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