Isaiah 49

Jubilee Bible 2000

49 ¶ Listen, O isles, unto me, and hearken, ye peoples, from far, The LORD has called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother he has remembered my name.

² And he has made my mouth like a sharp sword; with the shadow of his hand he has covered me, and made me a clean arrow; in his quiver he has kept me.

³ And he said unto me, Thou art my slave, O Israel; in thee I will glory.

⁴ But I said, I have laboured in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing, and in vain; yet surely my judgment is before the LORD and my recompense with my God.

⁵ And now, saith the LORD, he that formed me from the womb to be his slave, so that Jacob might be converted unto him. But if Israel will not be gathered, even so, yet I shall be esteemed in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my strength.

⁶ And he said, It is a light thing that thou should be my slave to wake up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the desolations of Israel; I have also given thee for a light to the Gentiles that thou may be my saving health unto the end of the earth.

⁷ ¶ Thus has the LORD said, the Redeemer of Israel, his Holy One, to him whom man despises, to him whom the Gentiles abhor, to the slave of the tyrants, Kings shall see and be raised up as princes and shall worship because of the LORD, for faithful is the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen thee.

⁸ Thus has the LORD said, In an acceptable time I have heard thee, and in the day of saving health I have helped thee; and I will preserve thee and give thee for a covenant of people, that thou might awaken the earth, that thou might inherit the desolate heritages;

⁹ that thou may say to the prisoners, Go forth; and unto those that are in darkness, Show yourselves. Upon the ways shall they be fed, and upon all the high places shall be their pastures.

¹⁰ They shall never hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that has mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water he shall feed them.

¹¹ And I will turn all my mountains into a way, and my highways shall be exalted.

¹² Behold, these shall come from far; and, behold, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim.

¹³ ¶ Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the LORD has comforted his people and will have mercy upon his afflicted.

¹⁴ But Zion said, The LORD has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me.

¹⁵ Can a woman forget her sucking child that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Even though they may forget, I will not forget thee.

¹⁶ Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.

¹⁷ Thy builders shall come in haste; thy destroyers and those that made thee waste shall go forth of thee.

¹⁸ ¶ Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the LORD, thou shalt surely clothe thyself with them all, as with a garment of honour and shalt be girded by them as a bride.

¹⁹ For thy waste and thy desolate places and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and those that destroyed thee shall be separated far away.

²⁰ Even thy sons which were fatherless, shall say in thine ears, The place is too strait for me; give place to me that I may dwell.

²¹ Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who has begotten me these, seeing I had lost my children and was desolate, a stranger removed from my land? and who has brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been?

²² Thus has the Lord GOD said, Behold, I will lift up my hand to the Gentiles and raise up my banner as an example to the peoples: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.

²³ And kings shall be thy nursing fathers and their princesses thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD: for those that wait for me shall not be ashamed.

²⁴ ¶ Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered?

²⁵ But thus saith the LORD, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contends with thee, and I will save thy sons.

²⁶ And I will feed those that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.