Yeshayahu 49 ישעיהו מ״ט

Listen, O isles, to me; and hearken, O people, from far; The Lord has called me from birth; from the bowels of my mother has he made mention of my name.

And he has made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand has he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver has he hid me;

and said to me, Thou art my servant, Yisra᾽el, in whom I will be glorified.

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 reward with my God.

And now, says the Lord that formed me from the womb to be his servant to bring Ya῾aqov back to him, that Yisra᾽el should be gathered to him, and I was honoured in the eyes of the Lord, and my God was my strength.

And he said, It is too slight a thing that thou shouldst be my servant to raise up the tribes of Ya῾aqov, and to restore the preserved of Yisra᾽el: I will also give thee for a light to the nations, that my salvation may be to the end of the earth.

Thus says the Lord, the redeemer of Yisra᾽el, his Holy One, to him whom man despises, to him whom the nation abhors, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall prostrate themselves, because of the Lord who is faithful, and the Holy One of Yisra᾽el, who has chosen thee.

Thus says the Lord, In an acceptable time have I answered 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 restore the land, and to assign desolate inheritances to their owners.

That thou mayst say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Show yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be on all high places.

They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that has mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them.

And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be raised up.

Behold, these shall come from far: and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim.

Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the Lord has comforted his people, and has mercy upon his afflicted.

But Żiyyon said, The Lord has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me.

Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? even these may forget, yet I will not forget thee.

Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.

Thy children make haste; thy destroyers and they that made thee waste go away from thee.

Lift up thy eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, says the Lord, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on, like a bride.

For thy waste and thy desolate places, and thy devastated land, shall now be too narrow for the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away.

The children that were taken away from thee shall say again in thy ears, The place is too narrow for me: make room for me that I may dwell.

Then shalt thou say in thy heart, Who has begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, a solitary, an exile, and a wanderer to and fro? and who has brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where have they been?

Thus says the Lord God, Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations, and set up my standard to the peoples: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.

And kings shall be thy foster fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face towards 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.

Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the captive of the victorious delivered?

But thus says 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 contends with thee, and I will save thy children.

And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunk with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I, the Lord am thy deliverer and the mighty One of Ya῾aqov is thy redeemer.