Isaiah 49

1 Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, all of you people, from far; The LORD has called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother has he made mention of my name.

Hearken to me, ye islands; and attend, ye Gentiles; after a long time it shall come to pass, saith the Lord: from my mother's womb he has called my name:

2 And he has made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand has he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver has 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 unto me, You are my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.

and said to me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, and in thee I will be glorified.

4 Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the LORD, and my work 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 labour before my God.

5 And now, says the LORD that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my strength.

And now, thus saith 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 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 of Israel: I will also give you for a light to the Gentiles, that you may be my salvation unto the end of the earth.

And he said to me, [It is] a great thing for thee to be called my servant, to establish the tribes of Jacob, and to recover the dispersion of Israel: behold, I have given thee for the covenant of a race, for a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation to the end of the earth.

7 Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despises, to him whom the nation detests, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the LORD that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose you.

Thus saith the Lord that delivered thee, 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 thee.

8 Thus says the LORD, In an acceptable time have I heard you, and in a day of salvation have I helped you: and I will preserve you, and give you for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages;

Thus saith the Lord, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I succored thee: and I have formed thee, and given thee for a covenant of the nations, to establish the earth, and to cause to inherit the desert heritages:

9 That you may say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Show yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places.

saying to them that are in bonds, Go forth; and [bidding] them that are in darkness shew 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 that has mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them.

They shall not hunger, neither shall they thirst; neither shall the heat nor the sun smite them; but he that has mercy on them shall comfort [them], and by fountains of waters shall he lead them.

11 And I will make all my mountains a way, 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 far: 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 Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the LORD has comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.

Rejoice, ye 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 my 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 infant, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I 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 thee, saith the Lord.

16 Behold, I have graven you upon the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.

Behold, I have painted thy walls on my hands, and thou art continually before me.

17 Your children shall make haste; your destroyers and they that made you waste shall go out of you.

And thou shalt soon be built by those by whom thou were destroyed, and they that made thee desolate shall go forth of thee.

18 Lift up your eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to you. As I live, says the LORD, you shall surely clothe you with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on you, as a bride does.

Lift up thine eyes round about, and look on them all; behold, they are gathered together, and are come to thee. [As] I live, saith the Lord, thou shalt clothe thyself with them all as with an ornament, and put them on as a bride her attire.

19 For your waste and your desolate places, and the land of your destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed you up shall be far away.

For thy desert and marred and ruined [places] shall now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that devoured thee shall be removed far from thee.

20 The children which you shall have, after you have lost the other, shall say again in your ears, The place is too strait for me: give place to me that I may dwell.

For thy sons whom thou hast lost shall say in thine ears, The place [is too] narrow for me: make room for me that I may dwell.

21 Then shall you say in your heart, Who has begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing back and forth? and who has brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been?

And thou shalt say in thine 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 says the Lord GOD, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring your sons in their arms, and your daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.

Thus saith 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 thy sons in [their] bosom, and shall bear thy daughters on [their] shoulders.

23 And kings shall be your nursing fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers: they shall bow down to you with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of your feet; and you shall know that I am the LORD: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.

And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their princesses thy nurses, they shall bow down to thee on the face of the earth, and shall lick the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord, and they that wait on me shall not be ashamed.

24 Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered?

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

25 But thus says 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 contends with you, and I will save your children.

For thus saith 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 thy cause, and I will deliver thy children.

26 And I will feed them that oppress you 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 your Saviour and your Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.

And they that afflicted thee 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 thee, and that upholds the strength of Jacob.