Isaiah 49

Yahweh’s Servant Brings Salvation

¹Listen to me, coastlands,

Yahweh called me from the womb;

²And he made my mouth like a sharp sword;[#Literally “put”]

and he made me like an sharpened arrow;

³And he said to me, “You are my servant,

⁴But I myself said, “I have labored in vain;[#Or “And”; #Or “for”]

Nevertheless, my justice is with Yahweh,

⁵And now Yahweh says,

to bring Jacob back to him,

for I am honored in the eyes of Yahweh,

⁶And he says, “It is trivial for you to be a servant for me,[#Literally “from being you”]

to raise up the tribes of Jacob

I will give you as a light to the nations,

⁷Thus says Yahweh, the redeemer of Israel, his holy one,

to the one who despises life,

“Kings shall see and stand up;

for the sake of Yahweh, who is faithful,

Yahweh Restores the Afflicted

⁸Thus says Yahweh:

“I have answered you in a time of favor,

and watched over you,

to raise up the land,

⁹saying to the prisoners, “Come out!”[#Literally “captured ones”]

they shall feed along the ways,

¹⁰They shall not be hungry or thirsty,

for he who takes pity on them will lead them,

¹¹And I will make all my mountains like a road,[#Literally “put”]

¹²Look! These shall come from afar,

¹³Sing for joy, heavens, and rejoice, earth!

For Yahweh has comforted his people,

Yahweh Remembers Zion

¹⁴But Zion said, “Yahweh has forsaken me,[#Or “And”]

¹⁵Can a woman forget her suckling,

Indeed, these may forget,

¹⁶Look, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands;

¹⁷Your children hasten;

¹⁸Lift your eyes up all around and see;

As surely as I live,

surely you shall put on all of them like an ornament,

¹⁹Surely your sites of ruins and desolate places and land of ruins,[#Hebrew “ruin”]

surely now you will be too cramped for your inhabitants,

²⁰Yet the children born when you were bereaved will say in your hearing,[#Literally “of your bereavement”; #Literally “ears”]

“The place is too cramped for me;

²¹Then you will say in your heart,[#Or “And”]

“Who has borne me these?”

exiled and thrust away;

Look at me! I was left alone;

²²Thus says the Lord Yahweh:

“Look! I will lift my hand up to the nations,

and they shall bring your sons in their bosom,

²³And kings shall be your guardians,[#Literally “those who nurture”]

They shall bow down, faces to the ground, to you,

Then you will know that I am Yahweh;

²⁴Can war-booty be taken from the mighty?

²⁵But thus says Yahweh:

“Indeed a captive of the mighty shall be taken,

for I myself will dispute with your opponent,

²⁶And I will feed your oppressors their own flesh,

Then all flesh shall know that I am Yahweh,