The Book of the Prophet Isaiah 49 The Servant of the Lord is a Light to the Gentiles

 The Book of the Prophet Isaiah 49

The Servant of the Lord is a Light to the Gentiles

1 Listen to me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations: The Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named me.

2 He made my mouth like a sharp sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me into a polished arrow and concealed me in his quiver.

3 He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.”

4 But I said, “I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain. Yet surely my right is with the Lord, and my reward with my God.”

5 “And now the Lord says—he who formed me in the womb to be his servant—to bring Jacob back to him, though Israel has not been gathered—yet I will be honored in the eyes of the Lord, and my God will be my strength.”

6 He said further: “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back the preserved of Israel; I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”

7 This is what the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, his Holy One, says to the despised one, to the one whom the nations abhor, to the servant of rulers: “Kings will see and rise up, because of the Lord, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

8 This is what the Lord says: “In the time of favor I have answered you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you; I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land and to assign to them the desolate heritages,

9 to say to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’ and to those in darkness, ‘Appear.’ They will feed along the roads, and on all the high places they will have their shepherd;

10 they will neither hunger nor thirst, nor will the scorching heat or sun beat down on them; For he who has compassion on them will guide them, and will lead them gently to springs of water.

11 I will make all my mountains a road, and my highways will be raised up.

12 Behold, these shall come from afar; and lo, these from the north, and from the west, and these from the land of Sinim.

13 Rejoice, O heavens; and be glad, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have compassion on his afflicted.

14 But Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and the Lord hath forgotten me.

15 Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.

16 Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.

17 Your children will come quickly, but your destroyers and those who laid you waste will depart from you.

18 Lift up your eyes all around and see: all these who gather together come to you; as I live, says the Lord, you shall clothe yourself with them all as with an ornament, and bind them on you as a bride does.

19 For in your deserts, and in your desolate places, and in your ruined land, you shall now be crowded with inhabitants, and those who devoured you shall be far away from you.

20 Even the children of your orphanhood shall say in your ears, “This place is too small for me; depart from me, that I may dwell in it.”

21 And you shall say in your heart, “Who bore me these? For I was childless and desolate; I had gone into captivity, and had been taken away; who then created these for me? Behold, I was left alone; and these, where were they?

22 Thus says the Lord: Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations, and raise my banner to the peoples; then they shall bring your sons in their arms, and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.

23 And kings shall be your foster fathers, and their princesses your nursing mothers; they shall bow down before you with their faces to the ground and lick the dust of your feet, and you shall know that I am the Lord, and that those who trust in me shall not be put to shame.

24 Shall plunder be taken from the mighty? Or shall captives escape justly?

25 But thus says the Lord: Surely captives shall be taken from the mighty, and plunder from the tyrant shall escape; for I will contend with those who contend with you, and I will redeem your children.

26 And I will feed your oppressors with their own flesh, and they shall be drunk with their own blood, as with new wine; and all flesh shall know that I am the Lord, your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.