Isaiah 49

The Servant and the Restoration of Zion

1Listen to me, coastlands;
hear me, peoples far away.
The LORD called me from the womb;
from inside my mother he spoke my name. 2He made my mouth a sharp sword
and hid me in the shadow of his hand.
He made me a polished arrow
and concealed me in his quiver. 3He said to me, “You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will display my glory.” 4But I said, “I have worked for nothing;
I have spent my strength on emptiness and vapor.
Yet my cause rests with the LORD,
and my reward with my God.”

5And now the LORD speaks—
he who formed me in the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him
and gather Israel to him.
I am honored in the LORD’s eyes,
and my God has become my strength. 6He says, “It is too small a task for you to be my servant
merely to raise up Jacob’s tribes
and bring back Israel’s survivors.
I will also make you a light for the nations,
so my salvation may reach the ends of the earth.” 7This is what the LORD, Israel’s Redeemer, his Holy One, says
to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation,
a servant of rulers:
“Kings will see and rise;
princes will bow down,
because the LORD is faithful,
Israel’s Holy One has chosen you.” 8This is what the LORD says:
“At a time of favor I answered you;
on a day of salvation I helped you.
I will guard you and give you as a covenant for the people,
to restore the land
and allot its desolate inheritances,

9to say to prisoners, ‘Come out!’
and to those in darkness, ‘Show yourselves!’
They will graze along the roads
and find pasture on every bare hill. 10They will neither hunger nor thirst;
scorching heat and sun will not strike them.
The one who has compassion on them will lead them
and guide them beside springs of water. 11I will turn all my mountains into a road,
and my highways will be raised up. 12Look, these will come from far away;
look, these from the north and the west,
and these from the land of Sinim.”

13Sing, heavens! Rejoice, earth!
Mountains, break into song!
For the LORD has comforted his people
and will have compassion on his afflicted ones. 14But Zion said, “The LORD has abandoned me;
my Lord has forgotten me.” 15“Can a woman forget her nursing child
and feel no compassion for the son she bore?
Even if these women forget,
I will not forget you. 16Look, I have engraved you on my palms;
your walls are always before me.

17Your children hurry back;
those who tore you down and laid you waste depart from you. 18Lift your eyes and look around:
they have all gathered and come to you.
As I live,” declares the LORD,
“you will wear them all like jewelry
and bind them on like a bride. 19Your ruins, your desolate places,
your devastated land—
now you will be too cramped for your inhabitants,
and those who swallowed you will be far away. 20The children born after your bereavement
will yet say within your hearing,
‘This place is too cramped for me;
make room for me to live here.’

21Then you will say in your heart,
‘Who bore these for me?
I was bereaved and barren, exiled and cast aside.
Who raised these?
I was left all alone—
where have these come from?’” 22This is what the Lord GOD says:
“Look, I will lift my hand toward the nations
and raise my banner for the peoples.
They will bring your sons in their arms
and carry your daughters on their shoulders. 23Kings will be your foster fathers,
and their queens your nursing mothers.
They will bow before you, faces to the ground,
and lick the dust at your feet.
Then you will know that I am the LORD;
those who wait for me will not be put to shame.” 24Can plunder be taken from a warrior?
Can the captives of someone in the right escape?

25Yes, this is what the LORD says:
“Even a warrior’s captives will be taken away;
even a tyrant’s plunder will escape.
I myself will contend with those who contend with you,
and I myself will save your children. 26I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh;
they will become drunk on their own blood as on new wine.
Then all flesh will know
that I am the LORD, your Savior,
your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”