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Isaiah 49:15-17
New English Translation
Isaiah 49:15-17
New English Translation
15 Can a woman forget her baby who nurses at her breast?[a]
Can she withhold compassion from the child she has borne?[b]
Even if mothers[c] were to forget,
I could never forget you![d]
16 Look, I have inscribed your name[e] on my palms;
your walls are constantly before me.
17 Your children hurry back,
while those who destroyed and devastated you depart.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 49:15 tn Heb “her suckling”; NASB “her nursing child.”
- Isaiah 49:15 tn Heb “so as not to have compassion on the son of her womb?”
- Isaiah 49:15 tn Heb “these” (so ASV, NASB).
- Isaiah 49:15 sn The argument of v. 15 seems to develop as follows: The Lord has an innate attachment to Zion, just like a mother does for her infant child. But even if mothers were to suddenly abandon their children, the Lord would never forsake Zion. In other words, the Lord’s attachment to Zion is like a mother’s attachment to her infant child, but even stronger.
- Isaiah 49:16 tn Heb “you.” Here the pronoun is put by metonymy for the person’s name.
Isaiah 49:15-17
New International Version
Isaiah 49:15-17
New International Version
15 “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast
and have no compassion on the child(A) she has borne?
Though she may forget,
I will not forget you!(B)
16 See, I have engraved(C) you on the palms of my hands;
your walls(D) are ever before me.
17 Your children hasten back,
and those who laid you waste(E) depart from you.
New English Translation (NET)
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New International Version (NIV) 
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