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, O islands, to Me, And attend, O peoples, from afar, YHWH has called Me from the womb, From the bowels of My mother He has made mention of 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 makes My mouth as a sharp sword, He has hid Me in the shadow of His hand, And He makes Me for a clear arrow, He has hid Me in His quiver.

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

And He says to me, “You are My servant, O Israel, In whom I beautify Myself.”

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.”

And I said, “I labored in vain, I consumed my power for emptiness and vanity, But my judgment [is] with YHWH, And my wage with 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,” said YHWH, who is forming Me from the belly—His Servant, To bring Jacob back to Him (Though Israel is not gathered, Yet I am honored in the eyes of YHWH, And My God has been 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 says, “It has been a light thing That You are My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob, And to bring back the preserved of Israel, And I have given You for a light to the nations, To be My 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 said YHWH, Redeemer of Israel, His Holy One, To the despised in soul, To the detested of a nation, To the Servant of rulers: “Kings see, and have risen, princes, and worship, For the sake of YHWH, who is faithful, The Holy of Israel, and He chooses 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 said YHWH: “In a time of good pleasure I answered You, And in a day of salvation I helped You, And I keep You, and give You, For a covenant of the people, To establish the earth, To cause to inherit desolate inheritances.

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.

To say to the bound, Go out, To those in darkness, Be uncovered. They feed on the ways, And their pasture is in all high places.

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 do not hunger, nor thirst, Nor do mirage and sun strike them, For He who is pitying them leads them, And tends them by fountains of waters.

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

And I have made all My mountains for a way, And My highways are lifted up.

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 come in from afar, And behold, these from the north, and from the sea, And these from the land of Sinim.”

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.

Sing, O heavens, and rejoice, O earth, And break forth, O mountains, with singing, For YHWH has comforted His people, And He pities His afflicted ones.

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

And Zion says, “YHWH has forsaken me, And my 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!

“Does a woman forget her suckling, The loved one—the son of her womb? Indeed, these forget—but I do not forget you.

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

Behold, I have carved you on the palms of the hand, Your walls [are] continually before Me.

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

Those building you have hurried, Those destroying you, and laying you waste, go out from 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, [look] around and see, All of them have been gathered, They have come to you. [As] I live,” a declaration of YHWH! “Surely you put on all of them as an ornament, And you bind them on like a bride.

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.

Because your ruins, and your desolate places, And the land of your ruins, Are now surely restricted because of inhabitants, And those consuming you have been far off.

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.’

Again the sons of your bereavement say in your ears: The place is too narrow for me, Come near to me—and I 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 have said in your heart: Who has begotten these for me? And I [am] bereaved and barren, A captive, and turned aside, And who has nourished these? Behold, I was left by myself, these—where [are] they from?”

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 said Lord YHWH: “Behold, I lift up My hand to nations, And I raise up My ensign to peoples, And they have brought your sons in the bosom, And your daughters are carried on the shoulder.

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 have been your nursing fathers, And their princesses—your nursing mothers; Face to the earth—they bow down to you, And they lick up the dust of your feet, And you have known that I [am] YHWH, That those expecting Me are not ashamed.”

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

Is prey taken from the mighty? And the captive of the righteous 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 said YHWH: “Even the captive of the mighty is taken, And the prey of the terrible is delivered, And I strive with your striver, and I save your sons.

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 I have caused your oppressors to eat their own flesh, And they drink their own blood as new wine, And all flesh has known that I, YHWH, Your Savior, and your Redeemer, [Am] the Mighty One of Jacob!”