CHAPTER 49

1 Hear me, O islands! And hearken, ye peoples from afar. Jehovah hath called me from the womb; From my mothers belly he hath had my name in remembrance.

2 And he hath placed nay mouth like a sharp sword; In the shadow of his hand he hath protected me, And hath placed me as a polished arrow; in his quiver hath he hid me;

3 And said to me, Thou art my servant, O Israel! In thee will I he glorified.

4 But I said, In vain have I toiled; Uselessly And unprofitably have I exhausted my strength; and my judgment is before Jehovah; And my work before my God.

5 And now saith Jehovah, Who formed me from the womb to be his servant, That I may bring back Jacob to him: And though Israel be not gathered, Yet I shall be glorious in the eyes of Jehovah, And my God shall be my strength.

6 And he saith, It is a light thing that thou shouldst be my servant, To raise up the tribes of Jacob, And that thou shouldst restore the desolations of Israel; Therefore have I appointed thee to be a light of the Gentiles, That thou mayest be my salvation to the end of the earth.

7 Thus saith Jehovah, The Redeemer of Israel, His Holy One, To the contemptible in the soul, To the abhorred nation, To the servant of rulers; Kings shall see, And princes shall arise, And shall worship for the sake of Jehovah; For faithful is the Holy One of Israel, who hath chosen thee.

8 Thus saith Jehovah, In a time of good-pleasure have I listened to thee; In the day of salvation have I assisted thee; And I will preserve thee. And give thee for a covenant of the people, That thou mayest raise up the earth, That thou mayest possess by inheritance the desolate heritages;

9 That thou mayest say to them that are bound, Go forth! To them that are in darkness, Show yourselves. On the ways they shall feed; On all the high places shall be their pastures.

10 They shall not hunger nor thirst; The heat And the sun shall not smite them; For he that hath compassion on them shall guide them; And by the fountains of waters shall he lead them.

11 And I will place all my mountains for a way; And my paths shall be elevated.

12 Behold! those from afar shall come; And, behold! those from the North, And from the sea; And those from the land of Sinis. ²³³²³³     Or, Sinim.

13 Praise ye, O heavens! And rejoice, thou earth; And break forth into praise, ye mountains; For Jehovah hath comforted his people, And will have compassion on his poor.

14 Yet Zion hath said, Jehovah hath forsaken me, And my Lord hath forgotten me.

15 Shall a woman forget her infant, So as not to have compassion oil the soil of her womb? Even though they have forgotten, Yet will not I forget thee.

16 Behold! on the palms of my hands have I engraven thee; Thy walls are continually before me.

17 Thy builders hasten; Thy destroyers And demolishers shall depart far from thee.

18 Lift up thine eyes round about, And see. All are assembled, And have come to thee. I live, saith Jehovah, That thou shalt be clothed with them all, as with an ornament, And shalt be bound with them round about as a bride.

19 For thy desolations, And thy wastes, And thy ruined land, Shall now be too narrow for the multitude of its inhabitants; And thy destroyers shall depart far away.

20 The children of thy bereavement shall yet say in thine ears, The place is too narrow for me; Make room for me. that I may dwell.

21 And thou shalt say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me those? For I am bereaved ²³⁴²³⁴     Or, Barren. And solitary, A wanderer And an exile; Who then hath brought up those? Behold! I was left alone; Whence are they?

22 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold! I will lift up my hand to the Gentiles, And will erect my banner to the people; And they shall bring thy sons in their bosom, And thy daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.

23 And kings shall be thy nursing-fathers, And their queens thy nurses; With their faces on the ground they shall worship thee, And shall lick the dust of thy feet; And thou shalt know that I am Jehovah, For they who wait for me shall not be ashamed.

24 Shall the prey be taken from the mighty? And shall the captivity of the righteous ²³⁵²³⁵     Or, The righteous captivity. be delivered?

25 Yet thus saith Jehovah; Even the captivity of the mighty shall be taken away, And the prey of the tyrant shall be delivered; For I will contend with him who contendeth with thee, And I will save thy children.

26 And I will feed thy spoilers with their own flesh, And they shall be made drunk with their own blood as with new wine; And all flesh shall know that I am Jehovah, Thy Savior And thy Redeemer, The Mighty One of Jacob.