Isaiah 49
1Listen, O isles, unto me; 1 And hearken, ye people, from afar; 1 The Lord hath called me from the womb; 1 From the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. 1
2And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; 1 In the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, 1 And made me a polished shaft; 1 In his quiver hath he hid me; 1
3And said unto me, Thou art my servant, 1 O Israel, in whom I will be glorified. 1
4Then I said, I have laboured in vain, 1 I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: 1 Yet surely my judgment is with the Lord, 1 And my work with my God. 1
5And now, saith the Lord that formed me from the womb to be his servant, 1 To bring Jacob again to him, 1 Though Israel be not gathered, 1 Yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, 1 And my God shall be my strength. 1
6And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant 1 To raise up the tribes of Jacob, 1 And to restore the preserved of Israel: 1 I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, 1 That thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth. 1
7Thus saith the Lord, the redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, 1 To him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, 1 Kings shall see and arise, 1 Princes also shall worship, 1 Because of the Lord that is faithful, 1 And the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee. 1
8Thus saith the Lord, 1 In an acceptable time have I heard thee, 1 And in a day of salvation have I helped thee: 1 And I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, 1 To establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages; 1
9That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; 1 To them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves. 1 They shall feed in the ways, 1 And their pastures shall be in all high places. 1
10They shall not hunger nor thirst; 1 Neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: 1 For he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, 1 Even by the springs of water shall he guide them. 1
11And I will make all my mountains a way, 1 And my highways shall be exalted. 1
12Behold, these shall come from far: 1 And lo, these from the north and from the west; 1 And these from the land of Sinim. 1
13Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; 1 And break forth into singing, O mountains: 1 For the Lord hath comforted his people, 1 And will have mercy upon his afflicted. 1
14But Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, 1 And my Lord hath forgotten me. 1
15Can a woman forget her sucking child, 1 That she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? 1 Yea, they may forget, 1 Yet will I not forget thee. 1
16Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; 1 Thy walls are continually before me. 1
17Thy children shall make haste; 1 Thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee. 1
18Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: 1 All these gather themselves together, and come to thee. 1 As I live, saith the Lord, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, 1 And bind them on thee, as a bride doth. 1
19For thy waste and thy desolate places, and the land of thy destruction, 1 Shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, 1 And they that swallowed thee up shall be far away. 1
20The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, 1 The place is too strait for me: 1 Give place to me that I may dwell. 1
21Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these, 1 Seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, 1 A captive, and removing to and fro? 1 And who hath brought up these? 1 Behold, I was left alone; 1 These, where had they been? 1
22Thus saith the Lord God, 1 Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, 1 And set up my standard to the people: 1 And they shall bring thy sons in their arms, 1 And thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. 1
23And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, 1 And their queens thy nursing mothers: 1 They shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, 1 And lick up the dust of thy feet; 1 And thou shalt know that I am the Lord: 1 For they shall not be ashamed that wait for me. 1
24Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, 1 Or the lawful captive delivered? 1
25But thus saith the Lord, 1 Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, 1 And the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: 1 For I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, 1 And I will save thy children. 1
26And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; 1 And they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: 1 And all flesh shall know that I the Lord am thy Saviour 1 And thy redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.