AB - Isaiah - 49

49:1  Hearken to Me, you islands; and attend, you Gentiles; after a long time it shall come to pass, says the Lord; from my mother's womb He has called my name;

49:2  and He has made my mouth as a sharp sword, and He has hid me under the shadow of His hand; He has made me as a choice shaft, and He has hid me in His quiver;

49:3  and said to me, You are My servant, O Israel, and in you I will be glorified.

49:4  Then I said, I have labored in vain, I have given my strength for vanity and for nothing; therefore is my judgment with the Lord, and my labor before my God.

49:5  And now thus says the Lord, who formed me from the womb to be His own servant, to gather Jacob to Him and Israel. I shall be gathered and glorified before the Lord, and my God shall be my strength.

49:6  And He said to me, It is a great thing for you to be called My servant, to establish the tribes of Jacob, and to recover the dispersion of Israel; behold, I have given you for the covenant of a race, for a light of the Gentiles, that you should be for salvation to the end of the earth.

49:7  Thus says the Lord that delivered you, the God of Israel, Sanctify him that despises his life, him that is abhorred by the nations that are the servants of princes; kings shall behold him, and princes shall arise, and shall worship him, for the Lord's sake; for the Holy One of Israel is faithful, and I have chosen you.

49:8  Thus says the Lord, In an acceptable time have I heard you, and in a day of salvation have I helped you; and I have formed you, and given you for a covenant of the nations, to establish the earth, and to cause to inherit the desert heritages;

49:9  saying to them that are in bonds, Go forth; and bidding them that are in darkness, show themselves. They shall be fed in all the ways, and in all the paths shall be their pasture.

49:10  They shall not hunger, neither shall they thirst; neither shall the heat nor the sun strike them; but He that has mercy on them shall comfort them, and by fountains of waters shall He lead them.

49:11  And I will make every mountain a passage, and every path a pasture to them.

49:12  Behold, these shall come from far; and these from the north and the west, and others from the land of the Persians.

49:13  Rejoice, you heavens; and let the earth be glad; let the mountains break forth with joy; for the Lord has had mercy on His people, and has comforted the lowly ones of His people.

49:14  But Zion said, The Lord has forsaken me, and, The Lord has forgotten me.

49:15  Will a woman forget her child, so as not to have compassion upon the offspring of her womb? But if a woman should even forget these, yet I will not forget you, says the Lord.

49:16  Behold, I have painted your walls on My hands, and you are continually before Me.

49:17  And you shall soon be built by those by whom you were destroyed, and they that made you desolate shall go forth from you.

49:18  Lift up your eyes round about, and look on them all; behold, they are gathered together, and have come to you. As I live, says the Lord, you shall clothe yourself with them all as with an ornament, and put them on, as a bride in her attire.

49:19  For your deserted and marred and ruined places shall now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that devoured you shall be removed far from you.

49:20  For your sons whom you have lost shall say in your ears, The place is too narrow for me; make room for me that I may dwell.

49:21  And you shall say in your heart, Who has begotten me these? Whereas I was childless, and a widow; but who has brought up these for me? And I was left alone; but from where did these come to me?

49:22  Thus says the Lord, even the Lord, Behold, I lift up My hand to the nations, and I will lift up My signal to the islands; and they shall bring your sons in their bosom, and shall bear your daughters on their shoulders.

49:23  And kings shall be your nursing fathers, and their princesses your nurses, they shall bow down to you on the face of the earth, and shall lick up the dust of your feet; and you shall know that I am the Lord, and they that wait on Me shall not be ashamed.

49:24  Will anyone take spoils from a giant? And if one should take a man captive unjustly, shall he be delivered?

49:25  For thus says the Lord, If one should take a giant captive, he shall take spoils, and he who takes them from a mighty man shall be delivered; for I will plead your cause, and I will deliver your children.

49:26  And they that afflicted you shall eat their own flesh; and they shall drink their own blood as new wine, and shall be drunk; and all flesh shall perceive that I am the Lord that delivers you, and that upholds the strength of Jacob.