Isaiah 49

¹ Listen to me, O coastlands,
and give attention, you peoples from afar.
The LORD called me from the womb;
from my mother's body he named my name.

² He made my mouth like a sharp sword;
in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me a polished arrow;
in his quiver he concealed me.

³ And he said to me, "You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will be glorified."

⁴ But I said, "I have labored in vain;
I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;
yet surely my just cause is with the LORD,
and my recompense with my God."

⁵ And now the LORD says,
he who formed me from the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him;
and that Israel might be gathered to him—
for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD,
and my God has become my strength—

⁶ he says:
"It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to bring back the preserved of Israel;
I will make you as a light for the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth."

⁷ Thus says the LORD,
the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One,
to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation,
the servant of rulers:
"Kings will see and arise;
princes, and they will prostrate themselves;
because of the LORD who is faithful,
the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you."

⁸ Thus says the LORD:
"In a time of favor I have answered you;
in a day of salvation I have helped you;
I will keep you and give you
as a covenant for the people,
to establish the land,
to apportion the desolate heritages,

⁹ saying to the prisoners, 'Come out,'
to those who are in darkness, 'Appear.'
They shall feed along the ways;
on all bare heights will be their pasture.

¹⁰ They will not hunger or thirst;
neither scorching wind nor sun will strike them,
for he who has compassion on them will lead them
and by springs of water will guide them.

¹¹ And I will make all my mountains a road,
and my highways will be raised up.

¹² Behold, these will come from afar,
and behold, these from the north and from the west,
and these from the land of Sinim.

¹³ Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth;
break forth into singing, O mountains!
For the LORD has comforted his people
and will have compassion on his afflicted.

¹⁴ But Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken me;
my Lord has forgotten me."

¹⁵ "Can a woman forget her nursing child,
that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?
Even these may forget,
yet I will not forget you.

¹⁶ Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
your walls are continually before me.

¹⁷ Your builders come quickly;
your destroyers and those who laid you waste
will leave you.

¹⁸ Lift up your eyes and look around;
all these gather; they come to you.
As I live, declares the LORD,
you will put them all on as an ornament;
you will bind them on as a bride does.

¹⁹ Surely your ruins and your desolate places
and your ravaged land—
you will now be too small for your inhabitants,
and those who swallowed you up will be far away.

²⁰ The children you will have after your bereavement
will say in your ears:
"The place is too small for me;
make room for me to dwell in."

²¹ Then you will say in your heart:
"Who bore me these?
I was bereaved and barren,
exiled and put away;
so who brought up these?
I was left alone; where did these come from?"

²² Thus says the Lord GOD:
"Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations
and raise my signal to the peoples;
and they will bring your sons in their arms,
and your daughters will be carried on their shoulders.

²³ Kings will be your foster fathers,
and their queens your nursing mothers.
With their faces to the ground they will bow down to you
and lick the dust of your feet,
and you will know that I am the LORD;
those who wait for me will not be put to shame."

²⁴ Can the prey be taken from the mighty,
or the lawful captive be rescued?

²⁵ For thus says the LORD:
"Even the captives of the mighty will be taken,
and the prey of the tyrant be rescued;
for I will contend with those who contend with you,
and I will save your children.

²⁶ I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh,
and they will be drunk with their own blood as with wine.
Then all flesh will know
that I am the LORD your Savior,
and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob."