Isaiah 49
1 Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye peoples, from far: the LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name:
Ilis, here ye, and puplis afer, perseyue ye; the Lord clepide me fro the wombe, he thouyte on my name fro the wombe of my modir.
2 and he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword, in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me; and he hath made me a polished shaft, in his quiver hath he kept me close:
And he hath set my mouth as a scharp swerd, he defendide me in the schadewe of his hond, and settide me as a chosun arowe; he hidde me in his arowe caas,
3 and he said unto me, Thou art my servant; Israel, in whom I will be glorified.
and seide to me, Israel, thou art my seruaunt, for Y schal haue glorie in thee.
4 But I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought and vanity: yet surely my judgment is with the LORD, and my recompence with my God.
And Y seide, Y trauelide in veyn, Y wastide my strengthe with out cause, and veynli; therfor my doom is with the Lord, and my werk is with my God.
5 And now saith the LORD that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, and that Israel be gathered unto him: (for I am honourable in the eyes of the LORD, and my God is become my strength: )
And now the Lord, formynge me a seruaunt to hym silf fro the wombe, seith these thingis, that Y brynge ayen Jacob to hym. And Israel schal not be gaderid togidere; and Y am glorified in the iyen of the Lord, and my God is maad my strengthe.
6 yea, he saith, It is too light a thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.
And he seyde, It is litil, that thou be a seruaunt to me, to reise the lynages of Jacob, and to conuerte the drastis of Israel; Y yaf thee in to the liyt of hethene men, that thou be myn helthe `til to the laste part of erthe.
7 Thus saith the LORD, the redeemer of Israel, [and] his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers: Kings shall see and arise; princes, and they shall worship; because of the LORD that is faithful, [even] the Holy One of Israel, who hath chosen thee.
The Lord, ayenbiere of Israel, the hooli therof, seith these thingis to a dispisable soule, and to a folk had in abhomynacioun, to the seruaunt of lordis, Kyngis schulen se, and princes schulen rise togidere, and schulen worschipe, for the Lord, for he is feithful, and for the hooli of Israel, that chees thee.
8 Thus saith the LORD, In an acceptable time have I answered thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to raise up the land, to make them inherit the desolate heritages;
The Lord seith these thingis, In a plesaunt tyme Y herde thee, and in the dai of helthe Y helpide thee; and Y kepte thee, and yaf thee in to a bonde of pees of the puple, that thou schuldist reise the erthe, and haue in possessioun eritagis, `that ben distried;
9 saying to them that are bound, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and on all bare heights shall be their pasture.
that thou schuldist seie to hem that ben boundun, Go ye out, and to hem that ben in derknessis, Be ye schewid. Thei schulen be fed on weies, and the lesewis of hem schulen be in alle pleyn thingis.
10 They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them.
Thei schulen not hungre, and thei schulen no more thirste, and heete, and the sunne schal not smyte hem; for the merciful doere of hem schal gouerne hem, and schal yyue drynk to hem at the wellis of watris.
11 And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted.
And Y schal sette alle myn hillis in to weie, and my pathis schulen be enhaunsid.
12 Lo, these shall come from far: and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim.
Lo! these men schulen come fro fer, and lo! thei schulen come fro the north, and see, and these fro the south lond.
13 Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the LORD hath comforted his people, and will have compassion upon his afflicted.
Heuenes, herie ye, and, thou erthe, make ful out ioie; hillis, synge ye hertli heriyng; for the Lord coumfortide his puple, and schal haue merci on hise pore men.
14 But Zion said, Jehovah hath forsaken me, and the Lord hath forgotten me.
And Syon seide, The Lord hath forsake me, and the Lord hath foryete me.
15 Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, these may forget, yet will not I forget thee.
Whether a womman may foryete hir yonge child, that sche haue not merci on the sone of hir wombe? thouy sche foryetith, netheles Y schal not foryete thee.
16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.
Lo! Y haue write thee in myn hondis; thi wallis ben euer bifore myn iyen.
17 Thy children make haste; thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee.
The bilderis ben comun; thei that distrien thee, and scateren, schulen go awei fro thee.
18 Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I l live, saith the LORD, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all as with an ornament, and gird thyself with them, like a bride.
Reise thin iyen in cumpas, and se; alle these men ben gaderid togidere, thei ben comun to thee. Y lyue, seith the Lord, for thou schalt be clothid with alle these as with an ournement, and thou as a spousesse schalt bynde hem to thee.
19 For, as for thy waste and thy desolate places and thy land that hath been destroyed, surely now shalt thou be too strait for the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away.
For whi thi desertis, and thi wildirnessis, and the lond of thi fallyng now schulen be streit for enhabiteris; and thei schulen be dryuun awei fer, that swolewiden thee.
20 The children of thy bereavement shall yet say in thine ears, The place is too strait for me: give place to me that I may dwell.
Yit the sones of thi bareynesse schulen seie in thin eeris, The place is streit to me, make thou a space to me for to dwelle.
21 Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have been bereaved of my children, and am solitary, an exile, and wandering to and fro? and who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where were they?
And thou schalt seie in thin herte, Who gendride these sones to me? Y am bareyn, not berynge child; Y am led ouer, and prisoner; and who nurschide these sones? Y am destitute, and aloone; and where weren these?
22 Thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the nations, and set up my ensign to the peoples: and they shall bring thy sons in their bosom, and thy daughters shall he carried upon their shoulders.
The Lord God seith these thingis, Lo! Y reise myn hond to hethene men, and Y schal enhaunce my signe to puplis; and thei schulen brynge thi sones in armes, and thei schulen bere thi douytris on shuldris.
23 And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their faces to the earth, and lick the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD, and they that wait for me shall not be ashamed.
And kingis shulen be thi nurseris, and quenys shulen be thi nursis; with cheer cast doun in to erthe thei schulen worschipe thee, and thei schulen licke the dust of thi feet; and thou schalt wite, that Y am the Lord, on whom thei schulen not be schent, that abiden hym.
24 Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captives be delivered?
Whether prey schal be takun awei fro a strong man? ether that that is takun of a stalworthe man, mai be saaf?
25 But thus saith the LORD, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.
For the Lord seith these thingis, Sotheli and caitifte schal be takun awey fro the stronge man, and that that is takun awei of a stalworthe man, schal be saued. Forsothe Y schal deme hem, that demyden thee, and Y schal saue thi sones.
26 And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the LORD am thy saviour, and thy redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.
And Y schal fede thin enemyes with her fleischis, and thei schulen be greetli fillid with her blood as with must; and eche man schal wite, that Y am the Lord, sauynge thee, and thin ayenbiere, the strong of Jacob.
