Isaiah 49

Isaiah Chapter 49

1Christ complaineth of the unsuccessfulness of his mission to the Jews: 5he is sent to the Gentiles with gracious promises. 13God's love to his church is perpetual. 18Its restoration and enlargement. 24The certainty of its deliverance out of captivity.
1 1LISTEN, 2O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The Lord hath 3called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name.
2 And he 1hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he 2hid me, and made me 3a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me;
3 And said unto me, Thou art 1my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.
4 Then I said, 1I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: 2yet surely my judgment is with the Lord, and amy work with my God.
5 ¶ And now, saith the Lord that formed me from the womb to be his servant, 1to bring Jacob again to him, 2aThough Israel be not gathered, yet 3shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be my strength.
6 And he said, aIt is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the bpreserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a 1light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.
7 1Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, ato him whom man despiseth, 2to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, 3Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the Lord that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee.
8 Thus saith the Lord, 1In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I 2will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to aestablish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages;
9 That 1thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves. 2They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places.
10 1They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for 2he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by 3the springs of water shall he guide them.
11 1And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted.
12 1Behold, these shall come from far: and, lo, these 2from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim.
13 1Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.
14 But Zion said, 1The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me.
15 Can a woman forget her sucking child, athat she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, 1yet will I not forget thee.
16 Behold, 1I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.
17 1Thy achildren shall make haste; 2thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee.
18 1Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As 2I live, saith the Lord, thou shalt surely 3clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride doeth.
19 For 1thy waste and thy desolate places, and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and 2they that swallowed thee up shall be far away.
20 1The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, The place is too strait for me: 2give place to me that I may dwell.
21 Then shalt thou say in thine heart, 1Who hath begotten me these, seeing 2I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? and who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been?
22 Thus saith the Lord God, 1Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and 2set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their aarms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.
23 1And kings shall be thy anursing fathers, and their bqueens thy nursing mothers: they shall 2bow 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 3they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.
24 1Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the alawful captive delivered?
25 But thus saith the Lord, 1Even the acaptives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with 2him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.
26 And 1I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with asweet wine: and all flesh 2shall know that I the Lord am thy Saviour and 3thy Redeemer, 4the mighty One of Jacob.
Isaiah 49