Isaiah 49

1 Ilis, here ye, and puplis afer, perseyue ye; the Lord clepide me fro the wombe, he thouyte on my name fro the wombe of my modir.

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 hath set my mouth as a scharp swerd, he defendide me in the schadewe of his hond, and settide me as a chosun arowe; he hidde me in his arowe caas,

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 seide to me, Israel, thou art my seruaunt, for Y schal haue glorie in thee.

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

4 And Y seide, Y trauelide in veyn, Y wastide my strengthe with out cause, and veynli; therfor my doom is with the Lord, and my werk is 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 the Lord, formynge me a seruaunt to hym silf fro the wombe, seith these thingis, that Y brynge ayen Jacob to hym. And Israel schal not be gaderid togidere; and Y am glorified in the iyen of the Lord, and my God is maad my strengthe.

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 seyde, It is litil, that thou be a seruaunt to me, to reise the lynages of Jacob, and to conuerte the drastis of Israel; Y yaf thee in to the liyt of hethene men, that thou be myn helthe `til to the laste part of erthe.

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 The Lord, ayenbiere of Israel, the hooli therof, seith these thingis to a dispisable soule, and to a folk had in abhomynacioun, to the seruaunt of lordis, Kyngis schulen se, and princes schulen rise togidere, and schulen worschipe, for the Lord, for he is feithful, and for the hooli of Israel, that chees thee.

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 The Lord seith these thingis, In a plesaunt tyme Y herde thee, and in the dai of helthe Y helpide thee; and Y kepte thee, and yaf thee in to a bonde of pees of the puple, that thou schuldist reise the erthe, and haue in possessioun eritagis, `that ben distried;

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 thou schuldist seie to hem that ben boundun, Go ye out, and to hem that ben in derknessis, Be ye schewid. Thei schulen be fed on weies, and the lesewis of hem schulen be in alle pleyn thingis.

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 Thei schulen not hungre, and thei schulen no more thirste, and heete, and the sunne schal not smyte hem; for the merciful doere of hem schal gouerne hem, and schal yyue drynk to hem at the wellis of watris.

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 Y schal sette alle myn hillis in to weie, and my pathis schulen be enhaunsid.

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

12 Lo! these men schulen come fro fer, and lo! thei schulen come fro the north, and see, and these fro the south lond.

Behold, these shall come from far: [and] these from the north and the west, and others from the land of the Persians.

13 Heuenes, herie ye, and, thou erthe, make ful out ioie; hillis, synge ye hertli heriyng; for the Lord coumfortide his puple, and schal haue merci on hise pore men.

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 And Syon seide, The Lord hath forsake me, and the Lord hath foryete me.

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

15 Whether a womman may foryete hir yonge child, that sche haue not merci on the sone of hir wombe? thouy sche foryetith, netheles Y schal not foryete 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 thee, saith the Lord.

16 Lo! Y haue write thee in myn hondis; thi wallis ben euer bifore myn iyen.

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

17 The bilderis ben comun; thei that distrien thee, and scateren, schulen go awei fro thee.

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 Reise thin iyen in cumpas, and se; alle these men ben gaderid togidere, thei ben comun to thee. Y lyue, seith the Lord, for thou schalt be clothid with alle these as with an ournement, and thou as a spousesse schalt bynde hem to thee.

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 whi thi desertis, and thi wildirnessis, and the lond of thi fallyng now schulen be streit for enhabiteris; and thei schulen be dryuun awei fer, that swolewiden thee.

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 Yit the sones of thi bareynesse schulen seie in thin eeris, The place is streit to me, make thou a space to me for to dwelle.

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 And thou schalt seie in thin herte, Who gendride these sones to me? Y am bareyn, not berynge child; Y am led ouer, and prisoner; and who nurschide these sones? Y am destitute, and aloone; and where weren these?

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 The Lord God seith these thingis, Lo! Y reise myn hond to hethene men, and Y schal enhaunce my signe to puplis; and thei schulen brynge thi sones in armes, and thei schulen bere thi douytris on shuldris.

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 kingis shulen be thi nurseris, and quenys shulen be thi nursis; with cheer cast doun in to erthe thei schulen worschipe thee, and thei schulen licke the dust of thi feet; and thou schalt wite, that Y am the Lord, on whom thei schulen not be schent, that abiden hym.

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 Whether prey schal be takun awei fro a strong man? ether that that is takun of a stalworthe man, mai be saaf?

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

25 For the Lord seith these thingis, Sotheli and caitifte schal be takun awey fro the stronge man, and that that is takun awei of a stalworthe man, schal be saued. Forsothe Y schal deme hem, that demyden thee, and Y schal saue thi sones.

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 Y schal fede thin enemyes with her fleischis, and thei schulen be greetli fillid with her blood as with must; and eche man schal wite, that Y am the Lord, sauynge thee, and thin ayenbiere, the strong 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.