Isaiah 49:1

Ideal Israel Delivers the Exiles

49:1 Listen to me, you coastlands! ¹ 

Pay attention, you people who live far away!

The Lord summoned me from birth; ² 

he commissioned me when my mother brought me into the world. ³ 

Isaiah 49:23

49:23 Kings will be your children’s ⁴  guardians;

their princesses will nurse your children. ⁵ 

With their faces to the ground they will bow down to you

and they will lick the dirt on ⁶  your feet.

Then you will recognize that I am the Lord;

those who wait patiently for me are not put to shame.

[49:1]  ¹ tn Or “islands” (NASB, NIV); NLT “in far-off lands.”

[49:1]  ² tn Heb “called me from the womb.”

[49:1]  ³ tn Heb “from the inner parts of my mother he mentioned my name.”

[49:23]  ⁴ tn Heb “your,” but Zion here stands by metonymy for her children (see v. 22b).

[49:23]  ⁵ tn Heb “you.” See the preceding note.

[49:23]  ⁶ tn Or “at your feet” (NAB, NIV); NLT “from your feet.”