Isaiah 49:3
The Message
A Light for the Nations
49 1-3 Listen, far-flung islands,
pay attention, faraway people:
God put me to work from the day I was born.
The moment I entered the world he named me.
He gave me speech that would cut and penetrate.
He kept his hand on me to protect me.
He made me his straight arrow
and hid me in his quiver.
He said to me, “You’re my dear servant,
Israel, through whom I’ll shine.”
Isaiah 49:3
New International Version
Isaiah 49:5-6
The Message
5-6 “And now,” God says,
this God who took me in hand
from the moment of birth to be his servant,
To bring Jacob back home to him,
to set a reunion for Israel—
What an honor for me in God’s eyes!
That God should be my strength!
He says, “But that’s not a big enough job for my servant—
just to recover the tribes of Jacob,
merely to round up the strays of Israel.
I’m setting you up as a light for the nations
so that my salvation becomes global!”
Isaiah 49:5-6
New International Version
5 And now the Lord says—
he who formed me in the womb(A) to be his servant
to bring Jacob back to him
and gather Israel(B) to himself,
for I am[a] honored(C) in the eyes of the Lord
and my God has been my strength(D)—
6 he says:
“It is too small a thing for you to be my servant(E)
to restore the tribes of Jacob
and bring back those of Israel I have kept.(F)
I will also make you a light(G) for the Gentiles,(H)
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”(I)
Footnotes
- Isaiah 49:5 Or him, / but Israel would not be gathered; / yet I will be
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
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