Isaiah 49:1-18

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.
³And 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—
⁶he 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.”

⁷Thus 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

⁸Thus 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.

¹⁴But 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.
¹⁶Behold, ^(AF)I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
    your walls are continually before me.
¹⁷Your 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.

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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

Revelation 7:9-17

English Standard Version

A Great Multitude from Every Nation

⁹After this I looked, and behold, ^(A)a great multitude that no one could number, ^(B)from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, ^(C)clothed in white robes, with ^(D)palm branches in their hands, ¹⁰and crying out with a loud voice, ^(E)“Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” ¹¹And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and ^(F)the four living creatures, and they ^(G)fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, ¹²^(H)saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

¹³Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, ^(I)clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” ¹⁴I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of ^(J)the great tribulation. ^(K)They have washed their robes and ^(L)made them white ^(M)in the blood of the Lamb.

¹⁵“Therefore they are before the throne of God,
    and ^(N)serve him day and night in his temple;
    and he who sits on the throne ^(O)will shelter them with his presence.
¹⁶^(P)They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;
    ^(Q)the sun shall not strike them,
    nor any scorching heat.
¹⁷For the Lamb in the midst of the throne ^(R)will be their shepherd,
    and he will guide them to springs of ^(S)living water,
and ^(T)God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”