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Isaiah 49

1 Listen to Me, O coastlands; and give attention, you people from afar; Jehovah has called Me from the womb; from My mother's belly He has made mention of My name.
2 And He has made My mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of His hand He has hidden Me, and made Me a polished shaft. He has hidden Me in His quiver,
3 and said to Me, You are My servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.
4 Then I said, I have labored in vain; I have spent My strength for nothing, and in vain; yet surely My just due is with Jehovah, and My work with My God.
5 And now, says Jehovah who formed Me from the womb to be His servant, to bring Jacob back to Him: Though Israel is not gathered, yet I shall be glorious in the eyes of Jehovah, and My God shall be My strength.
6 And He said, It is but a little thing that You should be My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to bring back the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You for a light to the nations, to be My salvation to the ends of the earth.
7 Thus says Jehovah, the Redeemer of Israel, His Holy One, to Him whom man despises, to Him whom the nation loathes, the Servant of rulers: Kings shall see and arise, rulers also shall bow down, because of Jehovah who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, and He shall choose You.
8 Thus says Jehovah: In a favorable time I have answered You, and in a day of salvation I have helped You; and I will preserve You, and give You as a covenant to the people, to establish the earth, to cause them to inherit the desolate possessions;
9 that You may say to the prisoners, Go out! To those who are in darkness, Show yourselves! They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be on all the barren heights.
10 They shall not hunger nor thirst; nor shall the heat nor sun strike them; for He who has mercy on them will lead them; even by the springs of water He will guide them.
11 And I will make all My mountains a way, and My highways shall be elevated.
12 Behold, these shall come from afar; and, lo, those from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim.
13 Sing, O heavens! Be joyful, O earth! And break out into singing, O mountains! For the Lord has comforted His people, and will have mercy on His afflicted.
14 But Zion said, Jehovah has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me.
15 Can a woman forget her nursing infant, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Indeed, they may forget; yet I will not forget you.
16 Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of My hands; your walls are perpetually before Me.
17 Your children shall make haste; those destroying you and laying waste to you shall go out from you.
18 Lift up your eyes all around and see; they all gather and come to you. As I live, says Jehovah, you shall surely wear them as an ornament, and bind them on you as a bride does.
19 For your waste and desolate places, and the land of your destruction, shall even now be too constricted to dwell there, and those who swallowed you up shall be far away.
20 The sons of your bereavement shall yet say in your ears, The place is too narrow for me; let a place come to me so that I may have room to dwell.
21 Then you shall say in your heart, Who has begotten these for me, since I am bereaved, and desolate, removed into exile. And who has raised up these? Behold, I was left alone. But these, where were they?
22 Thus says the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I will lift up My hand to the nations, and set up My banner to the people; and they shall bring your sons in their bosom, and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.
23 And kings shall be your foster fathers, and their queens your wet nurses. They shall bow down to you, with faces to the earth, and lick up the dust of your feet. And you shall know that I am Jehovah; for they who wait for Me shall not be ashamed.
24 Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered?
25 But thus says Jehovah, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the ruthless shall escape. For I will contend with him who contends with you, and I will save your children.
26 And I will feed those who oppress you, with their own flesh; and they shall be drunk with their own blood, as with sweet wine; and all flesh shall know that I, Jehovah, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.
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