Now
Yahweh, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, says to bring Jacob
again to him,
and
to gather Israel to him,
for
I am honorable in Yahweh’s eyes,
and
my God has become my strength.
Indeed,
he says, “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the
tribes of Jacob,
and
to restore the preserved of Israel.
I
will also give you as a light to the nations,
that
you may be my salvation to the end of the earth.”
Yahweh,
the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One,
says
to him whom man despises, to him whom the nation abhors, to a servant of
rulers:
“Kings
shall see and rise up,
princes,
and they shall worship,
because
of Yahweh who is faithful, even the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”
Yahweh
says, “I have answered you in an acceptable time.
I
have helped you in a day of salvation.
I
will preserve you and give you for a covenant of the people,
to
raise up the land, to make them inherit the desolate heritage,
saying
to those who are bound, ‘Come out!’;
to
those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves!’
“They
shall feed along the paths,
and
their pasture shall be on all treeless heights.
They
shall not hunger nor thirst;
neither
shall the heat nor sun strike them:
for
he who has mercy on them will lead them.
He
will guide them by springs of water.
I
will make all my mountains a road,
and
my highways shall be exalted.
Behold,
these shall come from afar,
and
behold, these from the north and from the west;
and
these from the land of Sinim.”
Sing,
heavens, and be joyful, earth!
Break
out into singing, mountains,
for
Yahweh has comforted his people,
and
will have compassion on his afflicted.
But
Zion said, “Yahweh has forsaken me,
and
the Lord has forgotten me.”
“No,”
Yahweh, answers, “can a woman forget her nursing child,
that
she should not have compassion on the son of her womb?
Yes,
these may forget,
yet
I will not forget you!
Behold,
I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.
Your
walls are continually before me.
Your
children hurry.
Your
destroyers and those who devastated you will leave you.
Lift
up your eyes all around, and see:
all
these gather themselves together, and come to you.
As
I live,” says Yahweh, “you shall surely clothe yourself with them all as with
an ornament,
and
dress yourself with them, like a bride.
“For,
as for your waste and your desolate places,
and
your land that has been destroyed,
surely
now that land will be too small for the inhabitants,
and
those who swallowed you up will be far away.
The
children of your bereavement will say in your ears,
‘This
place is too small for me.
Give
me a place to live in.’
Then
you will say in your heart, ‘Who has conceived these for me, since I have been
bereaved of my children
and
am alone, an exile, and wandering back and forth?
Who
has brought these up?
Behold,
I was left alone. Where were these?’ ”
The
Lord Yahweh says, “Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations,
and
lift up my banner to the peoples.
They
shall bring your sons in their bosom,
and
your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.
Kings
shall be your foster fathers,
and
their queens your nursing mothers.
They
will bow down to you with their faces to the earth.
Then
you will know that I am Yahweh;
and
those who wait for me shall not be disappointed.”
Shall
the plunder be taken from the mighty,
or
the lawful captives be delivered?
“Yes,”
Yahweh says, “even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away,
and
the plunder retrieved from the fierce,
for
I will contend with him who contends with you
and
I will save your children.
Then
all flesh shall know that I, Yahweh, am your Savior
and
your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”
Isaiah 49:5-26
