49:1 Listen to Me, O islands, And pay attention, you peoples from afar The LORD called Me from the womb; From the body of My mother He named Me. |
49:2 He has made My mouth like a sharp sword, In the shadow of His hand He has concealed Me; And He has also made Me a select arrow, He has hidden Me in His quiver. |
49:3 He said to Me, " I call you My Servant, Israel, In Whom I will show My glory." |
49:4 But I said, "I have toiled in vain, I have spent My strength for nothing and vanity; Yet surely the justice due to Me remains with the LORD, And My reward with My God." |
49:5 And now says the LORD, who formed Me from the womb to become His Servant, To bring Jacob back to Him, so that He might gather Israel to Him (For I have received honor in the sight of the LORD, And My God has become My strength), |
49:6 He says, "It seems too small a thing that You should become My ServantTo raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth." |
49:7 Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel and its Holy One, To the despised One, To the One abhorred by the nation, To the Servant of rulers, " Kings will see and arise, Princes will also bow down, Because of the LORD who remains faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen You." |
49:8 Thus says the LORD, "In a favorable time I have answered You, And in a day of salvation I have helped You; And I will keep You and give You for a covenant of the people, To restore the land, to make them inherit the desolate heritages; |
49:9 Saying to those who feel bound, 'Go forth,' To those who live in darkness, 'Show yourselves ' Along the roads they will feed, And their pasture will locate on all bare heights. |
49:10 "They will not hunger or thirst, Nor will the scorching heat or sun strike them down; For He who has compassion on them will lead them And will guide them to springs of water. |
49:11 "I will make all My mountains a road, And My highways will raise up. |
49:12 "Behold, these will come from afar; And lo, these will come from the north and from the west, And these from the land of Sinim." |
49:13 Shout for joy, O heavens! And rejoice, O earth! Break forth into joyful shouting, O mountains! For the LORD has comforted His people And will have compassion on His afflicted. |
49:14 But Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken me, And the Lord has forgotten me." |
49:15 "Can a woman forget her nursing child And have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you. |
49:16 "Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls I see continually before Me. |
49:17 "Your builders hurry; Your destroyers and devastators Will depart from you. |
49:18 " Lift up your eyes and look around; All of them gather together, they come to you As I live," declares the LORD, "You will surely put on all of them as jewels and bind them on as a bride. |
49:19 "For your waste and desolate places and your destroyed land--Surely now you will feel too cramped for the inhabitants, And those who swallowed you will have gone far away. |
49:20 "The children of whom you had become bereaved will yet say in your ears, 'The place seems too cramped for me; Make room for me that I may live here.' |
49:21 "Then you will say in your heart, 'Who has begotten these for me, Since I have felt bereaved of my children And find myself barren, an exile and a wanderer? And who has reared these? Behold, I felt left alone; From where did these come?'" |
49:22 Thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I will lift up My hand to the nations And set up My standard to the peoples; And they will bring your sons in their bosom, And your daughters they will carry on their shoulders. |
49:23 " Kings will serve as your guardians, And their princesses your nurses They will bow down to you with their faces to the earth And lick the dust of your feet; And you will know Me as the LORD; Those who hopefully wait for Me will not feel shame. |
49:24 " Can someone take the prey from the mighty man, Or the captives of a tyrant receive rescue?" |
49:25 Surely, thus says the LORD, "Even the captives of the mighty man someone will take away, And the prey of the tyrant will have rescue; For I will contend with the one who contends with you, And I will save your sons. |
49:26 "I will feed your oppressors with their own flesh, And they will become drunk with their own blood as with sweet wine; And all flesh will know that I, the LORD, have become your Savior And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob." |