Isaiah 49:14-21
New English Translation
The Lord Remembers Zion
14 “Zion said, ‘The Lord has abandoned me,
the Lord[a] has forgotten me.’
15 Can a woman forget her baby who nurses at her breast?[b]
Can she withhold compassion from the child she has borne?[c]
Even if mothers[d] were to forget,
I could never forget you![e]
16 Look, I have inscribed your name[f] on my palms;
your walls are constantly before me.
17 Your children hurry back,
while those who destroyed and devastated you depart.
18 Look all around you![g]
All of them gather to you.
As surely as I live,” says the Lord,
“you will certainly wear all of them like jewelry;
you will put them on as if you were a bride.
19 Yes, your land lies in ruins;
it is desolate and devastated.[h]
But now you will be too small to hold your residents,
and those who devoured you will be far away.
20 Yet the children born during your time of bereavement
will say within your hearing,
‘This place is too cramped for us,[i]
make room for us so we can live here.’[j]
21 Then you will think to yourself,[k]
‘Who bore these children for me?
I was bereaved and barren,
dismissed and divorced.[l]
Who raised these children?
Look, I was left all alone;
where did these children come from?’”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 49:14 tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (ʾadonay).
- 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 49:18 tn Heb “Lift up around your eyes and see.”
- Isaiah 49:19 tn Heb “Indeed your ruins and your desolate places, and the land of your destruction.” This statement is abruptly terminated in the Hebrew text and left incomplete.
- Isaiah 49:20 tn Heb “me.” The singular is collective.
- Isaiah 49:20 tn Heb “draw near to me so I can dwell.”
- Isaiah 49:21 tn Heb “and you will say in your heart.”
- Isaiah 49:21 tn Or “exiled and thrust away”; NIV “exiled and rejected.”
Isaiah 49:14-21
Common English Bible
Compassion for Zion
14 But Zion says, “The Lord has abandoned me;
my Lord has forgotten me.”
15 Can a woman forget her nursing child,
fail to pity the child of her womb?
Even these may forget,
but I won’t forget you.
16 Look, on my palms I’ve inscribed you;
your walls are before me continually.
17 Your builders[a] come quickly;
those who destroy and demolish you will depart from you.
18 Look up all around and see:
they are all gathered;
they come to you.
As surely as I live, says the Lord,
you will put them all on like ornaments,
bind them on like a bride.
19 As for your ruins and desolate places
and destroyed land—
you will soon be crowded with settlers,
and those who swallowed you will be far away.
20 You will again hear the children who were born bereaved say,
“The place is too crowded for me;
make room for me to settle.”
21 And you will think to yourself,
Who bore me these?
I was bereaved and desolate, exiled and sent off.
So who raised these?
I was left behind, I was alone;
where were these?
Footnotes
- Isaiah 49:17 Or children
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