Shared Word Translation
Isaiah 49
The Servant and the Restoration of Zion
Listen, islands, to me;
and listen, you peoples, from far: the LORD has called me from the womb;
from the bowels of my mother has he made mention of my name:
and he has made my mouth like a sharp sword;
in the shadow of his hand has he hid me: and he has made me a polished shaft;
in his quiver has he kept me close:
and he said to me, You are my servant;
Israel, in whom I will be glorified.
But I said, I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;
yet surely the justice due to me is with the LORD, and my recompense with my God.
Now says the LORD who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, and that Israel be gathered to him (for I am honorable in the eyes of the LORD, and my God is become my strength);
The LORD says, “It is too small a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and restore the preserved of Israel. I will also make you a light to the nations, so that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despises, to him whom the nation abhors, to a servant of rulers: Kings will see and arise;
princes, and they will worship;
because of the LORD who is faithful, even the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.
Thus says the LORD, In an acceptable time have I answered you, and in a day of salvation have I helped you;
and 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:
saying to those who are bound, Go forth;
to those who are in darkness, Show yourselves. They will feed in the ways, and on all bare heights will be their pasture.
They will not hunger nor thirst;
neither will the heat nor sun strike them: for the one who has mercy on them will lead them, even by springs of water he will guide them.
I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways will be exalted.
Look, these will come from far;
and look, these from the north and from the west;
and these from the land of Sinim.
Sing, heavens;
and be joyful, earth;
and break forth into singing, mountains: for the LORD has comforted his people, and will have compassion on his afflicted.
But Zion said, the LORD has forsaken me, and the Lord has forgotten me.
Can a woman forget her nursing child or have no compassion on the child of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you.
Look, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
your walls are continually before me.
Your children make haste;
your destroyers and those who made you waste will go forth from you.
Lift up your eyes round about, and see: all these gather themselves together, and come to you. As I live, says the LORD, you will surely clothe you with them all as with an ornament, and gird yourself with them, like a bride.
For, as for your waste and your desolate places, and your land that has been destroyed, surely now will you be too small for the inhabitants, and those who swallowed you up will be far away.
The children of your bereavement will yet say in your ears, The place is too small for me;
give place to me that I may dwell.
Then will you say in your heart, Who has conceived these for me, seeing I have been bereaved of my children, and am solitary, an exile, and wandering back and forth? and who has brought up these? Look, I was left alone;
these, where were they?
Thus says the Lord GOD, Look, I will lift up my hand to the nations, and set up my banner to the peoples;
and they will bring your sons in their bosom, and your daughters will be carried on their shoulders.
Kings will be your nursing 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;
and you will know that I am the LORD;
and those who wait for me will not be disappointed.
Will the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captives be delivered?
But thus says the LORD, Even the captives of the mighty will be taken away, and the prey of the terrible will be delivered;
for I will contend with the one who contends with you, and I will save your children.
I will feed those who oppress you with their own flesh;
and they will be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior, and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.