Isaiah 49:8-51:16

New International Version

“In the time of my favor^(A) I will answer you,
    and in the day of salvation I will help you;^(B)
I will keep^(C) you and will make you
    to be a covenant for the people,^(D)
to restore the land^(E)
    and to reassign its desolate inheritances,^(F)
9 to say to the captives,^(G) ‘Come out,’
    and to those in darkness,^(H) ‘Be free!’

“They will feed beside the roads
    and find pasture on every barren hill.^(I)
10 They will neither hunger nor thirst,^(J)
    nor will the desert heat or the sun beat down on them.^(K)
He who has compassion^(L) on them will guide^(M) them
    and lead them beside springs^(N) of water.
¹¹ I will turn all my mountains into roads,
    and my highways^(O) will be raised up.^(P)
12 See, they will come from afar^(Q)—
    some from the north, some from the west,^(R)
    some from the region of Aswan.^[a]”

¹³ Shout for joy,^(S) you heavens;
    rejoice, you earth;^(T)
    burst into song, you mountains!^(U)
For the Lord comforts^(V) his people
    and will have compassion^(W) on his afflicted ones.^(X)

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

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

¹⁹ “Though you were ruined and made desolate^(AI)
    and your land laid waste,^(AJ)
now you will be too small for your people,^(AK)
    and those who devoured^(AL) you will be far away.
²⁰ The 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.’^(AM)
21 Then you will say in your heart,
    ‘Who bore me these?^(AN)
I was bereaved^(AO) and barren;
    I was exiled and rejected.^(AP)
    Who brought these^(AQ) up?
I was left^(AR) all alone,^(AS)
    but these—where have they come from?’”

“See, I will beckon to the nations,
    I will lift up my banner^(AU) to the peoples;
they will bring^(AV) your sons in their arms
    and carry your daughters on their hips.^(AW)
23 Kings^(AX) will be your foster fathers,
    and their queens your nursing mothers.^(AY)
They will bow down^(AZ) before you with their faces to the ground;
    they will lick the dust^(BA) at your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord;^(BB)
    those who hope^(BC) in me will not be disappointed.^(BD)”

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

“Yes, captives^(BF) will be taken from warriors,^(BG)
    and plunder retrieved from the fierce;^(BH)
I will contend with those who contend with you,^(BI)
    and your children I will save.^(BJ)
26 I will make your oppressors^(BK) eat^(BL) their own flesh;
    they will be drunk on their own blood,^(BM) as with wine.
Then all mankind will know^(BN)
    that I, the Lord, am your Savior,^(BO)
    your Redeemer,^(BP) the Mighty One of Jacob.^(BQ)”

“Where is your mother’s certificate of divorce^(BR)
    with which I sent her away?
Or to which of my creditors
    did I sell^(BS) you?
Because of your sins^(BT) you were sold;^(BU)
    because of your transgressions your mother was sent away.
² When I came, why was there no one?
    When I called, why was there no one to answer?^(BV)
Was my arm too short^(BW) to deliver you?
    Do I lack the strength^(BX) to rescue you?
By a mere rebuke^(BY) I dry up the sea,^(BZ)
    I turn rivers into a desert;^(CA)
their fish rot for lack of water
    and die of thirst.
³ I clothe the heavens with darkness^(CB)
    and make sackcloth^(CC) its covering.”

⁴ The Sovereign Lord^(CD) has given me a well-instructed tongue,^(CE)
    to know the word that sustains the weary.^(CF)
He wakens me morning by morning,^(CG)
    wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.^(CH)
5 The Sovereign Lord^(CI) has opened my ears;^(CJ)
    I have not been rebellious,^(CK)
    I have not turned away.
⁶ I offered my back to those who beat^(CL) me,
    my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard;^(CM)
I did not hide my face
    from mocking and spitting.^(CN)
7 Because the Sovereign Lord^(CO) helps^(CP) me,
    I will not be disgraced.
Therefore have I set my face like flint,^(CQ)
    and I know I will not be put to shame.^(CR)
8 He who vindicates^(CS) me is near.^(CT)
    Who then will bring charges against me?^(CU)
    Let us face each other!^(CV)
Who is my accuser?
    Let him confront me!
⁹ It is the Sovereign Lord^(CW) who helps^(CX) me.
    Who will condemn^(CY) me?
They will all wear out like a garment;
    the moths^(CZ) will eat them up.

¹⁰ Who among you fears^(DA) the Lord
    and obeys^(DB) the word of his servant?^(DC)
Let the one who walks in the dark,
    who has no light,^(DD)
trust^(DE) in the name of the Lord
    and rely on their God.
¹¹ But now, all you who light fires
    and provide yourselves with flaming torches,^(DF)
go, walk in the light of your fires^(DG)
    and of the torches you have set ablaze.
This is what you shall receive from my hand:^(DH)
    You will lie down in torment.^(DI)

⁴ “Listen to me, my people;^(DW)
    hear me,^(DX) my nation:
Instruction^(DY) will go out from me;
    my justice^(DZ) will become a light to the nations.^(EA)
5 My righteousness draws near speedily,
    my salvation^(EB) is on the way,^(EC)
    and my arm^(ED) will bring justice to the nations.
The islands^(EE) will look to me
    and wait in hope^(EF) for my arm.
⁶ Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
    look at the earth beneath;
the heavens will vanish like smoke,^(EG)
    the earth will wear out like a garment^(EH)
    and its inhabitants die like flies.
But my salvation^(EI) will last forever,^(EJ)
    my righteousness will never fail.^(EK)

⁷ “Hear me, you who know what is right,^(EL)
    you people who have taken my instruction to heart:^(EM)
Do not fear the reproach of mere mortals
    or be terrified by their insults.^(EN)
8 For the moth will eat them up like a garment;^(EO)
    the worm^(EP) will devour them like wool.
But my righteousness will last forever,^(EQ)
    my salvation through all generations.”

⁹ Awake, awake,^(ER) arm^(ES) of the Lord,
    clothe yourself with strength!^(ET)
Awake, as in days gone by,
    as in generations of old.^(EU)
Was it not you who cut Rahab^(EV) to pieces,
    who pierced that monster^(EW) through?
¹⁰ Was it not you who dried up the sea,^(EX)
    the waters of the great deep,^(EY)
who made a road in the depths of the sea^(EZ)
    so that the redeemed^(FA) might cross over?
¹¹ Those the Lord has rescued^(FB) will return.
    They will enter Zion with singing;^(FC)
    everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy^(FD) will overtake them,
    and sorrow and sighing will flee away.^(FE)

¹² “I, even I, am he who comforts^(FF) you.
    Who are you that you fear^(FG) mere mortals,^(FH)
    human beings who are but grass,^(FI)
13 that you forget^(FJ) the Lord your Maker,^(FK)
    who stretches out the heavens^(FL)
    and who lays the foundations of the earth,
that you live in constant terror^(FM) every day
    because of the wrath of the oppressor,
    who is bent on destruction?
For where is the wrath of the oppressor?^(FN)
14     The cowering prisoners will soon be set free;^(FO)
they will not die in their dungeon,
    nor will they lack bread.^(FP)
15 For I am the Lord your God,
    who stirs up the sea^(FQ) so that its waves roar^(FR)—
    the Lord Almighty^(FS) is his name.
¹⁶ I have put my words in your mouth^(FT)
    and covered you with the shadow of my hand^(FU)—
I who set the heavens in place,
    who laid the foundations of the earth,^(FV)
    and who say to Zion, ‘You are my people.^(FW)’”