Isaiah 49
49
The Lord’s Servant Will Bring Salvation to the Nations
1Listen to me, you islands.
Pay attention, you people far away.
Before I was born, the Lord chose me.
While I was in my mother’s womb, he recorded my name.
2He made my tongue like a sharp sword
and hid me in the palm of his hand.
He made me like a sharpened arrow
and hid me in his quiver.
3He said to me,
“You are my servant Israel.
I will display my glory through you.”
4But I said,
“I have worked hard for nothing.
I have used my strength, but I didn’t accomplish anything.
Yet, certainly my case is in the Lord’s hands,
and my reward is with my God.”
5The Lord formed me in the womb to be his servant
in order to bring Jacob back to him
and gather Israel to him.
(The Lord honors me,
and my God has become my strength.)
6Now, the Lord says,
“You are not just my servant
who restores the tribes of Jacob
and brings back those in Israel whom I have preserved.
I have also made you a light for the nations
so that you would save people all over the world.”
7The Lord is the defender of Israel, its Holy One.
This is what the Lord says to the despised one, to the one scorned by the nation, to the slave of rulers:
Kings will see ⌞you⌟ and stand.
Princes will see ⌞you⌟ and bow.
The Lord is faithful.
The Holy One of Israel has chosen you.
8This is what the Lord says:
In the time of favor I will answer you.
In the day of salvation I will help you.
I will protect you.
I will appoint you as my promise #49:8 Or “covenant.” to the people.
You will restore the land.
You will make them inherit the desolate inheritance.
9You will say to the prisoners, “Come out,”
and to those who are in darkness, “Show yourselves.”
They will graze along every path,
and they will find pastures on every bare hill.
10They will never be hungry or thirsty,
nor will the sun or the burning, hot wind strike them.
The one who has compassion on them will lead them
and guide them to springs.
11I will turn all my mountains into roads,
and my highways will be restored.
12They will come from far away.
They will come from the north and from the west,
and they will come from the land of Sinim.
13Sing with joy, you heavens!
Rejoice, you earth!
Break into shouts of joy, you mountains!
The Lord has comforted his people
and will have compassion on his humble people.
The LORD Has Not Forgotten Israel
14But Zion said, “The Lord has abandoned me.
My Lord has forgotten me.”
15Can a woman forget her nursing child?
Will she have no compassion on the child from her womb?
Although mothers may forget,
I will not forget you.
16I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.
Your walls are always in my presence.
17Your children will hurry back.
Those who destroyed you and laid waste to you will leave you.
18Look up, look around, and watch!
All of your children are gathering together and returning to you.
“I solemnly swear as I live,” declares the Lord,
“you will wear all of them like jewels
and display them on yourself as a bride would.”
19Though you are destroyed and demolished and your land is in ruins,
you will be too crowded for ⌞your⌟ people now.
Those who devoured you will be long gone.
20The children taken from you will say to you,
“This place is too crowded for me.
Make room for me to live here.”
21Then you will ask yourself,
“Who has fathered these ⌞children⌟ for me?
I was childless and unable to have children.
I was exiled and rejected.
Who raised these ⌞children for me⌟?
I was left alone.
Where have they come from?”
22This is what the Almighty Lord says:
I will lift my hand ⌞to signal⌟ the nations.
I will raise my flag for the people.
They will bring your sons in their arms
and carry your daughters on their shoulders.
23Then kings will be your foster fathers,
and their queens will nurse you.
They will bow in front of you
with their faces touching the ground.
They will lick the dust at your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord.
Those who wait with hope for me will not be put to shame.
24Can loot be taken away from mighty men
or prisoners be freed from conquerors?
25This is what the Lord says:
Prisoners will be freed from mighty men.
Loot will be taken away from tyrants.
I will fight your enemies,
and I will save your children.
26I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh,
and they will become drunk on their own blood
as though it were new wine.
Then all humanity will know that I am the Lord, who saves you,
the Mighty One of Jacob, who reclaims you.
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GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.
Isaiah 49
49
The Lord’s Special Servant
1Listen to what I have to say, you islands.
Pay attention to me, you who live in distant lands.
Yahweh called me as his own before I was born
and named me while I was still in my mother’s womb.
2He gives me words that pierce and penetrate. # 49:2 Or “He makes my mouth a sharp sword.” See Heb. 4:12; Rev. 1:16; 2:12, 16; 19:15.
He hid me and protected me in the shadow of his hand. # 49:2 Jesus was “hidden” in Nazareth for thirty years.
He prepared me like a polished arrow
and concealed me in his quiver.
3And he said to me,
“Israel, you are my special servant;
in you I will be glorified.” # 49:3 See Gen. 32:28; Deut. 7:6; 26:18–19; Eph. 1:4–6.
4I said, “I’ve worked and served for nothing.
I have used up all my strength for nothing.” # 49:4 Or “empty breath.”
Yet my rights I leave in Yahweh’s hands,
and my just reward is with my God.
5And now, the Lord Yahweh—
who shaped me in the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob’s tribes back to him
that Israel would be gathered back to him,
for I am honored in the sight of Yahweh.
I find the source of all my strength in my God—
6who says:
“Is it too small a thing for you, my servant,
to restore greatness to Jacob’s tribes and the survivors of Israel?
I will make you to be a light to the nations and
to bring the light of my salvation to the ends of the earth!” # 49:6 Although Israel is named in this chapter, the future fulfillment of this prophecy is found in Jesus Christ, the true Servant of the Lord. He was called and named from the womb (v. 1). He was equipped and prepared by God (v. 2). He was appointed and commissioned as God’s Servant (v. 3). He would bring Israel back to God (v. 5). He is highly favored in the sight of God (v. 5). Jesus found all his strength in his Father and did only what pleased him (v. 5). He is light and salvation to the nations (gentiles; v. 6).
7Yahweh, Israel’s Kinsman-Redeemer and Holy One,
says to the one who is deeply despised and repulsed by rulers
and a slave to the ruling class:
“Kings will see and stand up in respect;
princes will bow down to honor the faithfulness of Yahweh,
the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”
God’s Faithfulness
8Yahweh says:
“When the time of showing you favor has come, # 49:8 This may be a reference to the year of Jubilee (see Lev. 25:8–13). Believers today are now living in that season of God’s favor. See Luke 4:18–19.
I will answer your heart’s cry.
I will help you in the day of salvation,
for I have fixed my eyes on you.
I have made you a covenant people to restore the land
and to resettle families on forgotten inheritances.
9You will declare to prisoners, ‘You’re free!’
and to those in darkness, ‘Step out into the light!’
They will be like sheep that graze beside the roads
and find pasture on the barren hillside.
10They will never be hungry or thirsty.
Neither scorching sun nor desert wind will hurt them, # 49:10 See Rev. 7:16.
for he, the Loving One, will guide them
and lead them to restful, renewing streams of water. # 49:10 See Ps. 23:1–3.
11I will level all my mountains as a road for them
and raise up my highways.
12Look! They will come from faraway lands—
some from the north, some from the west,
and some from the land of Sinim.” # 49:12 There is much scholarly debate about the land of Sinim. There are some convincing arguments that link Sinim etymologically and historically to the Qin dynasty, which eventually grew and became modern-day China. The Sinites as a people group are mentioned in Gen. 10:17 and 1 Chron. 1:15. Others see Sinim as a Persian province, a variant name for Phoenicia, or a region in Aswan (Egypt).
13Sing for joy, you heavens!
Shout, you earth, and rejoice with dancing, shouting, and glee!
Burst into joyous songs, you mountains,
for Yahweh has comforted his beloved people.
He will show tenderness and compassion # 49:13 The Hebrew word for “compassion” is racham, a Hebrew homophone for “womb.” The implication is that God has a compassionate love for you, greater than a birth mother has for her child. God’s love comes from deep within his innermost being and births living mercy poured out over us. Racham can be translated “pity,” “grace,” “favor,” “tender affection,” or “compassion.” The very core of God’s being is filled with love and compassion for you.
to his suffering ones.
God Will Not Forget Zion
14But Zion has said, “Yahweh has forsaken me.
My Lord has forgotten me—I’m all alone.”
15Yahweh responds, “But how could a loving mother forget her nursing child
and not deeply love the one she bore?
Even if there is a mother who forgets her child,
I could never, no never, forget you.
16Can’t you see?
I have carved your name on the palms of my hands!
Your walls are always my concern. # 49:16 Although this is an apparent reference to the walls of Jerusalem, there is an application here for each of us. Wherever you are today, your limitations—your walls—are before God’s eyes. He knows where you are and what you face.
17Your children, your builders, # 49:17 The Hebrew root word for “children” (bnyk) is a homonym for “builders.” This translation includes both terms. See also v. 18. are running back to you
as those who ruined and destroyed you are running away.
18Lift up your head and look all around you.
See! All your children, your builders, gather to come back to you.
As surely as I live, I make this promise,” says Yahweh.
“You will wear them all like jewels,
as a radiant bride wears her beautiful jewelry! # 49:18 The Hebrew word for “bride” (kallah) also means “completed,” “perfected,” or “finished.” A mature bride will arise, wearing her sons and daughters as her jewelry and crown. See 1 Thess. 2:19.
19“See? Your ruins and devastated places
will soon be overcrowded with settlers
while your destroyers stay far away.
20You thought you had lost the children, # 49:20 Or “the children of your bereavement.”
but you will hear them say,
‘This place is too cramped for me.
Make more room for me to live in.’
21And you will say to yourself,
‘Where in the world did all these children come from?
Who birthed these for me?
I thought I was bereaved and barren.
I thought I was all alone, forgotten in exile—
so how did they all get here?’ ”
22This is what Lord Yahweh says:
“Soon I will raise my hand and signal to the nations,
and they will come with your little boys bundled in their arms # 49:22 Or “lap” or “bosom.”
and your little daughters carried on their shoulders.
23Kings will be their babysitters
and queens their nursing mothers.
With faces bowed to the ground,
they will lick the dust of your feet.
Then you will know that I am Yahweh,
and I will never disappoint those
who entwine their hearts with mine.” # 49:23 Or “whoever waits on me.”
24Who can snatch the prey
from the hands of a mighty warrior
or rescue captives from a conqueror? # 49:24 Or “tyrant” (1QIsaa, Vulgate, Aramaic). The Hebrew reads “a righteous one.”
25But Yahweh says:
“The prey will be freed from the mighty warrior,
and captives will be rescued from a conqueror!
For I will fight with those who fight with you, # 49:25 See Gen. 12:1–3.
and I myself will save your children.
26I will cause the violence of your oppressors
to come back upon them, # 49:26 Or “I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh,” a figure of speech for violently turning on one another.
and your enemies will kill one another in a killing frenzy! # 49:26 Or “they will get drunk on their own blood as with wine.” See Rev. 16:6.
Then all the earth will know that I am Yahweh,
your Savior, your Kinsman-Redeemer,
the mighty hero of Jacob’s tribes.”
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