Isaiah · Literal Standard Version
Isaiah 49 Literal Standard Version
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 Listen, O islands, to Me, || And attend, O peoples, from afar, || YHWH has called Me from the womb, || From the bowels of My mother || He has made mention of My Name.
1 Listen, islands, to me. Listen, you peoples, from afar: Yahweh has called me from the womb; from the inside of my mother, he has mentioned my name.
2 And He makes My mouth as a sharp sword, || He has hid Me in the shadow of His hand, || And He makes Me for a clear arrow, || He has hid Me in His quiver.
2 He has made my mouth like a sharp sword. He has hidden me in the shadow of his hand. He has made me a polished shaft. He has kept me close in his quiver.
3 And He says to me, “You are My servant, O Israel, || In whom I beautify Myself.”
3 He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”
4 And I said, “I labored in vain, || I consumed my power for emptiness and vanity, || But my judgment [is] with YHWH, || And my wage with my God.”
4 But I said, “I have labored in vain. I have spent my strength in vain for nothing; yet surely the justice due to me is with Yahweh, and my reward with my God.”
5 “And now,” said YHWH, who is forming Me from the belly—His Servant, || To bring Jacob back to Him || (Though Israel is not gathered, || Yet I am honored in the eyes of YHWH, || And My God has been My strength).
5 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.
6 And He says, “It has been a light thing || That You are My Servant || To raise up the tribes of Jacob, || And to bring back the preserved of Israel, || And I have given You for a light to the nations, || To be My salvation to the end of the earth.”
6 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.”
7 Thus said YHWH, Redeemer of Israel, His Holy One, || To the despised in soul, || To the detested of a nation, || To the Servant of rulers: “Kings see, and have risen, princes, and worship, || For the sake of YHWH, who is faithful, || The Holy of Israel, and He chooses You.”
7 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.”
8 Thus said YHWH: “In a time of good pleasure I answered You, || And in a day of salvation I helped You, || And I keep You, and give You, || For a covenant of the people, || To establish the earth, || To cause to inherit desolate inheritances.
8 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,
9 To say to the bound, Go out, || To those in darkness, Be uncovered. They feed on the ways, || And their pasture is in all high places.
9 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.
10 They do not hunger, nor thirst, || Nor do mirage and sun strike them, || For He who is pitying them leads them, || And tends them by fountains of waters.
10 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.
11 And I have made all My mountains for a way, || And My highways are lifted up.
11 I will make all my mountains a road, and my highways shall be exalted.
12 Behold, these come in from afar, || And behold, these from the north, and from the sea, || And these from the land of Sinim.”
12 Behold, these shall come from afar, and behold, these from the north and from the west, and these from the land of Sinim.”
13 Sing, O heavens, and rejoice, O earth, || And break forth, O mountains, with singing, || For YHWH has comforted His people, || And He pities His afflicted ones.
13 Sing, heavens, and be joyful, earth! Break out into singing, mountains! For Yahweh has comforted his people, and will have compassion on his afflicted.
14 And Zion says, “YHWH has forsaken me, || And my Lord has forgotten me.”
14 But Zion said, “Yahweh has forsaken me, and the Lord has forgotten me.”
15 “Does a woman forget her suckling, || The loved one—the son of her womb? Indeed, these forget—but I do not forget you.
15 “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!
16 Behold, I have carved you on the palms of the hand, || Your walls [are] continually before Me.
16 Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands. Your walls are continually before me.
17 Those building you have hurried, || Those destroying you, and laying you waste, go out from you.
17 Your children hurry. Your destroyers and those who devastated you will leave you.
18 Lift up your eyes, [look] around and see, || All of them have been gathered, || They have come to you. [As] I live,” a declaration of YHWH! “Surely you put on all of them as an ornament, || And you bind them on like a bride.
18 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.
19 Because your ruins, and your desolate places, || And the land of your ruins, || Are now surely restricted because of inhabitants, || And those consuming you have been far off.
19 “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.
20 Again the sons of your bereavement say in your ears: The place is too narrow for me, || Come near to me—and I dwell.
20 The children of your bereavement will say in your ears, ‘This place is too small for me. Give me a place to live in.’
21 And you have said in your heart: Who has begotten these for me? And I [am] bereaved and barren, || A captive, and turned aside, || And who has nourished these? Behold, I was left by myself, these—where [are] they from?”
21 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?’”
22 Thus said Lord YHWH: “Behold, I lift up My hand to nations, || And I raise up My ensign to peoples, || And they have brought your sons in the bosom, || And your daughters are carried on the shoulder.
22 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.
23 And kings have been your nursing fathers, || And their princesses—your nursing mothers; Face to the earth—they bow down to you, || And they lick up the dust of your feet, || And you have known that I [am] YHWH, || That those expecting Me are not ashamed.”
23 Kings shall be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow down to you with their faces to the earth, and lick the dust of your feet. Then you will know that I am Yahweh; and those who wait for me won’t be disappointed.”
24 Is prey taken from the mighty? And the captive of the righteous delivered?
24 Shall the plunder be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captives be delivered?
25 For thus said YHWH: “Even the captive of the mighty is taken, || And the prey of the terrible is delivered, || And I strive with your striver, and I save your sons.
25 But 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.
26 And I have caused your oppressors to eat their own flesh, || And they drink their own blood as new wine, || And all flesh has known that I, YHWH, || Your Savior, and your Redeemer, || [Am] the Mighty One of Jacob!”
26 I will feed those who oppress you with their own flesh; and they will be drunk on their own blood, as with sweet wine. Then all flesh shall know that I, Yahweh, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”
Cross references (26)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Jeremiah 1:5; Galatians 1:15; Isaiah 44:2; Isaiah 49:5; Luke 1:31
- 2 Hebrews 4:12; Revelation 1:16; Isaiah 50:4; Revelation 2:12; Isaiah 51:16
- 3 Isaiah 42:1; 1 Peter 2:9; Isaiah 44:23; John 17:1; Isaiah 52:13
- 4 Isaiah 35:4; Galatians 4:11; 2 Corinthians 12:15; Isaiah 62:11; Isaiah 40:10
- 5 John 3:35; Matthew 17:5; Romans 15:8; 1 Peter 3:22; Matthew 28:18
- 6 Acts 13:47; Isaiah 42:6; Luke 2:32; Psalm 98:2–3; Isaiah 52:10
- 7 1 Peter 2:4; Matthew 26:67; Isaiah 53:3; Isaiah 48:17; Psalm 72:10–11
- 8 2 Corinthians 6:2; Isaiah 42:6; Psalm 69:13; Hebrews 12:24; Isaiah 61:4
- 9 1 Peter 2:9; Isaiah 42:16; Isaiah 42:7; Luke 4:18; Psalm 69:33
- 10 Revelation 7:16–17; Matthew 5:6; Ezekiel 34:23; Isaiah 33:16; Psalm 121:5–6
- 11 Isaiah 11:16; Isaiah 62:10; Luke 3:4–5; Isaiah 35:8–10; Isaiah 40:3–4
- 12 Isaiah 43:5–6; Luke 13:29; Isaiah 2:2–3; Psalm 72:17; Psalm 72:10–11
- 13 Isaiah 44:23; Isaiah 51:3; Psalm 96:11–13; Isaiah 52:9; Isaiah 40:1–2
- 14 Isaiah 40:27; Psalm 22:1; Romans 11:1–5; Lamentations 5:20; Psalm 89:38–46
- 15 Isaiah 44:21; Psalm 103:13; Matthew 7:11; Jeremiah 31:20; Hosea 11:1
- 16 Haggai 2:23; Isaiah 60:18; Isaiah 62:6; Song of Songs 8:6; Isaiah 26:1
- 17 Isaiah 51:13; Isaiah 62:5; Isaiah 51:22–23; Ezekiel 28:24; Isaiah 51:18–20
- 18 Isaiah 54:1–3; Isaiah 61:10; Isaiah 66:12–13; Isaiah 54:9; Isaiah 54:7
- 19 Zechariah 10:10; Isaiah 54:1–2; Jeremiah 30:18–19; Isaiah 49:25–26; Isaiah 51:3
- 20 Joshua 17:14–16; Galatians 4:26–28; Hosea 1:10; Isaiah 60:4; 2 Kings 6:1
- 21 Isaiah 64:10; Galatians 3:29; Isaiah 54:3–8; Isaiah 5:13; Matthew 24:29–30
- 22 Luke 13:29; Psalm 86:9; Isaiah 14:2; Malachi 1:11; Psalm 67:4–7
- 23 Isaiah 60:14; Isaiah 60:16; Isaiah 60:3; Micah 7:17; Isaiah 45:14
- 24 Luke 11:21–22; Psalm 124:6–7; Matthew 12:29; Ezekiel 37:3; Isaiah 42:22
- 25 Isaiah 54:15–17; Isaiah 35:4; Isaiah 41:11–12; Jeremiah 50:33–34; Isaiah 54:13
- 26 Isaiah 9:20; Isaiah 41:14–20; Isaiah 9:4; Revelation 16:6; Ezekiel 39:7
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
… kingdom, the earth has been called again by Christ [to its pristine condition], and Jerusalem rebuilt after the pattern of the Jerusalem above, of which the prophet Isaiah says, "Behold, I have depicted thy walls upon my hands, and thou art always in my sight." And the apostle, too, writing to the Galatians, says in like manner, "But the Jerusalem …
… Prophets foretold, that is, ye have leaves only), "lo, we turn to the Gentiles." For this also was foretold by the Prophets; "Behold, I have given Thee for a light of the Gentiles, that Thou mayest be My salvation unto the end of the earth." See then, the tree hath withered away; and Christ hath been removed unto the Gentiles, …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 6 (1888)
"For though," saith He, "a woman should forget the fruits of her womb, yet will I not forget thee."
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)
This also the Prophet says in His person, From the bowels of my mother hath He made mention of My name; because the Angel foretold that He should be called Jesus.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)
… salutary doctrine, the Apostle Paul also says, "But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son;" and God declares by the prophet, "In an acceptable time have I heard Thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee;" and yet again the apostle, "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 7 (1888)