Isaiah 49 — GNB
49Verse 1Listen to me, ye distant lands! Attend, ye nations from afar! Jehovah called me at my birth; In my very childhood he called me by name.Verse 2He made my mouth like a sharp sword; In the shadow of his hand did he hide me. He made me a polished shaft; In his quiver did he hide me.Verse 3He said to me, Thou art my servant; Israel, in whom I will be glorified.Verse 4Then I said, I have labored in vain; For naught, for vanity, have I spent my strength; Yet my cause is with Jehovah, And my reward with my God.Verse 5And now thus saith Jehovah, Who formed me from my birth to be his servant To bring Jacob to him again, And that Israel might be gathered to him,—For I am honored in the eyes of Jehovah, And my God is my strength,—Verse 6He said, It is a small tiling that thou shouldst be my servant, To raise up the tribes of Jacob, And to restore the preserved of Israel; I will also make thee the light of the nations, That my salvation may reach the ends of the earth.Verse 7Thus saith Jehovah, the Redeemer of Israel, his Holy One, To him that is despised by men, abhorred by the people, To the servant of tyrants; Kings shall see, and stand up, Princes, and they shall pay homage, On account of Jehovah, who is faithful, The Holy One of Israel, who hath chosen thee.Verse 8Thus saith Jehovah; In the time of favor will I hear thee; In the day of deliverance will I help thee; I will preserve thee, and make thee a mediator for the people, To restore the land, to distribute the desolated inheritances;Verse 9To say to the prisoners, Go forth! To them that are in darkness, Come to the light! They shall feed in the ways, And on all high places shall be their pasture.Verse 10They shall not hunger, neither shall they thirst; Neither shall the heat nor the sun smite them; For he that hath compassion on them shall lead them; To springs of water shall he guide them.Verse 11And I will make all my mountains a highway; And my roads shall be prepared.Verse 12Behold! these shall come from far; And behold! these from the North and from the West, And these from the land of Sinim.Verse 13Sing, O ye heavens, and rejoice, O earth! Break forth into singing, ye mountains! For Jehovah comforteth his people, And hath compassion on his afflicted ones.Verse 14Zion saith, “Jehovah hath forsaken me; The Lord hath forgotten me.”Verse 15Can a woman forget her sucking child, So as not to have compassion on the son of her womb? Yet, should they forget, I will never forget thee!Verse 16Behold, I have graven thee on the palms of my hands; Thy walls are ever before my eyes.Verse 17Thy children shall make haste; They that destroyed and laid thee waste shall depart from thee.Verse 18Lift up thine eyes around, and see! They all assemble themselves, and come to thee. As I live, saith Jehovah, Thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with a rich dress; Thou shalt bind them on thee, as a bride her jewels.Verse 19For thy waste and desolate places, and thy land laid in ruins, Shall now be too narrow for the inhabitants; And they that devoured thee shall be far away.Verse 20Thou, that hast been childless, shalt yet hear thy sons exclaim: “The place is too narrow for me; make room for me that I may dwell.”Verse 21And thou shalt say in thy heart, Who hath begotten me these? I surely was childless and unfruitful, An exile, and an outcast; who then hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, then, where were they?Verse 22Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I will lift up my hand to the nations, And set up my standard to the kingdoms; They shall bring thy sons in their arms, And thy daughters upon their shoulders.Verse 23And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, And queens thy nursing mothers; Upon their faces shall they bow down before thee, And lick the dust of thy feet. Thus shalt thou know that I am Jehovah; And they who trust in me shall not be put to shame.Verse 24Shall the prey be taken away from the mighty? Or shall the spoil of the terrible be rescued?Verse 25Yea, thus saith Jehovah, The prey shall be taken away from the mighty, And the spoil of the terrible shall be rescued; For with him that contendeth with thee will I contend, (49:26) And I will save thy children.Verse 26(49:27) And I will cause thine oppressors to eat their own flesh; With their own blood shall they be drunk, as with new wine; And all flesh shall know that I Jehovah am thy saviour; That thy redeemer is the Mighty One of Jacob.