Chapter 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 laboured 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 honourable 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 Saviour and your Redeemer , the Mighty One of Jacob ."