Isaiah 49

New International Version

The Servant of the Lord

49 Listen^(A) to me, you islands;^(B)
    hear this, you distant nations:
Before I was born^(C) the Lord called^(D) me;
    from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name.^(E)
²He made my mouth^(F) like a sharpened sword,^(G)
    in the shadow of his hand^(H) he hid me;
he made me into a polished arrow^(I)
    and concealed me in his quiver.
³He said to me, “You are my servant,^(J)
    Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.^(K)”
⁴But I said, “I have labored in vain;^(L)
    I have spent my strength for nothing at all.
Yet what is due me is in the Lord’s hand,^(M)
    and my reward^(N) is with my God.”^(O)

⁵And now the Lord says—
    he who formed me in the womb^(P) to be his servant
to bring Jacob back to him
    and gather Israel^(Q) to himself,
for I am^[a] honored^(R) in the eyes of the Lord
    and my God has been my strength^(S)—
⁶he says:
“It is too small a thing for you to be my servant^(T)
    to restore the tribes of Jacob
    and bring back those of Israel I have kept.^(U)
I will also make you a light^(V) for the Gentiles,^(W)
    that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”^(X)

⁷This is what the Lord says—
    the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel^(Y)—
to him who was despised^(Z) and abhorred by the nation,
    to the servant of rulers:
“Kings^(AA) will see you and stand up,
    princes will see and bow down,^(AB)
because of the Lord, who is faithful,^(AC)
    the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen^(AD) you.”

Restoration of Israel

⁸This is what the Lord says:

“In the time of my favor^(AE) I will answer you,
    and in the day of salvation I will help you;^(AF)
I will keep^(AG) you and will make you
    to be a covenant for the people,^(AH)
to restore the land^(AI)
    and to reassign its desolate inheritances,^(AJ)
⁹to say to the captives,^(AK) ‘Come out,’
    and to those in darkness,^(AL) ‘Be free!’

“They will feed beside the roads
    and find pasture on every barren hill.^(AM)
¹⁰They will neither hunger nor thirst,^(AN)
    nor will the desert heat or the sun beat down on them.^(AO)
He who has compassion^(AP) on them will guide^(AQ) them
    and lead them beside springs^(AR) of water.
¹¹I will turn all my mountains into roads,
    and my highways^(AS) will be raised up.^(AT)
¹²See, they will come from afar^(AU)—
    some from the north, some from the west,^(AV)
    some from the region of Aswan.^[b]”

¹³Shout for joy,^(AW) you heavens;
    rejoice, you earth;^(AX)
    burst into song, you mountains!^(AY)
For the Lord comforts^(AZ) his people
    and will have compassion^(BA) on his afflicted ones.^(BB)

¹⁴But Zion^(BC) said, “The Lord has forsaken^(BD) me,
the Lord has forgotten me.”

¹⁵“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast
    and have no compassion on the child^(BE) she has borne?
Though she may forget,
    I will not forget you!^(BF)
¹⁶See, I have engraved^(BG) you on the palms of my hands;
    your walls^(BH) are ever before me.
¹⁷Your children hasten back,
    and those who laid you waste^(BI) depart from you.
¹⁸Lift up your eyes and look around;
    all your children gather^(BJ) and come to you.
As surely as I live,^(BK)” declares the Lord,
    “you will wear^(BL) them all as ornaments;
    you will put them on, like a bride.

¹⁹“Though you were ruined and made desolate^(BM)
    and your land laid waste,^(BN)
now you will be too small for your people,^(BO)
    and those who devoured^(BP) you will be far away.
²⁰The children born during your bereavement
    will yet say in your hearing,
‘This place is too small for us;
    give us more space to live in.’^(BQ)
²¹Then you will say in your heart,
    ‘Who bore me these?^(BR)
I was bereaved^(BS) and barren;
    I was exiled and rejected.^(BT)
    Who brought these^(BU) up?
I was left^(BV) all alone,^(BW)
    but these—where have they come from?’”

²²This is what the Sovereign Lord^(BX) says:

“See, I will beckon to the nations,
    I will lift up my banner^(BY) to the peoples;
they will bring^(BZ) your sons in their arms
    and carry your daughters on their hips.^(CA)
²³Kings^(CB) will be your foster fathers,
    and their queens your nursing mothers.^(CC)
They will bow down^(CD) before you with their faces to the ground;
    they will lick the dust^(CE) at your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord;^(CF)
    those who hope^(CG) in me will not be disappointed.^(CH)”

²⁴Can plunder be taken from warriors,^(CI)
or captives be rescued from the fierce^[c]?

²⁵But this is what the Lord says:

“Yes, captives^(CJ) will be taken from warriors,^(CK)
    and plunder retrieved from the fierce;^(CL)
I will contend with those who contend with you,^(CM)
    and your children I will save.^(CN)
²⁶I will make your oppressors^(CO) eat^(CP) their own flesh;
    they will be drunk on their own blood,^(CQ) as with wine.
Then all mankind will know^(CR)
    that I, the Lord, am your Savior,^(CS)
    your Redeemer,^(CT) the Mighty One of Jacob.^(CU)”

Footnotes

Isaiah 49:5 Or him, / but Israel would not be gathered; / yet I will be
Isaiah 49:12 Dead Sea Scrolls; Masoretic Text Sinim
Isaiah 49:24 Dead Sea Scrolls, Vulgate and Syriac (see also Septuagint and verse 25); Masoretic Text righteous

Matthew 10

New International Version

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve^(A)^(B)^(C)^(D)^(E)

10 Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits^(F) and to heal every disease and sickness.^(G)

²These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; ³Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; ⁴Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.^(H)

⁵These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans.^(I) ⁶Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel.^(J) ⁷As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven^(K) has come near.’ ⁸Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy,^[a] drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.

⁹“Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts^(L)— ¹⁰no bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a staff, for the worker is worth his keep.^(M) ¹¹Whatever town or village you enter, search there for some worthy person and stay at their house until you leave. ¹²As you enter the home, give it your greeting.^(N) ¹³If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. ¹⁴If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet.^(O) ¹⁵Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah^(P) on the day of judgment^(Q) than for that town.^(R)

¹⁶“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves.^(S) Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.^(T) ¹⁷Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils^(U) and be flogged in the synagogues.^(V) ¹⁸On my account you will be brought before governors and kings^(W) as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. ¹⁹But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it.^(X) At that time you will be given what to say, ²⁰for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father^(Y) speaking through you.

²¹“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents^(Z) and have them put to death.^(AA) ²²You will be hated by everyone because of me,^(AB) but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.^(AC) ²³When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.^(AD)

²⁴“The student is not above the teacher, nor a servant above his master.^(AE) ²⁵It is enough for students to be like their teachers, and servants like their masters. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul,^(AF) how much more the members of his household!

²⁶“So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known.^(AG) ²⁷What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. ²⁸Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One^(AH) who can destroy both soul and body in hell. ²⁹Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.^[b] ³⁰And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.^(AI) ³¹So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.^(AJ)

³²“Whoever acknowledges me before others,^(AK) I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. ³³But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.^(AL)

³⁴“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. ³⁵For I have come to turn

“‘a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law^(AM)—
³⁶ a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’^[c]^(AN)

³⁷“Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.^(AO) ³⁸Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me.^(AP) ³⁹Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.^(AQ)

⁴⁰“Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me,^(AR) and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.^(AS) ⁴¹Whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. ⁴²And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”^(AT)

Footnotes

Matthew 10:8 The Greek word traditionally translated leprosy was used for various diseases affecting the skin.
Matthew 10:29 Or will; or knowledge
Matthew 10:36 Micah 7:6