Isaiah 49
1Listen, O iyim (islands), unto Me; + 49:1 Moshiach 1 and pay heed, ye nations afar off; 1 Hashem hath called Me from the beten (belly, womb), + 49:1 See Isa 7:14; Gn 3:15; Ps 22:9 f; Mic 5:1-2 1 from the inward parts of immi hath He remembered My Shem. 1
2And He hath made My mouth like a sharpened cherev; 1 in the tzel (shadow) of His Yad hath He concealed Me, 1 and made Me a polished arrow; 1 in His quiver hath He hid Me; 1
3And said unto Me: + 49:3 Moshiach, i.e., the She'erit of the She'erit, the true and worthy Israel and also the King who personifies the People Thou art Avdi, O Yisroel, 1 Thou in Whom I glorify Myself. 1
4Then I + 49:4 Moshiach said, I have toiled in vain, 1 I have spent My ko'ach for tohu, and hevel; 1 yet surely My mishpat is with Hashem, 1 and My peulah with Elohai. 1
5And now, saith Hashem: 1 My Yotzer from the beten 1 to be Eved of Him, 1 to bring back Ya'akov to Him, 1 so that Yisroel would be gathered to Him; 1 so shall I + 49:5 Moshiach be honored in the eyes of Hashem, 1 and Elohai shall be My oz (strength). 1
6And He said: 1 It is too small a thing that Thou shouldest be Eved to Me 1 to raise up the Shivtei Ya'akov, 1 and to bring back the Netzurei Yisroel (Preserved of Israel, the She'erit); 1 I will also give Thee for Ohr Goyim, 1 that Thou mayest be My Yeshu'ah (Salvation) unto the ketzeh ha'aretz. 1
7Thus saith Hashem, 1 the Go'el Yisroel, and His Kadosh, 1 to Him of despised nefesh, + 49:7 See 53:3,11 1 to Him whom the Goy + 49:7 i.e., Israel; see Isa 53:3,8 (Nation) abhorreth, 1 to the Eved Moshelim: 1 Melachim shall see and arise, 1 Sarim also shall worship, + 49:7 52:15 1 because of Hashem Who is Ne'eman 1 and the Kadosh Yisroel, that hath chosen Thee. 1
8Thus saith Hashem: 1 In a time of [My] ratzon (favor) have I answered Thee, + 49:8 Moshiach 1 and in a Yom Yeshu'ah have I helped Thee; 1 and I will preserve Thee, 1 and give Thee for a Brit Am + 49:8 See Jer 31:31-34; Mk 14:24 1 to raise up Eretz, 1 to reapportion desolate nechalot + 49:8 see Yehoshua chapters 13-21 (inheritances). + 49:8 T.N. Notice that in the previous verse the Moshiach is depicted as a new Yehoshua, which is also his namesake, Yehoshua Tzemach Shmo, Zech 6:11-12 . 1
9That thou mayest say to the asurim (the prisoners, those of the Golus): Go forth; 1 to them that are in choshech: Reveal yourselves. 1 They shall feed in the derakhim 1 and their pastures shall be in kol shefayim (high hills). 1
10They shall not hunger nor thirst; 1 neither shall the sharav + 49:10 35:7 nor shemesh beat on them; 1 for He that hath rachamim on them shall guide them, 1 even by the springs of mayim shall He lead them. 1
11And I will make all My harim into derech, 1 and My highways shall be exalted. 1
12Hinei, these shall come from afar; 1 and, hinei, these from the tzafon and from the yam; 1 and these from Eretz Sinim. + 49:12 Sinites 1
13Sing joyfully, O Shomayim; and rejoice, O Eretz; 1 and break forth into singing, O Harim; 1 for Hashem hath comforted His people, 1 and will have rachamim upon his afflicted ones. 1
14But Tziyon said: Hashem hath forsaken me, 1 and Adonoi hath forgotten me. 1
15Can an isha forget her nursing baby, 1 that she should not have rachamim on her ben beten? 1 Indeed, they may forget, 1 yet I will not forget thee. 1
16Behold, I have engraved thee upon the palms of My hands; 1 thy chomot are continually before Me. 1
17Thy banim shall make haste; + 49:17 to return from the Golus 1 thy destroyers and they that laid thee waste 1 shall depart from 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 Hashem, 1 thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, 1 as with jewelry and put them on like a kallah. 1
19For thy ruins and thy desolate places, 1 and the eretz of thy devastation, 1 shall even now be too narrow for the inhabitants, + 49:19 of Tziyon returned from the Golus 1 and they that devoured thee shall be far away. 1
20Furthermore, the Bnei Shikkulayich (the Children of thy Bereavement, i.e., the sons born while the Mother was bereaved of other children lost) 1 shall say again in thine oznayim: 1 The makom is too cramped for me; 1 geshah (fall back, make room, give place) to me that I may dwell. 1
21Then shalt thou say in thine lev: 1 Who hath begotten me these, 1 seeing I am shekhulah (bereaved) of my children, and am galmudah (barren, incapable of having children), 1 a captive of the Golus, and thrust away as rejected? 1 So who has reared these? 1 Behold I was left a lone survivor; 1 these, where were they? Where did they come from? 1
22Thus saith Adonoi Hashem: 1 Hinei, I will lift up Mine Yad to the Goyim, 1 and set up My nes (banner, rallying flag) + 49:22 i.e., Moshiach; see Isa 11:10 to the Nations; 1 and they shall bring thy banim in their arms, 1 and thy banot shall be carried upon their shoulders. 1
23And melachim shall be thy omenim (foster fathers, supporters, nurturers), 1 and their sarot thy wet nurses; 1 they shall bow down before thee with their face toward eretz, 1 and lick the aphar of thy raglayim; 1 and thou shalt know that I am Hashem; 1 for they shall not be put to shame that wait for Me. 1
24Shall the malko'ach (plunder, prey, booty) be taken from the gibbor; 1 shall the shevi tzaddik be delivered? 1
25But thus saith Hashem: 1 Even the Shevi gibbor shall be taken, 1 and the malko'ach of the aritz (the fierce, the tyrant) shall escape; 1 for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, 1 and I will save thy banim. 1
26And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own basar; 1 and they shall be shikkor (drunk) with their own dahm, as with asis (new wine); 1 and kol basar shall know that I Hashem am thy Moshi'a 1 and thy Go'el, the Avir Ya'akov (Mighty One of Jacob).