Isaiah 49

1 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.

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 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.

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 He says to me, “You are My servant, O Israel, In whom I beautify Myself.”

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

4 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.”

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,” 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).

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 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.”

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 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.”

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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 have made all My mountains for a way, And My highways are lifted up.

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

12 Behold, these come in from afar, And behold, these from the north, and from the sea, And these from the land of Sinim.”

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

13 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.

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 And Zion says, “YHWH has forsaken me, And my Lord has forgotten me.”

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

15 “Does a woman forget her suckling, The loved one—the son of her womb? Indeed, these forget—but I do not forget you.

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 carved you on the palms of the hand, Your walls [are] continually before Me.

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

17 Those building you have hurried, Those destroying you, and laying you waste, go out from you.

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

18 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.

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 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.

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 Again the sons of your bereavement say in your ears: The place is too narrow for me, Come near to me—and I 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 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?”

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 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.

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 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.”

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 Is prey taken from the mighty? And the captive of the righteous delivered?

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

25 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.

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 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!”

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.