Isaiah 49
Legacy Standard Bible
I Will Give You as a Light of the Nations
49 Listen to Me, O (A)coastlands,
And pay attention, you peoples from afar.
(B)Yahweh called Me from the womb;
From the [a]body of My mother He made My name to be remembered.
2 He has set My (C)mouth like a sharp sword;
In the (D)shadow of His hand He has concealed Me;
And He has also set Me as a [b]select (E)arrow;
He has hidden Me in His quiver.
3 He said to Me, “(F)You are My Servant, Israel,
(G)In Whom I will [c]show forth My beautiful glory.”
4 But I said, “I have (H)toiled in vain;
I have spent My might for [d]nothing and vanity;
Yet surely the justice due to Me is with Yahweh,
And My (I)reward with My God.”
5 So now says (J)Yahweh, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant,
To return Jacob back to Him, so that (K)Israel might be gathered to Him
(For I am (L)glorified in the sight of Yahweh,
And My God is My (M)strength),
6 He says, “It is too [e]small a thing that You should be My Servant
To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to cause the (N)preserved ones of Israel to return;
I will also give You as a (O)light [f]of the nations
So that My salvation may [g]reach to the (P)end of the earth.”
7 Thus says Yahweh, the (Q)Redeemer of Israel and its Holy One,
To the (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 Yahweh who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen You.”
8 Thus says Yahweh,
“In an (U)acceptable time I have answered You,
And in a day of salvation I have helped You;
And I will (V)guard You and (W)give You for a covenant of the people,
To (X)establish the land, to make them inherit the desolate [h]inheritance;
9 Saying to those who are (Y)bound, ‘Go forth,’
To those who are in darkness, ‘[i]Show yourselves.’
Along the roads they will [j]feed,
And their pasture will be on all (Z)bare heights.
10 They 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)guide them
And will lead them to (AE)springs of water.
11 I will set all (AF)My mountains as a road,
And My (AG)highways will be raised up.
12 Behold, 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 Sinim.”
13 (AJ)Shout for joy, O heavens! And rejoice, O earth!
Break forth into joyful shouting, O mountains!
For (AK)Yahweh has comforted His people
And will (AL)have compassion on His afflicted.
Promise to Zion
14 But Zion said, “Yahweh has forsaken me,
And the Lord has forgotten me.”
15 “Can a woman forget her infant
And have no compassion on the son of her womb?
Even these may forget, but (AM)I will not forget you.
16 Behold, I have (AN)inscribed you on the palms of My hands;
Your (AO)walls are continually before Me.
17 Your [k]builders hurry;
Your (AP)destroyers and devastators
Will depart from you.
18 (AQ)Lift up your eyes and look around;
(AR)All of them gather together; (AS)they come to you.
(AT)As I live,” declares Yahweh,
“You will surely (AU)put on all of them as [l]jewels and bind them on as a bride.
19 For (AV)your [m]devastated and desolate places and your destroyed land—
Surely now you will be (AW)too cramped for the inhabitants,
And those who (AX)swallowed you will be far away.
20 The (AY)children of [n]whom you were bereaved will yet say in your ears,
‘The place is too cramped for me;
Make room for me that I may live here.’
21 Then you will (AZ)say in your heart,
‘Who has borne these for me?
Indeed, I have been bereaved of my children
And am (BA)barren, an (BB)exile and a wanderer.
And who has reared these?
Behold, I (BC)remained alone;
[o](BD)From where did these come?’”
22 Thus says Lord Yahweh,
“Behold, I will lift up My hand to the nations
And make high My (BE)standard to the peoples;
And they will (BF)bring your sons in their bosom,
And your daughters will be lifted up on their shoulders.
23 (BG)Kings will be your guardians,
And their princesses your nurses.
They will (BH)bow down to you with their [p]faces to the earth
And (BI)lick the dust of your feet;
And you will (BJ)know that I am Yahweh;
Those who (BK)hope in Me will (BL)not be put to shame.
24 “(BM)Can the prey be taken from the mighty man,
Or the captives of the [q]righteous be granted escape?”
25 Surely, thus says Yahweh,
“Even the (BN)captives of the mighty man will be taken away,
And the prey of the tyrant will be granted escape;
For I will contend with the one who contends with you,
And I will (BO)save your sons.
26 I will feed (BP)those who mistreat you with their (BQ)own flesh,
And they will become drunk with their own blood as with sweet wine;
And (BR)all flesh will know that I, Yahweh, am your (BS)Savior
And your (BT)Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 49:1 Lit inward parts
- Isaiah 49:2 Or sharpened
- Isaiah 49:3 Or glorify Myself
- Isaiah 49:4 Lit formlessness
- Isaiah 49:6 Lit light
- Isaiah 49:6 Or to
- Isaiah 49:6 Lit be
- Isaiah 49:8 Lit inheritances
- Isaiah 49:9 Lit Reveal
- Isaiah 49:9 Or be shepherded
- Isaiah 49:17 As in DSS and ancient versions; M.T. sons
- Isaiah 49:18 Lit an ornament
- Isaiah 49:19 Or waste
- Isaiah 49:20 Lit your bereavement
- Isaiah 49:21 Lit These, where are they?
- Isaiah 49:23 Lit noses
- Isaiah 49:24 DSS and ancient versions tyrant, cf. 49:25
Isaiah 49
Common English Bible
The servant speaks up
49 Listen to me, coastlands;
pay attention, peoples far away.
The Lord called me before my birth,
called my name when I was in my mother’s womb.
2 He made my mouth like a sharp sword,
and hid me in the shadow of God’s own hand.
He made me a sharpened arrow,
and concealed me in God’s quiver,
3 saying to me, “You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I show my glory.”
4 But I said, “I have wearied myself in vain.
I have used up my strength for nothing.”
Nevertheless, the Lord will grant me justice;
my reward is with my God.
5 And now the Lord has decided—
the one who formed me from the womb as his servant—
to restore Jacob to God,
so that Israel might return to him.
Moreover, I’m honored in the Lord’s eyes;
my God has become my strength.
6 He said: It is not enough, since you are my servant,
to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to bring back the survivors of Israel.
Hence, I will also appoint you as light to the nations
so that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.
7 The Lord, redeemer of Israel and its holy one,
says to one despised,
rejected by nations,
to the slave of rulers:
Kings will see and stand up;
commanders will bow down
on account of the Lord, who is faithful,
the holy one of Israel,
who has chosen you.
8 The Lord said:
At the right time, I answered you;
on a day of salvation, I helped you.
I have guarded you,
and given you as a covenant to the people, to restore the land,
and to reassign deserted properties,
9 saying to the prisoners, “Come out,”
and to those in darkness, “Show yourselves.”
Along the roads animals[a] will graze;
their pasture will be on every treeless hilltop.
10 They won’t hunger or thirst;
the burning heat and sun won’t strike them,
because one who has compassion for them will lead them
and will guide them by springs of water.
11 I will turn all my mountains into roads;
my highways will be built up.
12 Look! These will come from far away.
Look! These from the north and west,
and these from the southland.[b]
13 Sing, heavens! Rejoice, earth!
Break out, mountains, with a song.
The Lord has comforted his people,
and taken pity on those who suffer.
Compassion for Zion
14 But Zion says, “The Lord has abandoned me;
my Lord has forgotten me.”
15 Can a woman forget her nursing child,
fail to pity the child of her womb?
Even these may forget,
but I won’t forget you.
16 Look, on my palms I’ve inscribed you;
your walls are before me continually.
17 Your builders[c] come quickly;
those who destroy and demolish you will depart from you.
18 Look up all around and see:
they are all gathered;
they come to you.
As surely as I live, says the Lord,
you will put them all on like ornaments,
bind them on like a bride.
19 As for your ruins and desolate places
and destroyed land—
you will soon be crowded with settlers,
and those who swallowed you will be far away.
20 You will again hear the children who were born bereaved say,
“The place is too crowded for me;
make room for me to settle.”
21 And you will think to yourself,
Who bore me these?
I was bereaved and desolate, exiled and sent off.
So who raised these?
I was left behind, I was alone;
where were these?
22 The Lord God says:
Look, I will raise my hand to the nations,
and to the peoples I will lift up my signal.
They will bring your sons in their arms,
and will carry your daughters on their shoulders.
23 Kings will be your attendants,
and their queens your nursemaids.
With faces to the ground they will bow down to you;
they will lick the dust from your feet.
You will know that I am the Lord;
the one who hopes in me won’t be ashamed.
24 Can loot be taken from warriors?
Can a tyrant’s captives escape?
25 The Lord says:
Even the captives of warriors will be taken,
and the tyrant’s loot will escape.
I myself will oppose those who oppose you,
and I myself will save your children.
26 I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh;
and as with wine, with their own blood they will be drunk,
so that all flesh will know that I, the Lord, am your savior,
and the mighty one of Jacob is your redeemer.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 49:9 Heb lacks animals.
- Isaiah 49:12 Heb Sinim
- Isaiah 49:17 Or children
Legacy Standard Bible Copyright ©2021 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org For Permission to Quote Information visit https://www.LSBible.org.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible