Isaiah 49

1 Listen, islands, to me. Listen, you peoples, from afar: the LORD has called me from the womb; from the inside of my mother, he has mentioned 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 He has made my mouth like a sharp sword. He has hidden me in the shadow of his hand. He has made me a polished shaft. He has kept me close in his quiver.

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 He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”

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

4 But I said, “I have laboured in vain. I have spent my strength in vain for nothing; yet surely the justice due to me is with the LORD, and my reward with my God.”

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.

5 Now the LORD, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, says to bring Jacob again to him, and to gather Israel to him, for I am honourable in the LORD’s eyes, and my God has become 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 Indeed, he says, “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel. I will also give you as a light to the nations, that you may be my salvation to 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 The LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, says to him whom man despises, to him whom the nation abhors, to a servant of rulers: “Kings shall see and rise up, princes, and they shall worship, because of the LORD who is faithful, even the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

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 The LORD says, “I have answered you in an acceptable time. I have helped you in a day of salvation. I will preserve you and give you for a covenant of the people, to raise up the land, to make them inherit the desolate heritage,

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 those who are bound, ‘Come out!’; to those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves!’ “They shall feed along the paths, and their pasture shall be on all treeless heights.

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 not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun strike them, for he who has mercy on them will lead them. He will guide them by springs of water.

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 I will make all my mountains a road, and my highways shall be exalted.

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

12 Behold, these shall come from afar, and behold, 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 Sing, heavens, and be joyful, earth! Break out into singing, mountains! For the LORD has comforted his people, and will have compassion on his afflicted.

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 said, “The LORD has forsaken me, and the Lord has forgotten me.”

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

15 “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yes, these may forget, yet I will not forget you!

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 Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands. Your walls are continually before me.

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

17 Your children hurry. Your destroyers and those who devastated you will leave you.

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 your eyes all around, and see: all these gather themselves together, and come to you. As I live,” says the LORD, “you shall surely clothe yourself with them all as with an ornament, and dress yourself with them, like 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 “For, as for your waste and your desolate places, and your land that has been destroyed, surely now that land will be too small for the inhabitants, and those who swallowed you up will be far away.

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 your bereavement will say in your ears, ‘This place is too small for me. Give me a place to live in.’

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 you will say in your heart, ‘Who has conceived these for me, since I have been bereaved of my children and am alone, an exile, and wandering back and forth? Who has brought these up? Behold, I was left alone. Where were these?’”

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 The Lord GOD says, “Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations, and lift up my banner to the peoples. They shall bring your sons in their bosom, and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.

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 Kings shall be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow down to you with their faces to the earth, and lick the dust of your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD; and those who wait for me won’t be disappointed.”

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 the plunder be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captives be delivered?

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

25 But the LORD says, “Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the plunder retrieved from the fierce, for I will contend with him who contends with you and I will save your children.

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 I will feed those who oppress you with their own flesh; and they will be drunk on their own blood, as with sweet wine. Then all flesh shall know that I, the LORD, am your Saviour and your Redeemer, 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.