Isaiah 49:1-16

Ideal Israel Delivers the Exiles

49:1 Listen to me, you coastlands!

Pay attention, you people who live far away!

The Lord summoned me from birth;

he commissioned me when my mother brought me into the world.

49:2 He made my mouth like a sharp sword,

he hid me in the hollow of his hand;

he made me like a sharpened arrow,

he hid me in his quiver.

49:3 He said to me, “You are my servant,

Israel, through whom I will reveal my splendor.”

49:4 But I thought, “I have worked in vain;

I have expended my energy for absolutely nothing.”

But the Lord will vindicate me;

my God will reward me.

49:5 So now the Lord says,

the one who formed me from birth to be his servant –

he did this to restore Jacob to himself,

so that Israel might be gathered to him;

and I will be honored in the Lord’s sight,

for my God is my source of strength –

49:6 he says, “Is it too insignificant a task for you to be my servant,

to reestablish the tribes of Jacob,

and restore the remnant of Israel?

I will make you a light to the nations,

so you can bring my deliverance to the remote regions of the earth.”

49:7 This is what the Lord,

the protector of Israel, their Holy One, says

to the one who is despised and rejected by nations,

a servant of rulers:

“Kings will see and rise in respect,

princes will bow down,

because of the faithful Lord,

the Holy One of Israel who has chosen you.”

49:8 This is what the Lord says:

“At the time I decide to show my favor, I will respond to you;

in the day of deliverance I will help you;

I will protect you and make you a covenant mediator for people,

to rebuild the land

and to reassign the desolate property.

49:9 You will say to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’

and to those who are in dark dungeons, ‘Emerge.’

They will graze beside the roads;

on all the slopes they will find pasture.

49:10 They will not be hungry or thirsty;

the sun’s oppressive heat will not beat down on them,

for one who has compassion on them will guide them;

he will lead them to springs of water.

49:11 I will make all my mountains into a road;

I will construct my roadways.”

49:12 Look, they come from far away!

Look, some come from the north and west,

and others from the land of Sinim!

49:13 Shout for joy, O sky!

Rejoice, O earth!

Let the mountains give a joyful shout!

For the Lord consoles his people

and shows compassion to the oppressed.

The Lord Remembers Zion

49:14 “Zion said, ‘The Lord has abandoned me,

the sovereign master has forgotten me.’

49:15 Can a woman forget her baby who nurses at her breast?

Can she withhold compassion from the child she has borne?

Even if mothers were to forget,

I could never forget you!

49:16 Look, I have inscribed your name on my palms;

your walls are constantly before me.