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
Christian Standard Bible
Zion Remembered
14 Zion says, “The Lord has abandoned me;
the Lord has forgotten me!”
15 “Can a woman forget her nursing child,
or lack compassion for the child of her womb?
Even if these forget,
yet I will not forget you.
16 Look, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands;(A)
your walls are continually before me.
17 Your builders[a] hurry;
those who destroy and devastate you will leave you.
18 Look up, and look around.
They all gather together; they come to you.(B)
As I live”—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
“you will wear all your children[b] as jewelry,
and put them on as a bride does.
19 For your waste and desolate places
and your land marked by ruins
will now be indeed too small for the inhabitants,(C)
and those who swallowed you up will be far away.
20 Yet as you listen, the children
that you have been deprived of will say,
‘This place is too small for me;
make room for me so that I may settle.’(D)
21 Then you will say within yourself,
‘Who fathered these for me?
I was deprived of my children and unable to conceive,
exiled and wandering—
but who brought them up?
See, I was left by myself—
but these, where did they come from?’” [c]
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.