Isaiah 49
1 Hearken, O isles, unto me, And attend, O peoples, from afar, Jehovah from the womb hath called me, From the bowels of my mother He hath made mention of my name.
Hear yee me, O yles, and hearken, yee people from farre. The Lord hath called me from the wombe, and made mention of my name from my mothers bellie.
2 And he maketh my mouth as a sharp sword, In the shadow of His hand He hath hid me, And He maketh me for a clear arrow, In His quiver He hath hid me.
And hee hath made my mouth like a sharpe sworde: vnder the shadowe of his hande hath he hid mee, and made me a chosen shafte, and hid me in his quiuer,
3 And He saith to me, 'My servant Thou art, O Israel, In whom I beautify Myself.'
And sayd vnto me, Thou art my seruaunt, Israel, for I will be glorious in thee.
4 And I said, 'For a vain thing I laboured, For emptiness and vanity my power I consumed, But my judgment [is] with Jehovah, And my wage with my God.
And I said, I haue labored in vaine: I haue spent my strength in vaine and for nothing: but my iudgement is with the Lord, and my woorke with my God.
5 And now, said Jehovah, who is forming me from the belly for a servant to Him, To bring back Jacob unto Him, (Though Israel is not gathered, Yet I am honoured in the eyes of Jehovah, And my God hath been my strength.)
And now sayeth the Lord, that formed me from the wombe to be his seruaunt, that I may bring Iaakob againe to him (though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I bee glorious in the eyes of the Lord: and my God shall be my strength)
6 And He saith, 'It hath been a light thing That thou art to Me for a servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob, And the preserved of Israel to bring back, And I have given thee for a light of nations, To be My salvation unto the end of the earth.'
And hee sayde, It is a small thing that thou shouldest be my seruaunt, to raise vp the tribes of Iaakob, and to restore the desolations of Israel: I will also giue thee for a light of the Gentiles, that thou maiest bee my saluation vnto the ende of the worlde.
7 Thus said Jehovah, Redeemer of Israel, His Holy One, To the despised in soul, To the abominated of a nation, To the servant of rulers: 'Kings see, and have risen, princes, and worship, For the sake of Jehovah, who is faithful, The Holy of Israel, and He chooseth thee.'
Thus sayeth the Lord the redeemer of Israel, and his Holie one, to him that is despised in soule, to a nation that is abhorred, to a seruaunt of rulers, Kinges shall see, and arise, and princes shall worship, because of the Lord, that is faithfull: and ye Holy one of Israel, which hath chosen thee.
8 Thus said Jehovah: 'In a time of good pleasure I answered thee, And in a day of salvation I helped thee, And I keep thee, and give thee, For a covenant of the people, To establish the earth, To cause to inherit desolate inheritances.
Thus sayeth the Lord, In an acceptable time haue I heard thee, and in a day of saluation haue I helped thee: and I will preserue thee, and wil giue thee for a couenant of ye people, that thou maiest raise vp the earth, and obtaine the inheritance of the desolate heritages:
9 To say to the bound, Go out, To those in darkness, Be uncovered. On the ways they feed, And in all high places is their pasture.
That thou maiest say to the prisoners, Goe foorth: and to them that are in darkenesse, Shewe your selues: they shall feede in the waies, and their pastures shall bee in all the toppes of the hilles.
10 They do not hunger, nor thirst, Nor smite them doth mirage and sun, For He who is pitying them doth lead them, And by fountains of waters doth tend them.
They shall not be hungrie, neither shall they be thirstie, neither shall the heat smite them, nor the sunne: for he that hath compassion on them, shall leade them: euen to the springs of waters shall he driue them.
11 And I have made all My mountains for a way, And My highways are lifted up.
And I will make all my mountaines, as a way, and my paths shalbe exalted.
12 Lo, these from afar come in, And lo, these from the north, and from the sea, And these from the land of Sinim.
Beholde, these shall come from farre: and loe, these from the North and from the West, and these from the land of Sinim.
13 Sing, O heavens, and joy, O earth, And break forth, O mountains, with singing, For comforted hath Jehovah His people, And His afflicted ones He doth pity.
Reioyce, O heauens: and bee ioyfull, O earth: brast foorth into praise, O mountaines: for God hath comforted his people, and will haue mercie vpon his afflicted.
14 And Zion saith, 'Jehovah hath forsaken me, And my Lord hath forgotten me.'
But Zion saide, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me.
15 Forget doth a woman her suckling, The loved one — the son of her womb? Yea, these forget — but I — I forget not thee.
Can a woman forget her childe, and not haue compassion on the sonne of her wombe? though they should forget, yet wil I not forget thee.
16 Lo, on the palms of the hand I have graven thee, Thy walls [are] before Me continually.
Behold, I haue grauen thee vpon the palme of mine hands: thy walles are euer in my sight.
17 Hastened have those building thee, Those destroying thee, and laying thee waste, go out from thee.
Thy builders make haste: thy destroiers and they that made thee waste, are departed from thee.
18 Lift up round about thine eyes and see, All of them have been gathered, They have come to thee. I live, an affirmation of Jehovah! Surely all of them as an ornament thou puttest on, And thou bindest them on like a bride.
Lift vp thine eies round about and behold: all these gather themselues together and come to thee: as I liue, sayeth the Lord, thou shalt surely put them all vpon thee as a garment, and girde thy selfe with them like a bride.
19 Because thy wastes, and thy desolate places, And the land of thy ruins, Surely now are straitened because of inhabitants, And far off have been those consuming thee.
For thy desolations, and thy waste places, and thy land destroied, shall surely be now narow for them that shall dwell in it, and they that did deuoure thee, shalbe farre away.
20 Again do the sons of thy bereavement say in thine ears: 'The place is too strait for me, Come nigh to me — and I dwell.'
The children of thy barennesse shall say againe in thine eares, The place is straict for mee: giue place to me that I may dwell.
21 And thou hast said in thy heart: 'Who hath begotten for me — these? And I bereaved and gloomy, A captive, and turned aside, And these — who hath nourished? Lo, I — I was left by myself, these — whence [are] they?
Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten mee these, seeing I am baren and desolate, a captiue and a wanderer to and from? and who hath nourished them? beholde, I was left alone: whence are these?
22 Thus said the Lord Jehovah: 'Lo, I lift up unto nations My hand, And unto peoples I raise up Mine ensign, And they have brought thy sons in the bosom, And thy daughters on the shoulder are carried.
Thus sayeth the Lord God, Beholde, I will lift vp mine hande to the Gentiles and set vp my stadart to the people, and they shall bring thy sonnes in their armes: and thy daughters shall be caried vpon their shoulders.
23 And kings have been thy nursing fathers, And their princesses thy nursing mothers; Face to the earth — they bow down to thee, And the dust of thy feet they lick up, And thou hast known that I [am] Jehovah, That those expecting Me are not ashamed.
And Kings shalbe thy nourcing fathers, and Queenes shalbe thy nources: they shall worship thee with their faces towarde the earth, and licke vp the dust of thy feete: and thou shalt knowe that I am the Lord: for they shall not be ashamed that waite for me.
24 Is prey taken from the mighty? And the captive of the righteous delivered?
Shall the pray be taken from the mightie? or the iust captiuitie deliuered?
25 For thus said Jehovah: Even the captive of the mighty is taken, And the prey of the terrible is delivered, And with thy striver I strive, and thy sons I save.
But thus sayeth the Lord, euen the captiuitie of the mightie shall be taken away: and the pray of the tyrant shall be deliuered: for I wil contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will saue thy children,
26 And I have caused thine oppressors to eat their own flesh, And as new wine they drink their own blood, And known have all flesh that I, Jehovah, Thy saviour, and thy redeemer, [Am] the Mighty One of Jacob!'
And will feede them that spoile thee, with their owne flesh, and they shall be drunken with their owne bloode, as with sweete wine: and all flesh shall know that I the Lord am thy sauiour and thy redeemer, the mighty one of Iaakob.
