Read Amplified Bible, 2015 Isaiah 49 Bible Online

Isaiah 49 - Amplified Bible, 2015 bible

Isaiah 49

¹Listen to[1] Me, O islands and coastlands, And pay attention, you peoples from far away. The LORD has called Me from the womb; From the body of My mother He has named Me.

²He has made My mouth like a sharp sword, In the shadow of His hand He has kept Me hidden; And He has made Me a sharpened arrow, In His quiver He has hidden Me.

³And [the LORD] said to Me, "You are My[2] Servant, Israel, In Whom I will show My glory."

⁴Then I said, "I have labored in vain, I have spent My strength for nothing and vanity (pride, uselessness); However My justice is with the LORD, And My reward is with My God."

⁵And now says the LORD, 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 is My strength—

⁶He says, "It is too trivial a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the[3] survivors of Israel; I will also make You a light to the nations That My salvation may reach to the end of the earth."

⁷This is what the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, Israel's Holy One says, To the thoroughly despised One, To the One hated by the nation To the Servant of rulers, "[4] Kings will see and arise, Princes shall also bow down, Because of the LORD who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen You."

⁸This is what the LORD says, "In a[5] favorable time I have answered You, And in a day of salvation I have helped You; And I will keep watch over You and give You for a covenant of the people, To restore the land [from its present state of ruin] and to apportion and give as inheritances the deserted hereditary lands,

⁹Saying to those who are bound and captured, 'Go forth,' And to those who are in [spiritual] darkness, 'Show yourselves [come into the light of the Savior].' They will feed along the roads [on which they travel], And their pastures will be on all the bare heights.

¹⁰"They 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 to springs of water.

¹¹"And I will make all My mountains a roadway, And My highways will be raised.

¹²"In fact, these will come from far away; And, lo, these shall come from the north and from the west, And these from the land of[6] Aswan (southern Egypt)."

¹³Shout for joy, O heavens, and rejoice, O earth, And break forth into singing, O mountains! For the LORD has comforted His people And will have compassion on His afflicted.

¹⁴But Zion (Jerusalem in captivity) said, "The LORD has abandoned me, And my Lord has forgotten me."

¹⁵[The LORD answered] "Can a woman forget her nursing child And have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you.

¹⁶"Indeed, I have inscribed [a picture of] you on the[7] palms of My hands; Your city walls [Zion] are continually before Me.

¹⁷"Your[8] builders hurry; Your destroyers and devastators Will go away from you.

¹⁸"Lift up your eyes and look around [at the returning exiles]; All these gather together and they come to you [to rebuild you]. As I live," declares the LORD, "You [Zion] will indeed clothe yourself with all of them as jewels and tie them on as a bride.

¹⁹"For your ruins and desolate places and your land [once the scene] of destruction— Certainly now [in the coming years] will be too cramped for the inhabitants, And those who once engulfed you will be far away.

²⁰"The children of your bereavement [those born in captivity] will yet say in your ears, 'The place is too cramped for me'; Make room for me that I may live here.

²¹"Then [Zion], you will say in your heart, 'Who has borne me these children, Since I have been bereaved of my children And am barren, an exile and a wanderer? And who has reared these? Indeed, I was left alone; [9] From where then did these children come?'"

²²This is what the Lord GOD says, "Listen carefully, I will lift up My hand to the [Gentile] nations And set up My banner to the peoples; And they will bring your sons in the fold of their garments, And your daughters will be carried on their shoulders.

²³"Kings will be your attendants, And their princesses your nurses. They will bow down to you with their faces to the earth And lick the dust of your feet; And you shall know [with an understanding based on personal experience] that I am the LORD; For they shall not be put to shame who wait and hope expectantly for Me.

²⁴"Can the spoils of war be taken from the mighty man, Or the captives of a tyrant be rescued?"

²⁵Indeed, this is what the LORD says, "Even the captives of the mighty man will be taken away, And the tyrant's spoils of war will be rescued; For I will contend with your opponent, And I will save your children.

²⁶"I will make those who oppress you consume their own flesh [in mutually destructive wars] And they will become drunk with their own blood as with sweet wine; And all[10] mankind will know [with a knowledge grounded in personal experience] that I, the LORD, am your Savior And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob."