Isaiah — Chapter 49

Listen, O coastlands, to me,And give heed, O nations afar: GOD appointed me before I was born,Naming me while I was in my mother’s womb.

My mouth was made to be like a sharpened blade,While I was hidden in the shadow of a divine hand,So that I was like a polished arrow—Concealed in God’s quiver.

And [God] said to me, “You are My servant,Israel in whom I glory.”

I thought, “I have labored in vain,I have spent my strength for empty breath.”But my case rested with GOD,My recompense was in the hands of my God.

And now GOD has resolved—The One who formed me in the womb to be of service—To bring back JacobAnd restoreabring back…restore I.e., both to the land of Israel and to a state of closeness with GOD. Israel.And I have been honored in the sight of GOD,My God has been my strength.

And [God] has said:“It is too little that you should be My servantIn that I raise up the tribes of JacobAnd restore the survivors of Israel:I will also make you a lightblight I.e., the agent of good fortune; cf. 42.1–4; 51.4–5. of nations,That My salvation may reach the ends of the earth.”

Thus said GOD,The Redeemer of Israel, his Holy One,To the despised one,To the abhorred nations,cTo the despised one, / To the abhorred nations Meaning of Heb. uncertain. Emendation yields “Whose being is despised, / Whose body is detested”; cf. 51.23. To the slave of rulers:Kings shall see and stand up;Nobles, and they shall prostrate themselves—To the honor of GOD, who is faithful,To the Holy One of Israel who chose you.

Thus said GOD:In an hour of favor I answer you,And on a day of salvation I help you—I created you and appointed you a covenant peopleda covenant people See the first note at 42.6.—Restoring the land,Allotting anew the desolate holdings,

Saying to the prisoners, “Go free,”To those who are in darkness, “Show yourselves.”They shall pasture along the roads,On every bare height shall be their pasture.

They shall not hunger or thirst,Hot wind and sun shall not strike them;For the One who loves them will lead themAnd will guide them to springs of water.

I will make all My mountains a road,And My highways shall be built up.

Look! These are coming from afar,These from the north and the west,And these from the land of Sinim.eSinim 1QIsᵃ reads “the Syenians”; cf. Ezek. 30.6.

Shout, O heavens, and rejoice, O earth!Break into shouting, O hills!For GOD has comforted this people,And has taken back its afflicted ones in love.

Zion says,“GOD has forsaken me,My Sovereign has forgotten me.”

Can a woman forget her baby,Or disown the child of her womb?Though she might forget,I never could forget you.

See, I have engraved youOn the palms of My hands,Your walls are ever before Me.

Swiftly your children are coming;Those who ravaged and ruined you shall leave you.

Look up all around you and see:They are all assembled, are come to you!As I live—declares GOD—You shall don them all like jewels,Deck yourself with them like a bride.

As for your ruins and desolate placesAnd your land laid waste—You shall soon be crowded with settlers,While destroyers stay far from you.

The children you thought you had lostfyou thought you had lost Lit. “of your bereavement.” Shall yet say in your hearing,“The place is too crowded for me;Make room for me to settle.”

And you will say to yourself,“Who bore these for meWhen I was bereaved and barren,Exiled and disdainedgdisdained Meaning of Heb. uncertain.—By whom, then, were these reared?I was left all alone—And where have these been?”

Thus said my Sovereign GOD:I will raise My hand to nationsAnd lift up My ensign to peoples;And they shall bring your sons in their bosoms,And carry your daughters on their backs.

Kings shall tend your children,Their queens shall serve you as nurses.They shall bow to you, face to the ground,And lick the dust of your feet.And you shall know that I am GOD—Those who trust in Me shall not be shamed.

Can spoil be taken from a warrior,Or captives retrieved from a victor?

Yet thus said GOD:Captives shall be taken from a warriorAnd spoil shall be retrieved from a tyrant;For I will contend with your adversaries,And I will deliver your children.

I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh,They shall be drunk with their own blood as with wine.And all humankind shall knowThat I GOD am your Savior,The Mighty One of Jacob, your Redeemer.