Isaiah 49-51

New American Standard Bible

Salvation Reaches to the Ends of the Earth

49 Listen to Me, you ^(A)islands,
And pay attention, you peoples from afar.
^(B)The Lord called Me from the womb;
From the ^[a]body of My mother He named Me.
²He has made My ^(C)mouth like a sharp sword,
In the ^(D)shadow of His hand He has concealed Me;
And He has also made Me a sharpened ^(E)arrow,
He has hidden Me in His quiver.
³He said to Me, “^(F)You are My Servant, Israel,
^(G)In whom I will show My glory.”
⁴But I said, “I have ^(H)labored in vain,
I have spent My strength for nothing and futility;
Nevertheless, the justice due to Me is with the Lord,
And My ^(I)reward is with My God.”

⁵And now says ^(J)the Lord, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant,
To bring Jacob back to Him, so that ^(K)Israel might be gathered to Him
(For I am ^(L)honored in the sight of the Lord,
And My God is My ^(M)strength),
⁶He says, “It is too ^[b]small a thing that You should be My Servant
To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the ^(N)protected ones of Israel;
I will also make You a ^(O)light ^[c]of the nations
So that My salvation may ^[d]reach to the ^(P)end of the earth.”
⁷This is what the Lord, the ^(Q)Redeemer of Israel and its Holy One,
Says to the ^[e]^(R)despised One,
To the One abhorred by the nation,
To the Servant of rulers:
“^(S)Kings will see and arise,
Princes will also ^(T)bow down,
Because of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen You.”

⁸This is what the Lord says:
“At a ^(U)favorable time I answered You,
And on a day of salvation I helped You;
And I will ^(V)watch over You and ^(W)make You a covenant of the people,
To ^[f]^(X)restore the land, to give as inheritances the deserted hereditary lands;
⁹Saying to those who are ^(Y)bound, ‘^[g]Go free,’
To those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’
They will feed along the roads,
And their pasture will be on all ^(Z)bare heights.
¹⁰They will ^(AA)not hunger or thirst,
Nor will the scorching ^(AB)heat or sun strike them down;
For ^(AC)He who has compassion on them will ^(AD)lead them,
And He will guide them to ^(AE)springs of water.
¹¹I will make all ^(AF)My mountains a road,
And My ^(AG)highways will be raised up.
¹²Behold, these will come ^(AH)from afar;
And behold, these will come from the ^(AI)north and from the west,
And these from the land of Aswan.”
¹³^(AJ)Shout for joy, you heavens! And rejoice, you earth!
Break forth into joyful shouting, mountains!
For the ^(AK)Lord has comforted His people
And will ^(AL)have compassion on His afflicted.

Promise to Zion

¹⁴But Zion said, “The Lord has abandoned me,
And the Lord has forgotten me.”
¹⁵“Can a woman forget her nursing child
And have no compassion on the son of her womb?
Even these may forget, but ^(AM)I will not forget you.
¹⁶Behold, I have ^(AN)inscribed you on the palms of My hands;
Your ^(AO)walls are continually before Me.
¹⁷Your ^[h]builders hurry;
Your ^(AP)destroyers and devastators
Will leave you.
¹⁸^(AQ)Raise your eyes and look around;
^(AR)All of them gather together, ^(AS)they come to you.
^(AT)As I live,” declares the Lord,
“You will certainly ^(AU)put them all on as ^[i]jewelry and bind them on as a bride.
¹⁹For ^(AV)your ruins and deserted places and your destroyed land—
Now you will certainly be ^(AW)too cramped for the inhabitants,
And those who ^(AX)swallowed you will be far away.
²⁰The ^(AY)children ^[j]you lost will yet say in your ears,
‘The place is too cramped for me;
Make room for me that I may live here.’
²¹Then you will ^(AZ)say in your heart,
‘Who has fathered these for me,
Since I have been bereaved of my children
And ^(BA)cannot conceive, and I am an ^(BB)exile, and a wanderer?
And who has raised these?
Behold, I was ^(BC)left alone;
^[k]^(BD)Where are these from?’”

²²This is what the Lord ^[l]God says:

“Behold, I will lift up My hand to the nations
And set up My ^(BE)flag to the peoples;
And they will ^(BF)bring your sons ^[m]in their arms,
And your daughters will be carried on their shoulders.
²³^(BG)Kings will be your guardians,
And their princesses your nurses.
They will ^(BH)bow down to you with their faces to the ground
And ^(BI)lick the dust from your feet;
And you will ^(BJ)know that I am the Lord;
Those who hopefully ^(BK)wait for Me will ^(BL)not be put to shame.

²⁴“^(BM)Can the prey be taken from a mighty man,
Or the captives of ^[n]a tyrant be rescued?”

²⁵Indeed, this is what the Lord says:

“Even the ^(BN)captives of the mighty man will be taken away,
And the prey of a tyrant will be rescued;
For I will contend with the one who contends with you,
And I will ^(BO)save your sons.
²⁶I will feed your ^(BP)oppressors with their ^(BQ)own flesh,
And they will become drunk with their own blood as with sweet wine;
And ^[o]^(BR)humanity will know that I, the Lord, am your ^(BS)Savior
And your ^(BT)Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”

God Helps His Servant

50 This is what the Lord says:

“Where is the ^(BU)certificate of divorce
By which I have ^(BV)sent your mother away?
Or to whom of My creditors did I ^(BW)sell you?
Behold, you were sold for your ^(BX)wrongdoings,
And for your ^(BY)wrongful acts your mother ^(BZ)was sent away.
²Why was there ^(CA)no one when I came?
When I called, why was there no one to answer?
Is My ^(CB)hand so short that it cannot redeem?
Or do I have no power to rescue?
Behold, I ^(CC)dry up the sea with My rebuke,
I ^(CD)turn rivers into a wilderness;
Their fish stink for lack of water,
And die of thirst.
³I ^(CE)clothe the heavens with blackness,
And make sackcloth their covering.”

⁴The Lord ^[p]God has given Me the tongue of ^(CF)disciples,
So that I may know how to ^(CG)sustain the weary one with a word.
He awakens Me ^(CH)morning by morning,
He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple.
⁵The Lord God has ^(CI)opened My ear,
And I was ^(CJ)not disobedient,
Nor did I turn back.
⁶I ^(CK)gave My back to those who strike Me,
And My cheeks to those who pull out My beard;
I did not hide My face from insults and spitting.
⁷For the Lord God ^(CL)helps Me,
Therefore, I am ^(CM)not disgraced;
Therefore, I have made My face like ^(CN)flint,
And I know that I will not be ashamed.
⁸He who ^(CO)vindicates Me is near;
Who will contend with Me?
Let us ^(CP)stand up to each other.
Who has a case against Me?
Let him approach Me.
⁹Behold, ^(CQ)the Lord God helps Me;
^(CR)Who is he who condemns Me?
Behold, ^(CS)they will all wear out like a garment;
A moth will eat them.
¹⁰Who is among you who fears the Lord,
Who obeys the voice of His ^(CT)servant,
Who ^(CU)walks in darkness and has no light?
Let him ^(CV)trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God.
¹¹Behold, all you who ^(CW)kindle a fire,
Who encircle yourselves with flaming arrows,
Walk in the light of your fire
And among the flaming arrows you have set ablaze.
This you will have from My hand:
You will ^(CX)lie down in torment.

Israel Exhorted

51 “^(CY)Listen to Me, you who ^(CZ)pursue righteousness,
Who seek the Lord:
Look to the ^(DA)rock from which you were cut,
And to the ^[q]quarry from which you were dug.
²Look to ^(DB)Abraham your father
And to Sarah who gave birth to you in pain;
When he ^(DC)was only one I called him,
Then I blessed him and multiplied him.”
³Indeed, ^(DD)the Lord will comfort Zion;
He will comfort all her ^(DE)ruins.
And He will make her ^(DF)wilderness like ^(DG)Eden,
And her desert like the ^(DH)garden of the Lord.
^(DI)Joy and gladness will be found in her,
Thanksgiving and the sound of a melody.

⁴“^(DJ)Pay attention to Me, My people,
And listen to Me, My ^[r]nation;
For a ^(DK)law will go out from Me,
And I will bring My ^(DL)justice as a ^(DM)light of the peoples.
⁵My ^(DN)righteousness is near, My salvation has gone forth,
And My ^(DO)arms will judge the peoples;
The ^(DP)coastlands will wait for Me,
And they will wait expectantly for My ^(DQ)arm.
⁶^(DR)Raise your eyes to the sky,
Then look to the earth beneath;
For the ^(DS)sky will vanish like smoke,
And the ^(DT)earth will wear out like a garment
And its inhabitants will die ^[s]in the same way.
But My ^(DU)salvation will be forever,
And My righteousness will not fail.
⁷^(DV)Listen to Me, you who know righteousness,
A people in whose ^(DW)heart is My Law;
Do not fear the ^(DX)taunting of ^[t]people,
Nor be terrified of their abuses.
⁸For the ^(DY)moth will eat them like a garment;
Yes, the ^(DZ)moth will eat them like wool.
But My ^(EA)righteousness will be forever,
And My salvation to all generations.”

⁹^(EB)Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord;
Awake as in the ^(EC)days of old, the generations of long ago.
^(ED)Was it not You who cut ^[u]Rahab in pieces,
Who pierced the ^(EE)dragon?
¹⁰Was it not You who ^(EF)dried up the sea,
The waters of the great deep;
Who made the depths of the sea a pathway
For the ^(EG)redeemed to cross over?
¹¹And the ^(EH)redeemed of the Lord will return
And come to Zion with joyful shouting,
And ^(EI)everlasting joy will be on their heads.
They will obtain gladness and joy,
And ^(EJ)sorrow and sighing will flee away.

¹²“I, I Myself, am He who ^(EK)comforts you.
Who are you that you are afraid of ^[v]^(EL)mortal man,
And of a son of man who is made like ^(EM)grass,
¹³That you have ^(EN)forgotten the Lord your Maker,
Who ^(EO)stretched out the heavens
And laid the foundations of the earth,
That you ^(EP)fear continually all day long because of the fury of the oppressor,
As he makes ready to destroy?
And where is the rage of the ^(EQ)oppressor?

¹⁴The ^[w]^(ER)exile will soon be set free, and will not die in the ^[x]dungeon, ^(ES)nor will his bread be lacking. ¹⁵For I am the Lord your God, who ^(ET)stirs up the sea so that its waves roar (the Lord of armies is His name). ¹⁶And I have ^(EU)put My words in your mouth and have ^(EV)covered you with the shadow of My hand, to ^[y]^(EW)establish the heavens, to found the earth, and to say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’”

¹⁷^(EX)Pull yourself up! Pull yourself up! Arise, Jerusalem!
You who have ^(EY)drunk from the Lord’s hand the cup of His anger;
The ^[z]chalice of staggering you have drunk to the dregs.
¹⁸There is ^(EZ)no one to guide her among all the sons to whom she has given birth,
Nor is there anyone to take her by the hand among all the sons she has raised.
¹⁹These two things have happened to you;
Who will mourn for you?
The ^(FA)devastation and destruction, famine and sword;
How shall I comfort you?
²⁰Your sons have fainted,
They ^(FB)lie helpless at the head of every street,
Like an ^(FC)antelope in a net,
Full of the wrath of the Lord,
The ^(FD)rebuke of your God.

²¹Therefore, listen to this, you ^(FE)afflicted,
Who are ^(FF)drunk, but not with wine:
²²This is what your Lord, the Lord, your God
Who ^(FG)contends for His people says:
“Behold, I have taken from your hand the ^(FH)cup of staggering,
The ^[aa]chalice of My anger;
You will never drink it again.
²³I will ^(FI)put it into the hand of your tormentors,
Who have said to ^[ab]you, ‘^(FJ)Lie down so that we may walk over you.’
You have also made your back like the ground,
And like the street for those who walk over it.”