49
1 Listen,
islands, to me.
Listen, you
peoples, from afar:
the LORD has
called me from
the womb;
from the inside
of my mother, he
has mentioned my
name.
2 He
has made my
mouth like a
sharp sword.
He has hidden
me in the
shadow of his
hand.
He has made
me a polished
shaft.
He has kept me
close in
his quiver.
3 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 in
vain for nothing;
yet surely the
justice due to
me is with
the LORD,
and my reward
with my God.”
5 Now
the LORD, he
who formed me
from the womb to
be his servant,
says to bring
Jacob again to
him,
and to gather
Israel to him,
for I am
honorable in the
LORD’s eyes,
and my God
has become my
strength.
6 Indeed,
he says, “It is
too light a
thing that you
should be my
servant to raise
up the tribes
of Jacob,
and to restore
the preserved of
Israel.
I will also
give you as
a light to
the nations,
that you may
be my salvation
to the end
of the earth.”
7 The
LORD, the Redeemer
of Israel, and
his Holy One,
says to him whom
man despises, to
him whom the
nation abhors, to
a servant of
rulers:
“Kings shall see
and rise up,
princes, and they
shall worship,
because of the
LORD who
is faithful, even
the Holy One
of Israel, who
has chosen you.”
8 The
LORD says, “I
have answered you
in an acceptable
time.
I have helped
you in a
day of salvation.
I will preserve
you and give
you for a
covenant of the
people,
to raise up
the land, to
make them inherit
the desolate
heritage,
9 saying to
those who
are bound, ‘Come
out!’;
to those who
are in darkness,
‘Show yourselves!’
“They shall feed
along the paths,
and their pasture
shall be on
all treeless heights.
10 They
shall not hunger
nor thirst;
neither shall the
heat nor sun
strike them,
for he who
has mercy on
them will lead
them.
He will guide
them by springs
of water.
11 I
will make all
my mountains a
road,
and my highways
shall be exalted.
12 Behold,
these shall come
from afar,
and behold, these
from the north
and from the
west,
and these from
the land of Sinim.”
13 Sing,
heavens, and be
joyful, earth!
Break out into
singing, mountains!
For the LORD
has comforted his
people,
and will have
compassion on his
afflicted.
14 But
Zion said, “The
LORD has forsaken
me,
and the Lord
has forgotten me.”
15 “Can
a woman forget her
nursing child,
that she should
not have
compassion on the
son of her womb?
Yes, 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
children hurry.
Your destroyers
and those who
devastated you
will leave you.
18 Lift
up your eyes
all around, and
see:
all these gather
themselves together,
and come to you.
As I live,”
says the LORD, “you
shall surely
clothe yourself
with them all
as with an
ornament,
and dress
yourself with them,
like a bride.
19 “For,
as for your
waste and your
desolate places,
and your land
that has been
destroyed,
surely now
that land will
be too small for
the inhabitants,
and those who
swallowed you up
will be far
away.
20 The
children of
your bereavement will say
in your ears,
‘This place is
too small for
me.
Give me a
place to live
in.’
21 Then you
will say in your
heart, ‘Who
has conceived these
for me, since
I have been
bereaved of my
children
and am alone,
an exile,
and wandering back
and forth?
Who has brought
these up?
Behold, I was
left alone. Where
were these?’ ”
22 The
Lord GOD says, “Behold, I will lift
up my hand
to the nations,
and lift up
my banner to
the peoples.
They shall bring
your sons in
their bosom,
and your
daughters shall be
carried on their
shoulders.
23 Kings
shall be
your foster fathers,
and their queens
your nursing
mothers.
They will bow
down to you
with their faces
to the earth,
and lick the
dust of your
feet.
Then you will
know that I
am the LORD;
and those who
wait for me won’t
be disappointed.”
24 Shall
the plunder be
taken from the
mighty,
or the lawful
captives be
delivered?
25 But
the LORD 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, the LORD,
am your Savior
and your Redeemer,
the Mighty One of
Jacob.”