49
1 *Sh'ma ·Hear obey·, islands, to me.
Listen, you peoples, from afar:
†Adonai has called me from the womb;
‡from the inside of my mother he has mentioned my name.
2 §He has made my mouth like a sharp sword.
He has hidden me in the shadow of his hand.
He has made me a polished shaft.
He has kept me close in his quiver.
3 *He said to me, “You are my servant;
†Israel [God prevails], ‡in whom I will be glorified.”
4 §But I said, “I have labored in vain.
I have spent my strength in vain for nothing;
yet surely the mishpat ·justice· due to me is with Adonai,
and my reward with my God.”
5 *Now Adonai says, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant,
†to bring Jacob [Supplanter] again to him,
and to gather Israel [God prevails] to him,
for I am honorable in Adonai’s eyes,
and my God has become my strength.
6 ‡§Indeed, he says, “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob [Supplanter],
and to restore the preserved of Israel [God prevails]?
I will also give you as a light to the nations,
*that you may be my yishu'ah ·salvation·to the end of the earth.” †
7 ‡Adonai , the Go'eil Isra'el [Redeemer of God prevails], and his Holy One,
says to him whom man despises, to him whom the nation abhors, to a servant of rulers:
“Kings shall see and rise up;
princes, and they shall hawa ·bow low, prostrate· to worship;
because of Adonai who is faithful, even haKadosh Isra'el [the Holy One of God prevails], who has chosen you.”
8 Adonai says, “In an acceptable time I have answered you,
and in a day of yishu'ah ·salvation· I have helped you. §
*I will preserve you, and give you for a covenant ·binding contract between two or more parties· of the people,
to raise up the land, to make them inherit the desolate heritage:
9 saying to those who are bound, ‘Come out!’;
to those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves!’
“They shall feed along the paths,
and their pasture shall be on all treeless heights.
10 They shall not hunger nor thirst;
neither shall the heat nor sun strike them: †
for he who has racham ·merciful love· towards them will lead them.
He will guide them by springs of water. ‡
11 I will make all my mountains a road,
and my highways shall be exalted.
12 Behold, these shall come from afar;
and behold, these from the north and from the west;
and these from the land of Sinim.”
13 Sing, heavens; and be joyful, earth;
and break out into singing, mountains:
for Adonai has comforted his people,
and will have racham ·compassionate love· on his afflicted.
14 But Zion [Mountain ridge, Marking] said, “Adonai has forsaken me,
and 'Adonay [Lord] has forgotten me.”
15 “Can a woman forget her nursing child,
that she should not have racham ·compassionate love· on the son of her womb?
Yes, these may forget,
yet I will not forget you!
16 Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.
Your walls are continually before me.
17 Your children hurry.
Your destroyers and those who devastated you will leave you.
18 Lift up your eyes all around, and see:
all these gather themselves together, and come to you.
As I live,” says Adonai, “you shall surely clothe yourself with them all as with an ornament,
and dress yourself with them, like a bride.
19 “For, as for your waste and your desolate places,
and your land that has been destroyed,
surely now that land will be too small for the inhabitants,
and those who swallowed you up will be far away.
20 The children of your bereavement will say in your ears,
‘This place is too small for me.
Give me a place to live in.’
21 Then you will say in your heart, ‘Who has conceived these for me, since I have been bereaved of my children,
and am solitary, an exile, and wandering back and forth?
Who has brought these up?
Behold, I was left alone. Where were these?’ ”
22 Thus says 'Adonay Adonai [Lord Yahweh], “Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations,
and lift up my banner to the peoples;
and they shall bring your sons in their bosom,
and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.
23 Kings shall be your foster 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;
Then you will know that I am Adonai;
and those who wait for me shall not be disappointed.”
24 Shall the plunder be taken from the mighty,
or the lawful captives be delivered?
25 But Adonai says, “Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away,
and the plunder retrieved from the fierce;
for I will contend with him who contends with you,
and I will save your children.
26 I will feed those who oppress you with their own flesh;
and they will be drunk on their own blood, as with sweet wine.
Then all flesh shall know that I, Adonai, am the One who saves you,
and your Redeemer, the 'Avir Ya'akov [Mighty One of Supplanter].”
* 49:1 a MP: Messiah comes for all people. (See also Is 42:4c). (Matt 28:18; 1 Tim 2:3-6; Eph 2:12-14) † 49:1 b MP: Messiah is called to God’s service from the womb. (Matt 1:20-21; Luke 2:11) ‡ 49:1 c MP: Messiah was named before his birth. (Matt 1:21) § 49:2 . MP: The Messiah’s words are as a sharp sword. (To divide is an idiom referring to his teachings, it will not unite everyone). (Luke 12:51; Heb 4:12) * 49:3 a MP: Messiah is God’s servant. (John 4:34, 6:38; Phil 2:7) † 49:3 b MP: Messiah is called Israel. Messiah comes from the nation of Israel [God prevails]. Messiah is also called Israel as the patriarch Jacob was renamed Israel (Gen 32:28). Being called Israel as a relationship role, Messiah is the example of right relationship with Yahweh for all Israel to emulate. (John 8:54-55, 12:49-50) ‡ 49:3 b MP: The work that Messiah does will glorify God. (Matt 15:30-31; John 12:27-29, 17:1-5) § 49:4 a MP: Messiah’s work among Israel’s tribes appears to be in vain. (Luke 19:41-42) * 49:5 a MP: Messiah is God’s servant. (John 4:34, 6:38; Phil 2:7) † 49:5 b MP: Messiah will restore and raise up Israel, turning them back to God. (Matt 10:5-6, 15:24) ‡ 49:6 . MP: Messiah is a light to the nations, the Gentiles. (See also Is 60:1-3). (See also context of Is 9:1-2, and Is 9:3, 42:6d). (Luke 2:31-32; Acts 13:47-48; Rom 3:22) § 49:6 a MP: Messiah is God’s servant. (John 4:34, 6:38; Phil 2:7) * 49:6 . MP: Messiah will bring salvation to the ends of the earth. (Matt 28:19; Acts 13:47) † 49:6 . Quoted in Acts 13:47 ‡ 49:7 a MP: Messiah is despised. (See also Ps 69:4b). (John 15:23-25) § 49:8 . Quoted in 2 Cor 6:2 * 49:8 b MP: “Preserved you as a covenant for the people” - the restoring the land and distributing inheritance was anticipated at Messiah’s coming (see in Luke 24:21 and Acts 1:6). The national-political redemption is yet to come at the demise of the anti-Messiah and the establishment of Messiah’s eternal kingdom. (Rev 19:11-21 is describing Ezekiel ch 38-39 and Daniel ch 11). Judaism in the days of Yeshua expected political redemption with the Messiah (Luke 24:21; Acts 1:6). (Also referenced: Luke 24:21; Acts 1:6; 2 Cor 6:2; Rev 19:11-21+; Ezekiel ch 38-39 and Daniel ch 11). (Matt 26:28) † 49:10 . Quoted in Rev 7:16 ‡ 49:10 . Quoted in Rev 7:17