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Isaiah 49:1-26 — The Servant of the Lord

Isa.49.1-26

¹Listen to me, O coastlands , and pay attention, you peoples from afar. The LORD called me from the womb; from the body of my mother he named me. ²He made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand he hid me. He made me into a polished arrow; in his quiver he concealed me. ³He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will display my glory.” ⁴But I said, “I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity. Yet surely my vindication is with the LORD, and my reward is with my God.” ⁵And now the LORD says—he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, and that Israel might be gathered to him; for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD, and my God has become my strength— ⁶he says: “It is too small a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make you a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” ⁷Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to the one deeply despised, to the one abhorred by the nation, to the servant of rulers: “Kings will see and arise, princes will also bow down, because of the LORD, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.” ⁸Thus says the LORD: "In a time of favor I have answered you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you; I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people, to restore the land, to apportion the desolate inheritances, ⁹saying to the prisoners, 'Come out,' to those who are in darkness, 'Show yourselves.' They will feed along the pathways, and their pasture will be on all the barren heights. ¹⁰They will not hunger or thirst, nor will the scorching heat or sun strike them down; for he who has compassion on them will lead them, and he will guide them by springs of water. ¹¹I will make all my mountains into a road, and my highways will be raised up. ¹²Behold, these will come from afar; and behold, these from the north and from the west, and these from the land of Sinim ." ¹³Shout for joy, O heavens, and rejoice, O earth! Break forth into joyful singing, O mountains! For the LORD has comforted his people, and he will have compassion on his afflicted ones. ¹⁴But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me, and the Lord has forgotten me.” ¹⁵"Can a woman forget her nursing child, or lack compassion for the son of her womb? Even if these might forget, yet I will not forget you. ¹⁶Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me. ¹⁷Your children hurry back; your destroyers and those who laid you waste will depart from you. ¹⁸Lift up your eyes all around and see: they all gather together, they come to you. As I live,“ declares the LORD, ”you will surely clothe yourself with them all like an ornament, and bind them on like a bride. ¹⁹"For as for your ruins and your desolate places, and your devastated land—surely now you will be too cramped for the inhabitants, and those who swallowed you up will be far away. ²⁰The children born during your bereavement will yet say in your ears, 'The place is too cramped for me; make room for me, that I may settle.' ²¹Then you will say in your heart, 'Who has borne me these? I was bereaved and barren, exiled and put away, so who has reared these? Behold, I was left all alone; where did these come from?'" ²²Thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations, and raise my banner to the peoples; and they will bring your sons in their arms, and your daughters will be carried on their shoulders. ²³Kings will be your foster fathers, and their princesses your nursing mothers. They will bow down to you with their faces to the ground, and lick the dust of your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD; those who wait for me will not be put to shame." ²⁴Can the plunder be taken from the mighty, or the captives of the righteous be rescued? ²⁵For thus says the LORD: "Even the captives of the mighty will be taken away, and the plunder of the tyrant will be rescued; for I will contend with the one who contends with you, and I will save your children. ²⁶I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh , and they will be drunk on their own blood as with sweet wine. Then all flesh will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior, and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob."

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4/11/2026

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