Isaiah 49
1 Hearken, ye Coastlands, unto me, And give ear ye peoples afar off, —Yahweh, called me, from my birth, From my nativity, made he mention of my name;
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:
2 And he made my mouth, like a sharp sword, In the shadow of his hand, he concealed me, —And made of me a polished arrow, In his quiver, he hid me;
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;
3 And said to me My Servant, thou art, —Israel, in whom I will get myself glory.
and said to me, You are my servant, O Israel, and in you I will be glorified.
4 But I, said, To no purpose, have I toiled, For waste and mist—my vigour, have I spent, —Surely, my vindication, is, with, Yahweh, And, my recompence, with my God.
Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have given my strength for vanity and for nothing: therefore is my judgement with the Lord, and my labour before my God.
5 Now, therefore, said Yahweh—Fashioning me from birth To be Servant to him, To restore Jacob unto him, And that, Israel, unto him, might be gathered And I be honourable in the eyes of Yahweh, And, my God, be proved to have been my strength,
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.
6 Yea he said—It is too small a thing, for being my Servant, That thou shouldest raise up the tribes of Jacob, And the preserved of Israel, shouldst restore, —So I will give thee to become a light of nations, That, my salvation, may reach as far as the end of the earth.
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.
7 Thus, saith Yahweh—the Redeemer of Israel, his Holy One To him that is despised of the soul, To the abhorred of the nation To the servant of rulers, Kings, shall see and arise, Princes, lo! they have bowed themselves down, —Because of Yahweh, who is faithful, The Holy One of Israel, lo! he hath chosen thee.
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.
8 Thus, saith Yahweh—In a time of acceptance, have I answered thee, In a day of salvation, have I helped thee, —That I may preserve thee And give thee as the covenant of a people, To establish the land, To bring into possession the desolate heritages;
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:
9 Saying To them who are bound Go forth, To them who are in darkness, Shew yourselves, —By the roads, shall they graze, And on all bare places, shall be their pasture:
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.
10 They shall neither hunger, nor thirst, Nor shall smite them the glowing sand, or the glaring sun, —For, he that hath compassion upon them, will lead them, And unto springs of water, will he conduct them.
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.
11 Then will I make of all my mountains, a road, And my highways, shall be upraised.
And I will make every mountain a way, and every path a pasture to them.
12 Lo! these, from afar, shall come in, —And lo! these, from the North and from the West, And these, from the land of Sinim.
Behold, these shall come from far: [and] these from the north and the west, and others from the land of the Persians.
13 Shout in triumph—O heavens! And exult—O earth! And break forth, ye mountains, into shouts of triumph, —For Yahweh hath comforted his people, And on his humbled ones, taketh he compassion.
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.
14 But Zion had said. Yahweh hath forsaken me, —Even, My Lord, hath forgotten me!
But Sion said, The Lord has forsaken me, and, The Lord has forgotten me.
15 Can, a woman, forget, her sucking child, Past taking compassion on the son of her womb? Even these, may forget, Yet will, I, not forget, thee:
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.
16 Lo! on the palms of my hands, have I portrayed thee, —Thy walls are before me continually.
Behold, I have painted your walls on my hands, and you are continually before me.
17 In haste are thy sons, —They who have been tearing thee down and laying thee waste, out of thee, let them go forth!
And you shall soon be built by those by whom you were destroyed, and they that made you desolate shall go forth of you.
18 Lift up, round about, thine eyes and see, All those, have gathered themselves together—have come to thee! As I live, Declareth Yahweh, —Surely all those as an ornament, shalt thou put on, And bind them about thee for a girdle as a bride.
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.
19 Surely, as for thy wastes, and thy desolations, and thy land of ruins, Surely, now, shalt thou be too strait for thine inhabitants, And, far off, shall be they who have been swallowing thee up.
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.
20 The children of whom thou wast bereaved shall yet say in thine ears, —Too strait for me, is the place Make room for me that I may settle down.
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.
21 Then shalt thou say in thy heart, —Who hath borne me, these, Seeing, I, have been bereaved and unfruitful, a captive and banished? These, therefore, who hath brought them up? Lo! I, was left, alone, These, where were they?
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?
22 Thus, saith My Lord, Yahweh—Lo! I will lift up, unto nations my hand, Yea unto peoples, will I raise high my banner, —And they shall bring in thy sons in their bosom, And, thy daughters, on the shoulder shall be borne;
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.
23 And, kings, shall be, thy foster-fathers. And their queens, thy nursing mothers, With face to the ground, shall they bow down to thee, The dust of thy feet, shall they lick, —So shalt thou know that, I, am Yahweh, In that, they shall not be put to shame, Who were waiting for me.
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.
24 Shall prey, be taken from a mighty one? Or the captive of one in the right, be delivered?
Will any one take spoils from a giant? and if one should take [a man] captive unjustly, shall he be delivered?
25 Surely, thus, saith Yahweh—Even the captive of the mighty one, shall be taken away, And the prey of the tyrant, be delivered; And thine opposers, I, will oppose, And thy children, I, will save;
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.
26 Then will I feed thy tormentors with their own flesh, And as with new wine—with their own blood, shall they be drunk, —So shall all flesh, know, that, I—Yahweh, am thy Saviour, And, thy Redeemer, is the Mighty One of Jacob.
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.
