Isaiah 49

1. “Listen, O isles, to Me; and hearken, you people from afar; the LORD has called Me from the womb; He has made mention of My name from My mother’s belly.

2. And He has made My mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of His hand He has hidden Me, and made Me a polished shaft. He has hidden Me in His quiver,

3. And said to Me, ‘You are My servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.’

4. Then I said, ‘I have labored in vain; I have spent My strength for nothing, and in vain; yet surely justice is with the LORD, and My reward is with My God.’

5. And now, says the LORD—Who formed Me from the womb to be His servant, to bring Jacob again to Him, (though Israel is not gathered, yet I shall be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and My God shall be My strength)—

6. He said, ‘It is but a little thing that You should be My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to bring back the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You for a light to the nations, to be My salvation to the end of the earth.’ ”

7. Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, his Holy One, to Him Whom man despises, to Him Whom the nation hates, the Servant of rulers, “Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship because of the LORD Who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, and He shall choose You.”

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 preserve You, and give You for a covenant of the people, to restore the earth, to cause them to inherit the wasted inheritances;

9. That You may say to the prisoners, ‘Go out!’ To those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves!’ They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places.

10. They shall not hunger nor thirst; nor shall the heat nor sun strike them; for He Who has compassion on them shall lead them; even by the springs of water He shall guide them.

11. And I will make all My mountains into roads, and My highways shall be exalted.

12. Behold, these shall come from far; and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim.”

13. Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break out into singing, O mountains; for the LORD has comforted His people, and will have compassion upon His afflicted.

14. But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me, and my LORD has forgotten me.”

15. “Can a woman forget her suckling child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet I will not forget you.

16. Behold, I have carved you upon the palms of My hands; your walls are forever before Me.

17. Your children shall make haste; those destroying you and ruining you shall go out from you.

18. Lift up your eyes all around and see; they all gather and come to you. As I live,” says the LORD, “You shall surely wear them as an ornament, and bind them on as a bride;

19. For your wastes and your desolate places, and your land has been destroyed, shall even now be too narrow to dwell there, and they who swallowed you up shall be far away.

20. The children of your bereavement shall say again in your ears, ‘The place is too strait for me: give a place to me that I may dwell.’

21. Then you shall say in your heart, ‘Who has begotten these for me, since I have lost my children, and am desolate, turned aside and an exile, and who has brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where were they?’ ”

22. Thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I will lift up My hand to the Gentiles, and have set up My banner to the people; and they shall bring your sons in their bosom, and your daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.

23. And kings shall be your nursing fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. They shall bow to you, with their faces to the earth, and lick up the dust of your feet; and you shall know that I am the LORD; for they shall not be ashamed who wait for Me.”

24. Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the captives of a tyrant be rescued?

25. But thus says the LORD, “Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the fierce ones shall be rescued, for I will contend with him who contends with you, and I will save your children.

26. And I will feed those who oppress you with their own flesh; and they shall be drunk with their own blood, as with sweet wine; and all flesh shall know that I the LORD am your Savior and your Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.”