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24 Shall the plunder be taken from the mighty,
    or the lawful captives be delivered?
25 But Yahweh says, “Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away,
    and the plunder retrieved from the fierce,
for I will contend with him who contends with you
    and I will save your children.
26 I will feed those who oppress you with their own flesh;
    and they will be drunk on their own blood, as with sweet wine.
Then all flesh shall know that I, Yahweh, am your Savior
    and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”

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24 Can spoils be taken from a warrior,
or captives be rescued from a conqueror?[a]
25 Indeed,” says the Lord,
“captives will be taken from a warrior;
spoils will be rescued from a conqueror.
I will oppose your adversary
and I will rescue your children.
26 I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh;
they will get drunk on their own blood, as if it were wine.[b]
Then all humankind[c] will recognize that
I am the Lord, your Deliverer,
your Protector,[d] the Powerful One of Jacob.”[e]

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 49:24 tc The Hebrew text has צָדִיק (tsadiq, “a righteous [one]”), but this makes no sense in the parallelism. The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa reads correctly עריץ (“violent [one], tyrant”; see v. 25).
  2. Isaiah 49:26 sn Verse 26a depicts siege warfare and bloody defeat. The besieged enemy will be so starved they will eat their own flesh. The bloodstained bodies lying on the blood-soaked battle site will look as if they collapsed in drunkenness.
  3. Isaiah 49:26 tn Heb “flesh” (so KJV, NASB).
  4. Isaiah 49:26 tn Heb “your redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.
  5. Isaiah 49:26 tn Or “the Mighty One of Jacob.” See 1:24.