Isaiah 49:1-25 ▼

1 Listen, O islands, to me, and pay attention, O peoples from afar! YHWH has called me from the womb, from the bowels of my mother He has brought to mind my name.

2 And He set my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of His hand He has hidden me; and He set me as a polished arrow; in His quiver He has concealed me.

3 And He said to me: “You are My servant, O Israel; in whom I will be glorified.”

4 And I said: “In vain I have labored; I have spent My strength in futility and in emptiness. Yet surely My vindication is with YHWH, and My reward with my God.”

5 And now, has said YHWH, the One forming Me from the womb to be a servant for Him, to bring back Jacob to Him, so that Israel to Him might be gathered—and I am honored in the eyes of YHWH, and My God is My strength—

6 and He said: “It is a light thing that You should be My Servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; and I will give You as a light to the Gentiles, that You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.”

7 Thus says YHWH, the Redeemer of Israel, his Holy One, to the one despised of soul, abhorred by the nation, to a servant of those ruling: “Kings will see it and rise, and princes will bow low for the sake of YHWH who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, and He has chosen you.”

8 Thus says YHWH: “In a time of favor I have answered You, and on a day of salvation I have helped you; and I will watch over you and give you as a covenant for the people, to establish the land, to apportion the desolate inheritance;

9 to say to the prisoners, ‘Go forth!’ To those in the darkness, ‘Be uncovered!’ Along the pathways they will graze, and on all the bare slopes will be their pastures.

10 They will not hunger and they will not thirst; the sun and the scorching heat will not strike them; for the One having compassion on them will lead them, and beside the springs of water He will guide them.

11 And I will make all My mountains as a road, and My highways will be raised up.

12 Behold, these will come from afar; and behold, these from the north and the west, and these from the land of Aswan.

13 Sing out, O heavens; and rejoice, O earth; and break out, O mountains, into singing! For YHWH has comforted His people, and He will have compassion on His afflicted ones.

14 And Zion said: “YHWH has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me.”

15 “Can a woman forget her infant, having no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these she may forget, and I will not forget you.

16 Behold, on the palms I have inscribed you; your walls are before Me continually.

17 Your builders are hurrying; those overthrowing you and those destroying you will go out from you.

18 Lift up your eyes round about, and see: All of them have gathered together, and come to you! By the life of Me,” says YHWH, “Surely, you will wear all of them as an ornament, and bind them on like a bride.

19 For your ruins and desolate places, and the land of your devastation, surely now will be narrow for its dweller, and those who devoured you will be far away.

20 Again the sons of your childlessness will say in your ears: ‘The place is narrow for me! Make room for me that I may dwell!’

21 And you will say in your heart, ‘Who has borne these for me, and I am childless and barren, exiled and rejected? And who has raised these? Behold, I was left alone by myself; these—where are they from?

22 Thus says the Lord YHWH: “Behold, I will lift up My hand to the nations, and to the peoples I will raise up My banner; and they will bring your sons in their bosom, and your daughters will be carried on the shoulders.

23 And kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers; facedown to the earth they will bow low to you, and they will lick up the dust of your feet. And you will know that I am YHWH; those waiting for Me will not be ashamed.”

24 Can the prey be taken from the mighty one, or the captives of a tyrant be delivered?

25 For thus says YHWH: “Even the captives of the mighty will be taken away, and the prey of a tyrant will be given escape; and your contender I will contend with, and your sons I will save.