49
1 Listen to me, ye distant lands! Attend, ye nations from afar! Jehovah called me at my birth; In my very childhood he called me by name. 2 He made my mouth like a sharp sword; In the shadow of his hand did he hide me. He made me a polished shaft; In his quiver did he hide me. 3 He said to me, Thou art my servant; Israel, in whom I will be glorified. 4 Then I said, I have labored in vain; For naught, for vanity, have I spent my strength; Yet my cause is with Jehovah, And my reward with my God. 5 And now thus saith Jehovah, Who formed me from my birth to be his servant To bring Jacob to him again, And that Israel might be gathered to him,—For I am honored in the eyes of Jehovah, And my God is my strength,— 6 He said, It is a small tiling that thou shouldst be my servant, To raise up the tribes of Jacob, And to restore the preserved of Israel; I will also make thee the light of the nations, That my salvation may reach the ends of the earth. 7 Thus saith Jehovah, the Redeemer of Israel, his Holy One, To him that is despised by men, abhorred by the people, To the servant of tyrants; Kings shall see, and stand up, Princes, and they shall pay homage, On account of Jehovah, who is faithful, The Holy One of Israel, who hath chosen thee. 8 Thus saith Jehovah; In the time of favor will I hear thee; In the day of deliverance will I help thee; I will preserve thee, and make thee a mediator for the people, To restore the land, to distribute the desolated inheritances; 9 To say to the prisoners, Go forth! To them that are in darkness, Come to the light! They shall feed in the ways, And on all high places shall be their pasture. 10 They shall not hunger, neither shall they thirst; Neither shall the heat nor the sun smite them; For he that hath compassion on them shall lead them; To springs of water shall he guide them. 11 And I will make all my mountains a highway; And my roads shall be prepared. 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 ye heavens, and rejoice, O earth! Break forth into singing, ye mountains! For Jehovah comforteth his people, And hath compassion on his afflicted ones. 14 Zion saith, “Jehovah hath forsaken me; The Lord hath forgotten me.” 15 Can a woman forget her sucking child, So as not to have compassion on the son of her womb? Yet, should they forget, I will never forget thee! 16 Behold, I have graven thee on the palms of my hands; Thy walls are ever before my eyes. 17 Thy children shall make haste; They that destroyed and laid thee waste shall depart from thee. 18 Lift up thine eyes around, and see! They all assemble themselves, and come to thee. As I live, saith Jehovah, Thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with a rich dress; Thou shalt bind them on thee, as a bride her jewels. 19 For thy waste and desolate places, and thy land laid in ruins, Shall now be too narrow for the inhabitants; And they that devoured thee shall be far away. 20 Thou, that hast been childless, shalt yet hear thy sons exclaim: “The place is too narrow for me; make room for me that I may dwell.” 21 And thou shalt say in thy heart, Who hath begotten me these? I surely was childless and unfruitful, An exile, and an outcast; who then hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, then, where were they? 22 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I will lift up my hand to the nations, And set up my standard to the kingdoms; They shall bring thy sons in their arms, And thy daughters upon their shoulders. 23 And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, And queens thy nursing mothers; Upon their faces shall they bow down before thee, And lick the dust of thy feet. Thus shalt thou know that I am Jehovah; And they who trust in me shall not be put to shame. 24 Shall the prey be taken away from the mighty? Or shall the spoil of the terrible be rescued? 25 Yea, thus saith Jehovah, The prey shall be taken away from the mighty, And the spoil of the terrible shall be rescued; For with him that contendeth with thee will I contend, (49:26) And I will save thy children. 26 (49:27) And I will cause thine oppressors to eat their own flesh; With their own blood shall they be drunk, as with new wine; And all flesh shall know that I Jehovah am thy saviour; That thy redeemer is the Mighty One of Jacob.