Isaiah 49
King James Version
49 Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The Lord hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name.
2 And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me;
3 And said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.
4 Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God.
5 And now, saith 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.
6 And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.
7 Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, 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 thee.
8 Thus saith the Lord, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages;
9 That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places.
10 They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them.
11 And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted.
12 Behold, these shall come from far: and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim.
13 Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.
14 But Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me.
15 Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.
16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.
17 Thy children shall make haste; thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee.
18 Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the Lord, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride doeth.
19 For thy waste and thy desolate places, and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away.
20 The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, The place is too strait for me: give place to me that I may dwell.
21 Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? and who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been?
22 Thus saith 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 thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.
23 And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.
24 Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered?
25 But thus saith 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 contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.
26 And I will feed them that oppress thee 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 thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.
Isaiah 49
English Standard Version
The Servant of the Lord
49 Listen to me, (A)O coastlands,
and give attention, you peoples (B)from afar.
(C)The Lord called me from the womb,
from the body of my mother he named my name.
2 (D)He made my mouth like a sharp sword;
(E)in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me a polished arrow;
in his quiver he hid me away.
3 And he said to me, “You are my servant,
Israel, (F)in whom I will be glorified.”[a]
4 (G)But I said, “I have labored in vain;
I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;
yet surely my right is with the Lord,
and my recompense with my God.”
5 (H)And now the Lord says,
he (I)who formed me from the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him;
and that Israel might be gathered to him—
for (J)I am honored in the eyes of the Lord,
and my God has become my strength—
6 he says:
“It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to bring back the preserved of Israel;
(K)I will make you (L)as a light for the nations,
that (M)my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
7 Thus says the Lord,
(N)the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One,
(O)to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation,
the servant of rulers:
(P)“Kings shall see and arise;
princes, and they shall prostrate themselves;
because of the Lord, who is faithful,
the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”
The Restoration of Israel
8 Thus says the Lord:
(Q)“In a (R)time of favor I have answered you;
in a day of salvation I have helped you;
I will keep you (S)and give you
as a covenant to the people,
to establish the land,
(T)to apportion the desolate heritages,
9 (U)saying to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’
to those who are in darkness, ‘Appear.’
(V)They shall feed along the ways;
on all bare heights shall be their pasture;
10 (W)they shall not hunger or thirst,
neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them,
for he who has pity on them (X)will lead them,
and by springs of water will guide them.
11 (Y)And I will make all my mountains a road,
and my highways shall be raised up.
12 (Z)Behold, these shall come from afar,
and behold, (AA)these from the north and from the west,[b]
and these from the land of Syene.”[c]
13 (AB)Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth;
break forth, O mountains, into singing!
For the Lord (AC)has comforted his people
and will have compassion on his afflicted.
14 But Zion said, (AD)“The Lord has forsaken me;
my Lord has forgotten me.”
15 (AE)“Can a woman forget her nursing child,
that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?
Even these may forget,
yet I will not forget you.
16 Behold, (AF)I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
your walls are continually before me.
17 Your builders make haste;[d]
(AG)your destroyers and those who laid you waste go out from you.
18 (AH)Lift up your eyes around and see;
they all gather, they come to you.
(AI)As I live, declares the Lord,
(AJ)you shall put them all on as an ornament;
you shall bind them on as a bride does.
19 “Surely your waste and your desolate places
and your devastated land—
(AK)surely now you will be too narrow for your inhabitants,
and those who swallowed you up will be far away.
20 (AL)The children of your bereavement
will yet say in your ears:
(AM)‘The place is too narrow for me;
make room for me to dwell in.’
21 Then you will say in your heart:
‘Who has borne me these?
(AN)I was bereaved and barren,
exiled and put away,
but who has brought up these?
Behold, I was left alone;
from where have these come?’”
22 Thus says the Lord God:
“Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations,
(AO)and raise my signal to the peoples;
(AP)and they shall bring your sons in their arms,[e]
and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.
23 (AQ)Kings shall be your foster fathers,
and their queens your nursing mothers.
(AR)With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you,
and (AS)lick the dust of your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord;
(AT)those who wait for me (AU)shall not be put to shame.”
24 Can the prey be taken from the mighty,
or the captives of a tyrant[f] be rescued?
25 For thus says the Lord:
(AV)“Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken,
and the prey of the tyrant be rescued,
for I will contend with those who contend with you,
and I will save your children.
26 (AW)I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh,
and they shall be drunk (AX)with their own blood as with wine.
Then all flesh shall know
that (AY)I am the Lord your Savior,
and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 49:3 Or I will display my beauty
- Isaiah 49:12 Hebrew from the sea
- Isaiah 49:12 Dead Sea Scroll; Masoretic Text Sinim
- Isaiah 49:17 Dead Sea Scroll; Masoretic Text Your children make haste
- Isaiah 49:22 Hebrew in their bosom
- Isaiah 49:24 Dead Sea Scroll, Syriac, Vulgate (see also verse 25); Masoretic Text of a righteous man
Isaiah 49
Christian Standard Bible Anglicised
The Servant Brings Salvation
49 Coasts and islands,[a] listen to me;
distant peoples, pay attention.
The Lord called(A) me before I was born.
He named me while I was in my mother’s womb.(B)
2 He made my words like a sharp sword;(C)
he hid me in the shadow of his hand.(D)
He made me like a sharpened arrow;
he hid me in his quiver.
3 He said to me, ‘You are my servant,(E)
Israel, in whom I will be glorified.’
4 But I myself said: I have laboured in vain,
I have spent my strength for nothing and futility;
yet my vindication is with the Lord,
and my reward is with my God.
5 And now, says the Lord,
who formed me from the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him
so that Israel might be gathered to him;
for I am honoured in the sight of the Lord,
and my God is my strength –
6 he says,
‘It is not enough for you to be my servant
raising up the tribes of Jacob
and restoring the protected ones of Israel.
I will also make you a light for the nations,(F)
to be my salvation to the ends of the earth.’(G)
7 This is what the Lord,
the Redeemer(H) of Israel, his Holy One, says
to one who is despised,
to one abhorred by people,[b](I)
to a servant of rulers:
‘Kings will see, princes will stand up,
and they[c] will all bow down
because of the Lord, who is faithful,
the Holy One of Israel(J) – and he has chosen you.’(K)
8 This is what the Lord says:
I will answer you in a time of favour,
and I will help you in the day of salvation.(L)
I will keep you, and I will appoint you
to be a covenant for the people,(M)
to restore the land,
to make them possess the desolate inheritances,
9 saying to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’(N)
and to those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’
They will feed along the pathways,
and their pastures will be on all the barren heights.(O)
10 They will not hunger or thirst,
the scorching heat or sun will not strike them;
for their compassionate one will guide them,
and lead them to springs.(P)
11 I will make all my mountains into a pathway,
and my roads will be raised up.(Q)
12 See, these will come from far away,
from the north and from the west,[d](R)
and from the land of Sinim.[e][f]
13 Shout for joy, you heavens!(S)
Earth, rejoice!
Mountains, break into joyful shouts!
For the Lord has comforted his people,(T)
and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.(U)
Zion Remembered
14 Zion says, ‘The Lord has abandoned me;
the Lord has forgotten me! ’
15 ‘Can a woman forget her nursing child,
or lack compassion for the child of her womb?
Even if these forget,
yet I will not forget you.
16 Look, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands;(V)
your walls are continually before me.
17 Your builders[g] hurry;
those who destroy and devastate you will leave you.
18 Look up, and look round.
They all gather together; they come to you.(W)
As I live’ –
this is the Lord’s declaration –
‘you will wear all your children[h] as jewellery,
and put them on as a bride does.
19 For your waste and desolate places
and your land marked by ruins
will now be indeed too small for the inhabitants,(X)
and those who swallowed you up will be far away.
20 Yet as you listen, the children
that you have been deprived of will say,
“This place is too small for me;
make room for me so that I may settle.”(Y)
21 Then you will say within yourself,
“Who fathered these for me?
I was deprived of my children and unable to conceive,
exiled and wandering –
but who brought them up?
See, I was left by myself –
but these, where did they come from? ” ’[i]
22 This is what the Lord God says:
Look, I will lift up my hand to the nations,
and raise my banner to the peoples.(Z)
They will bring your sons in their arms,
and your daughters will be carried on their shoulders.(AA)
23 Kings will be your guardians
and their queens[j] your nursing mothers.(AB)
They will bow down to you
with their faces to the ground
and lick the dust at your feet.(AC)
Then you will know that I am the Lord;(AD)
those who put their hope in me
will not be put to shame.(AE)
24 Can the prey be taken from a mighty man,
or the captives of a tyrant[k] be delivered?
25 For this is what the Lord says:
‘Even the captives of a mighty man will be taken,
and the prey of a tyrant will be delivered;
I will contend with the one who contends with you,
and I will save your children.
26 I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh,(AF)
and they will be drunk with their own blood
as with sweet wine.
Then all humanity will know
that I, the Lord, am your Saviour,(AG)
and your Redeemer,(AH) the Mighty One of Jacob.’(AI)
Footnotes
- 49:1 Or Islands
- 49:7 Or by the nation
- 49:7 Lit princes and they
- 49:12 Lit sea
- 49:12 DSS read of the Syenites
- 49:12 Perhaps modern Aswan in southern Egypt
- 49:17 DSS, Aq, Theod, Vg; MT, Syr, Sym read sons
- 49:18 Lit all of them
- 49:21 Lit where are they
- 49:23 Lit princesses
- 49:24 DSS, Syr, Vg; MT reads a righteous man
Isaia 49
Conferenza Episcopale Italiana
Secondo canto del servo del Signore
49 Ascoltatemi, o isole,
udite attentamente, nazioni lontane;
il Signore dal seno materno mi ha chiamato,
fino dal grembo di mia madre ha pronunziato il mio nome.
2 Ha reso la mia bocca come spada affilata,
mi ha nascosto all'ombra della sua mano,
mi ha reso freccia appuntita,
mi ha riposto nella sua faretra.
3 Mi ha detto: «Mio servo tu sei, Israele,
sul quale manifesterò la mia gloria».
4 Io ho risposto: «Invano ho faticato,
per nulla e invano ho consumato le mie forze.
Ma, certo, il mio diritto è presso il Signore,
la mia ricompensa presso il mio Dio».
5 Ora disse il Signore
che mi ha plasmato suo servo dal seno materno
per ricondurre a lui Giacobbe
e a lui riunire Israele,
- poiché ero stato stimato dal Signore
e Dio era stato la mia forza -
6 mi disse: «E' troppo poco che tu sia mio servo
per restaurare le tribù di Giacobbe
e ricondurre i superstiti di Israele.
Ma io ti renderò luce delle nazioni
perché porti la mia salvezza
fino all'estremità della terra».
7 Dice il Signore,
il redentore di Israele, il suo Santo,
a colui la cui vita è disprezzata, al reietto delle nazioni,
al servo dei potenti:
«I re vedranno e si alzeranno in piedi,
i principi vedranno e si prostreranno,
a causa del Signore che è fedele,
a causa del Santo di Israele che ti ha scelto».
La gioia del ritorno
8 Dice il Signore:
«Al tempo della misericordia ti ho ascoltato,
nel giorno della salvezza ti ho aiutato.
Ti ho formato e posto
come alleanza per il popolo,
per far risorgere il paese,
per farti rioccupare l'eredità devastata,
9 per dire ai prigionieri: Uscite,
e a quanti sono nelle tenebre: Venite fuori.
Essi pascoleranno lungo tutte le strade,
e su ogni altura troveranno pascoli.
10 Non soffriranno né fame né sete
e non li colpirà né l'arsura né il sole,
perché colui che ha pietà di loro li guiderà,
li condurrà alle sorgenti di acqua.
11 Io trasformerò i monti in strade
e le mie vie saranno elevate.
12 Ecco, questi vengono da lontano,
ed ecco, quelli vengono da mezzogiorno e da occidente
e quelli dalla regione di Assuan».
13 Giubilate, o cieli; rallegrati, o terra,
gridate di gioia, o monti,
perché il Signore consola il suo popolo
e ha pietà dei suoi miseri.
14 Sion ha detto: «Il Signore mi ha abbandonato,
il Signore mi ha dimenticato».
15 Si dimentica forse una donna del suo bambino,
così da non commuoversi per il figlio delle sue viscere?
Anche se queste donne si dimenticassero,
io invece non ti dimenticherò mai.
16 Ecco, ti ho disegnato sulle palme delle mie mani,
le tue mura sono sempre davanti a me.
17 I tuoi costruttori accorrono,
i tuoi distruttori e i tuoi devastatori si allontanano da te.
18 Alza gli occhi intorno e guarda:
tutti costoro si radunano, vengono da te.
«Com'è vero ch'io vivo - oracolo del Signore-
ti vestirai di tutti loro come di ornamento,
te ne ornerai come una sposa».
19 Poiché le tue rovine e le tue devastazioni
e il tuo paese desolato
saranno ora troppo stretti per i tuoi abitanti,
benché siano lontani i tuoi divoratori.
20 Di nuovo ti diranno agli orecchi
i figli di cui fosti privata:
«Troppo stretto è per me questo posto;
scostati, e mi accomoderò».
21 Tu penserai: «Chi mi ha generato costoro?
Io ero priva di figli e sterile;
questi chi li ha allevati?
Ecco, ero rimasta sola
e costoro dove erano?».
22 Così dice il Signore Dio:
«Ecco, io farò cenno con la mano ai popoli,
per le nazioni isserò il mio vessillo.
Riporteranno i tuoi figli in braccio,
le tue figlie saran portate sulle spalle.
23 I re saranno i tuoi tutori,
le loro principesse tue nutrici.
Con la faccia a terra essi si prostreranno davanti a te,
baceranno la polvere dei tuoi piedi;
allora tu saprai che io sono il Signore
e che non saranno delusi quanti sperano in me».
24 Si può forse strappare la preda al forte?
Oppure può un prigioniero sfuggire al tiranno?
25 Eppure dice il Signore:
«Anche il prigioniero sarà strappato al forte,
la preda sfuggirà al tiranno.
Io avverserò i tuoi avversari;
io salverò i tuoi figli.
26 Farò mangiare le loro stesse carni ai tuoi oppressori,
si ubriacheranno del proprio sangue come di mosto.
Allora ogni uomo saprà
che io sono il Signore, tuo salvatore,
io il tuo redentore e il Forte di Giacobbe».
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
Copyright © 2024 by Holman Bible Publishers.