliverance will I help thee; I will preserve thee, and make thee a mediator for the people, To restore the land, to distribute the desolated inheritances;

9 saying to them that are in bonds, Go forth; and [bidding] them that are in darkness show themselves. They shall be fed in all the ways, and in all the paths [shall be] their pasture.

To say to the prisoners, Go forth! To them that are in darkness, Come to the light! They shall feed in the ways, And on all high places shall be their pasture.

10 They shall not hunger, neither shall they thirst; neither shall the heat nor the sun strike them; but he that has mercy on them shall comfort [them], and by fountains of waters shall he lead them.

They shall not hunger, neither shall they thirst; Neither shall the heat nor the sun smite them; For he that hath compassion on them shall lead them; To springs of water shall he guide them.

11 And I will make every mountain a way, and every path a pasture to them.

And I will make all my mountains a highway; And my roads shall be prepared.

12 Behold, these shall come from far: [and] these from the north and the west, and others from the land of the Persians.

Behold! these shall come from far; And behold! these from the North and from the West, And these from the land of Sinim.

13 Rejoice, you heavens; and let the earth be glad: let the mountains break forth [with] joy; for the Lard has had mercy on his people, and has comforted the lowly ones of his people.

Sing, O ye heavens, and rejoice, O earth! Break forth into singing, ye mountains! For Jehovah comforteth his people, And hath compassion on his afflicted ones.

14 But Sion said, The Lord has forsaken me, and, The Lord has forgotten me.

Zion saith, “Jehovah hath forsaken me; The Lord hath forgotten me.”

15 Will a woman forget her child, so as not to have compassion upon the offspring of her womb? but if a woman should even forget these, yet I will not forget you, says the Lord.

Can a woman forget her sucking child, So as not to have compassion on the son of her womb? Yet, should they forget, I will never forget thee!

16 Behold, I have painted your walls on my hands, and you are continually before me.

Behold, I have graven thee on the palms of my hands; Thy walls are ever before my eyes.

17 And you shall soon be built by those by whom you were destroyed, and they that made you desolate shall go forth of you.

Thy children shall make haste; They that destroyed and laid thee waste shall depart from thee.

18 Lift up your eyes round about, and look on them all; behold, they are gathered together, and are come to you. [As] I live, says the Lord, you shall clothe yourself with them all as with an ornament, and put them on as a bride her attire.

Lift up thine eyes around, and see! They all assemble themselves, and come to thee. As I live, saith Jehovah, Thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with a rich dress; Thou shalt bind them on thee, as a bride her jewels.

19 For your desert and marred and ruined [places] shall now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that devoured you shall be removed far from you.

For thy waste and desolate places, and thy land laid in ruins, Shall now be too narrow for the inhabitants; And they that devoured thee shall be far away.

20 For your sons whom you have lost shall say in your ears, The place [is too] narrow for me: make room for me that I may dwell.

Thou, that hast been childless, shalt yet hear thy sons exclaim: “The place is too narrow for me; make room for me that I may dwell.”

21 And you shall say in your heart, Who has begotten me these? whereas I [was] childless, and a widow; but who has brought up these for me? and I was left alone; but whence came these to me?

And thou shalt say in thy heart, Who hath begotten me these? I surely was childless and unfruitful, An exile, and an outcast; who then hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, then, where were they?

22 Thus says the Lord, [even] the Lord, Behold, I lift up mine hand to the nations, and I will lift up my signal to the islands: and they shall bring your sons in [their] bosom, and shall bear your daughters on [their] shoulders.

Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I will lift up my hand to the nations, And set up my standard to the kingdoms; They shall bring thy sons in their arms, And thy daughters upon their shoulders.

23 And kings shall be your nursing fathers, and their princesses your nurses, they shall bow down to you on the face of the earth, and shall lick the dust of your feet; and you shall know that I am the Lord, and they that wait on me shall not be ashamed.

And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, And queens thy nursing mothers; Upon their faces shall they bow down before thee, And lick the dust of thy feet. Thus shalt thou know that I am Jehovah; And they who trust in me shall not be put to shame.

24 Will any one take spoils from a giant? and if one should take [a man] captive unjustly, shall he be delivered?

Shall the prey be taken away from the mighty? Or shall the spoil of the terrible be rescued?

25 For thus says the Lord, If one should take a giant captive, he shall take spoils, and he who takes [them] from a mighty [man] shall be delivered: for I will plead your cause, and I will deliver your children.

Yea, thus saith Jehovah, The prey shall be taken away from the mighty, And the spoil of the terrible shall be rescued; For with him that contendeth with thee will I contend, And I will save thy children.

26 And they that afflicted you shall eat their own flesh; and they shall drink their own blood as new wine, and shall be drunken: and all flesh shall perceive that I am the Lord that delivers you, and that upholds the strength of Jacob.

And I will cause thine oppressors to eat their own flesh; With their own blood shall they be drunk, as with new wine; And all flesh shall know that I Jehovah am thy saviour; That thy redeemer is the Mighty One of Jacob.