Isaiah 49
New Living Translation
The Lord’s Servant Commissioned
49 Listen to me, all you in distant lands!
Pay attention, you who are far away!
The Lord called me before my birth;
from within the womb he called me by name.
2 He made my words of judgment as sharp as a sword.
He has hidden me in the shadow of his hand.
I am like a sharp arrow in his quiver.
3 He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel,
and you will bring me glory.”
4 I replied, “But my work seems so useless!
I have spent my strength for nothing and to no purpose.
Yet I leave it all in the Lord’s hand;
I will trust God for my reward.”
5 And now the Lord speaks—
the one who formed me in my mother’s womb to be his servant,
who commissioned me to bring Israel back to him.
The Lord has honored me,
and my God has given me strength.
6 He says, “You will do more than restore the people of Israel to me.
I will make you a light to the Gentiles,
and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”
7 The Lord, the Redeemer
and Holy One of Israel,
says to the one who is despised and rejected by the nations,
to the one who is the servant of rulers:
“Kings will stand at attention when you pass by.
Princes will also bow low
because of the Lord, the faithful one,
the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”
Promises of Israel’s Restoration
8 This is what the Lord says:
“At just the right time, I will respond to you.[a]
On the day of salvation I will help you.
I will protect you and give you to the people
as my covenant with them.
Through you I will reestablish the land of Israel
and assign it to its own people again.
9 I will say to the prisoners, ‘Come out in freedom,’
and to those in darkness, ‘Come into the light.’
They will be my sheep, grazing in green pastures
and on hills that were previously bare.
10 They will neither hunger nor thirst.
The searing sun will not reach them anymore.
For the Lord in his mercy will lead them;
he will lead them beside cool waters.
11 And I will make my mountains into level paths for them.
The highways will be raised above the valleys.
12 See, my people will return from far away,
from lands to the north and west,
and from as far south as Egypt.[b]”
13 Sing for joy, O heavens!
Rejoice, O earth!
Burst into song, O mountains!
For the Lord has comforted his people
and will have compassion on them in their suffering.
14 Yet Jerusalem[c] says, “The Lord has deserted us;
the Lord has forgotten us.”
15 “Never! Can a mother forget her nursing child?
Can she feel no love for the child she has borne?
But even if that were possible,
I would not forget you!
16 See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands.
Always in my mind is a picture of Jerusalem’s walls in ruins.
17 Soon your descendants will come back,
and all who are trying to destroy you will go away.
18 Look around you and see,
for all your children will come back to you.
As surely as I live,” says the Lord,
“they will be like jewels or bridal ornaments for you to display.
19 “Even the most desolate parts of your abandoned land
will soon be crowded with your people.
Your enemies who enslaved you
will be far away.
20 The generations born in exile will return and say,
‘We need more room! It’s crowded here!’
21 Then you will think to yourself,
‘Who has given me all these descendants?
For most of my children were killed,
and the rest were carried away into exile.
I was left here all alone.
Where did all these people come from?
Who bore these children?
Who raised them for me?’”
22 This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“See, I will give a signal to the godless nations.
They will carry your little sons back to you in their arms;
they will bring your daughters on their shoulders.
23 Kings and queens will serve you
and care for all your needs.
They will bow to the earth before you
and lick the dust from your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord.
Those who trust in me will never be put to shame.”
24 Who can snatch the plunder of war from the hands of a warrior?
Who can demand that a tyrant[d] let his captives go?
25 But the Lord says,
“The captives of warriors will be released,
and the plunder of tyrants will be retrieved.
For I will fight those who fight you,
and I will save your children.
26 I will feed your enemies with their own flesh.
They will be drunk with rivers of their own blood.
All the world will know that I, the Lord,
am your Savior and your Redeemer,
the Mighty One of Israel.[e]”
Footnotes
- 49:8 Greek version reads I heard you. Compare 2 Cor 6:2.
- 49:12 As in Dead Sea Scrolls, which read from the region of Aswan, which is in southern Egypt. Masoretic Text reads from the region of Sinim.
- 49:14 Hebrew Zion.
- 49:24 As in Dead Sea Scrolls, Syriac version, and Latin Vulgate (also see 49:25); Masoretic Text reads a righteous person.
- 49:26 Hebrew of Jacob. See note on 14:1.
Isaiah 49
International Standard Version
The Servant of the Lord
49 “Listen to me, you coastlands!
Pay[a] attention, you people[b] from far away!
The Lord called me from the womb;
while I was still in my mother’s body,
he pronounced my name.
2 He made my mouth like a sharp sword;
he hid me in the shadow of his hands.[c]
He made me like a polished arrow
and hid me away in his quivers.[d]
3 He said to me: ‘You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will glorify myself.’
4 “I[e] said: ‘I’ve labored for nothing.
I’ve exhausted my strength on futility and on[f] emptiness.’
Yet surely my recompense is with the Lord,
and my reward is with my God.
5 “And now, says the Lord,
who formed you[g] from the womb as his servant
to bring Jacob back to him
so that Israel might be gathered[h] to him—
and I am honored in the Lord’s sight
and my God has been my help[i]—
6 he says: “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant,
to raise up the tribes of Israel[j]
and bring back those of Jacob[k] I have preserved.
I’ll also make you as a light to the nations,
to be my salvation to the ends[l] of the earth.
7 “This is what my Lord[m] says—
the Lord your Redeemer, O Israel,[n]
and his Holy One—
to one despised by people,[o]
to those abhorred[p] as a nation,
to the servant of rulers:
“Kings see[q] and arise,
and princes[r] will bow down,
because of the Lord who is faithful,
the Holy One of Israel,
the one who has[s] chosen you.”
The Restoration of Israel
8 “This what the Lord says:
“I’ll answer[t] you in a time of favor,
and on a day of salvation I’ll help[u] you.
I have watched over you,
and given you as a covenant for the people,
to restore the land,
to reassign the inheritances that have been devastated;
9 saying to captives, ‘Come out!’
and[v] to those who are in darkness, ‘Be free!’[w]
“They will feed on all the mountains,[x]
and their pasture will be on all the barren hills.
10 They won’t hunger or thirst,
nor will the desert heat or sun beat upon them;
for the one who has compassion on them will drive them
and guide them alongside springs of water.
11 I’ll turn all my mountains into a road,
and my highways will be raised up.
12 “Watch! They’ll come from far away—
some from the north and from the west,
and others from the region of China.”[y]
13 Shout with joy, you heavens,
and rock with glee, you earth!
Break out in song, you mountains![z]
The Lord is comforting[aa] his people
and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.
Zion Not Forgotten
14 “But Zion said, ‘The Lord has abandoned me,
and my God[ab] has forgotten me.’
15 “Can a woman forget her nursing child,
or have no compassion for the child of her womb?
Even these mothers may forget;
But as for me, I’ll never forget you!
16 Look! I’ve inscribed you on the palms of my hands,
and[ac] your walls are forever before me.
17 Your builders[ad] are working faster than your destroyers,
and those who devastated you go away from you.
18 Lift up your eyes and look around—
they have all gathered together
and are coming to you.
“As surely as I live,” says the Lord,
“you will clothe yourself with all of them like ornaments,
and tie them on like a bride.
19 Indeed, your ruins, your desolate places,
and your devastated land
will now be too crowded for your inhabitants,
while those who swallowed you up will be far away.
20 “The children who are grieving at present[ae]
will yet say in your hearing,
‘This place is too crowded for me;
make room for me,
so I may have a place to live.’
21 Then you’ll ask[af] in your heart,
‘Who bore these children for me,
although I was childless and barren,
and[ag] an exile[ah] and cast aside?
Who[ai] brought these up?
Look![aj] For my part I was left all alone;
but as for these, where have they come from?’
22 “For[ak] this what the Lord[al] says,
‘Watch! I’ll lift up my hand to the nations
and raise my banner to the[am] peoples.[an]
They will bring your sons in their arms,
and your daughters will be carried on their shoulders.’
23 “Oh, yes![ao] Kings will be your foster fathers,
and their queens will be your nursing mothers.
They will bow to you with their faces to the ground,
and lick the dust from your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord;
those who hope in me will not be disappointed.
24 “Can they seize plunder[ap] from warriors,
or[aq] can the captives of tyrants[ar] be rescued?
25 But this is what the Lord says:
“He will seize[as] even the warriors’ plunder,[at]
and the captives[au] of tyrants will be rescued.
I myself will quarrel with those who have a quarrel with you,[av]
and I myself will save your children.
26 “I’ll make those who mistreat you[aw] eat their own flesh,
and they will get drunk on their own blood, as with new wine.
“Then all mankind will know that I am the Lord
your Savior and your Redeemer,
the Mighty One of Jacob.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 49:1 So 1QIsaa LXX; 1QIsab MT read and pay
- Isaiah 49:1 Lit. peoples; i.e. non-Israelis then in the land
- Isaiah 49:2 So 1QIsaa; 1QIsab MT LXX read hand
- Isaiah 49:2 So 1QIsaa; 1QIsab 4QIsad MT LXX read quiver
- Isaiah 49:4 So 1QIsaa; 4QIsad MT LXX read But I
- Isaiah 49:4 So 1QIsaa LXX; 1QIsab MT lack on
- Isaiah 49:5 So 1QIsaa; 1QIsab MT LXX me
- Isaiah 49:5 So 1QIsaa MTqere LXX; 4QIsad MT might not be gathered (misspelling)
- Isaiah 49:5 So 1QIsaa; 1QIsab MT LXX strength
- Isaiah 49:6 So 1QIsaa; 1QIsab MT LXX Jacob
- Isaiah 49:6 So 1QIsaa; 1QIsab MT LXX Israel
- Isaiah 49:6 So 1QIsaa; 1QIsab MT LXX end
- Isaiah 49:7 So 1QIsaa 1QIsab; MT LXX lacks my Lord
- Isaiah 49:7 So 1QIsaa LXX; 1QIsab MT read the Redeemer of Israel
- Isaiah 49:7 So 1QIsaa 4QIsad; MT CaiGen LXX reads to one people despise
- Isaiah 49:7 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX reads one abhorred
- Isaiah 49:7 So 1QIsaa; 1QIsab MT read Kings will see; LXX reads Kings will see him
- Isaiah 49:7 So 1QIsaa; 1QIsab reads They will rise; MT LXX read princes will rise, and they
- Isaiah 49:7 So 1QIsaa; MT reads and the one who has; LXX reads and I have
- Isaiah 49:8 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX reads I have answered
- Isaiah 49:8 So 1QIsaa; 1QIsab MT LXX read I have helped
- Isaiah 49:9 So 1QIsaa LXX; MT lack and
- Isaiah 49:9 Or darkness, ‘Show yourselves!’
- Isaiah 49:9 So 1QIsaa; MT reads by the roads; LXX reads in all their roads
- Isaiah 49:12 Lit. Syenes; so 1QIsaa; MT reads Syene; LXX reads Persians
- Isaiah 49:13 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX read Let the mountains break out; MTqere, mss read And break out, you mountains
- Isaiah 49:13 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX read has comforted
- Isaiah 49:14 So 1QIsaa corrector; Lit. my God written above my Lord; MT LXX read my Lord
- Isaiah 49:16 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX read and
- Isaiah 49:17 So 1QIsaa Aquila Vulg LXX; MT reads sons
- Isaiah 49:20 Lit. children of your bereavement
- Isaiah 49:21 Lit. say
- Isaiah 49:21 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX lack and
- Isaiah 49:21 LXX lacks and an exile
- Isaiah 49:21 So 1QIsaa. MT LXX read And who
- Isaiah 49:21 So 1QIsaa MT; LXX lacks Look!
- Isaiah 49:22 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX lack For
- Isaiah 49:22 So 1QIsaa LXX; MT reads my Lord the Lord
- Isaiah 49:22 So 1QIsaa; MT lacks the
- Isaiah 49:22 So 1QIsaa MT; LXX reads islands
- Isaiah 49:23 Or And aha!; so 1QIsaa cf. Isa 55:1; MT LXX read And it will happen that
- Isaiah 49:24 So 1QIsaa LXX; MT reads plunder be seized
- Isaiah 49:24 So 1QIsaa LXX; MT lacks or
- Isaiah 49:24 So 1QIsaa LXX Targ Vulg; MT reads righteous ones
- Isaiah 49:25 So 1QIsaa LXX; MT reads will be seized;
- Isaiah 49:25 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX reads captives
- Isaiah 49:25 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX reads plunder
- Isaiah 49:25 So 1QIsaa; MT Vulg read with your contender; LXX reads your cause
- Isaiah 49:26 So 1QIsaa probably misspells this word as I will eat.
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