Isaiah 49:8-23

English Standard Version

The Restoration of Israel

⁸Thus says the Lord:
^(A)“In a ^(B)time of favor I have answered you;
    in a day of salvation I have helped you;
I will keep you ^(C)and give you
    as a covenant to the people,
to establish the land,
    ^(D)to apportion the desolate heritages,
⁹^(E)saying to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’
    to those who are in darkness, ‘Appear.’
^(F)They shall feed along the ways;
    on all bare heights shall be their pasture;
¹⁰^(G)they shall not hunger or thirst,
    neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them,
for he who has pity on them ^(H)will lead them,
    and by springs of water will guide them.
¹¹^(I)And I will make all my mountains a road,
    and my highways shall be raised up.
¹²^(J)Behold, these shall come from afar,
    and behold, ^(K)these from the north and from the west,^[a]
    and these from the land of Syene.”^[b]

¹³^(L)Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth;
break forth, O mountains, into singing!
For the Lord ^(M)has comforted his people
and will have compassion on his afflicted.

¹⁴But Zion said, ^(N)“The Lord has forsaken me;
my Lord has forgotten me.”

¹⁵^(O)“Can a woman forget her nursing child,
    that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?
Even these may forget,
    yet I will not forget you.
¹⁶Behold, ^(P)I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
    your walls are continually before me.
¹⁷Your builders make haste;^[c]
    ^(Q)your destroyers and those who laid you waste go out from you.
¹⁸^(R)Lift up your eyes around and see;
    they all gather, they come to you.
^(S)As I live, declares the Lord,
    ^(T)you shall put them all on as an ornament;
    you shall bind them on as a bride does.

¹⁹“Surely your waste and your desolate places
    and your devastated land—
^(U)surely now you will be too narrow for your inhabitants,
    and those who swallowed you up will be far away.
²⁰^(V)The children of your bereavement
    will yet say in your ears:
^(W)‘The place is too narrow for me;
    make room for me to dwell in.’
²¹Then you will say in your heart:
    ‘Who has borne me these?
^(X)I was bereaved and barren,
    exiled and put away,
    but who has brought up these?
Behold, I was left alone;
    from where have these come?’”

²²Thus says the Lord God:
“Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations,
    ^(Y)and raise my signal to the peoples;
^(Z)and they shall bring your sons in their arms,^[d]
    and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.
²³^(AA)Kings shall be your foster fathers,
    and their queens your nursing mothers.
^(AB)With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you,
    and ^(AC)lick the dust of your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord;
    ^(AD)those who wait for me ^(AE)shall not be put to shame.”