Aa
The Servant Brings Salvation
1Coastlands, Or Islands listen to me;
distant peoples, pay attention.
The Lord called Is 44:2,24; 46:3; Jr 1:5 me before I was born.
He named me while I was in my mother’s womb. Lk 1:15
2He made my words like a sharp sword; Is 11:4; Heb 4:12; Rv 1:16; 2:12,16
He hid me in the shadow of His hand. Is 51:16
He made me like a sharpened arrow;
He hid me in His quiver.
3He said to me, “You are My Servant, Israel; Is 41:8-9; 42:1; 49:5-7; 50:10; 52:13; 53:11; Ezk 34:23-24; Zch 3:8; Ac 3:13
I will be glorified in him.”
4But I myself said: I have labored in vain,
I have spent my strength for nothing and futility;
yet my vindication 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
so that Israel might be gathered to Him;
for I am honored in the sight of the Lord,
and my God is my strength —
6He says,
“It is not enough for you to be My Servant
raising up the tribes of Jacob
and restoring the protected ones of Israel.
I will also make you a light for the nations, Is 42:6; 51:4; Lk 2:32; Ac 13:47; 26:23
to be My salvation to the ends of the earth.” Ac 13:47
7This is what the Lord,
the Redeemer Is 41:14; 43:14 of Israel, his Holy One, says
to one who is despised,
to one abhorred by people, Or by the nation Ps 22:6-8; 69:7-9; Is 53:3
to a servant of rulers:
“Kings will see and stand up,
and princes Lit princes and they will bow down,
because of the Lord, who is faithful,
the Holy One of Israel Is 1:4 — and He has chosen you.” Is 41:8-9; 42:1; 43:10,20; 44:1-2; 45:4; 65:9,15,22
8This is what the Lord says:
I will answer you in a time of favor,
and I will help you in the day of salvation. Ps 69:13; 2Co 6:2
I will keep you, and I will appoint you
to be a covenant for the people, Is 42:6
to restore the land,
to make them possess the desolate inheritances,
9saying to the prisoners: Come out, Is 42:7; 61:1; Lk 4:18
and to those who are in darkness: Show yourselves.
They will feed along the pathways,
and their pastures will be on all the barren heights. Is 41:18
10They will not hunger or thirst,
the scorching heat or sun will not strike them;
for their compassionate One will guide them,
and lead them to springs of water. Ps 23:2; Is 40:11; Jn 4:10; Rv 7:16-17
11I will make all My mountains into a road,
and My highways will be raised up. Is 40:4
12See, these will come from far away,
from the north and from the west, Lit sea Is 43:5-6
and from the land of Sinim. DSS read of the Syenites Perhaps modern Aswan in southern Egypt
13Shout for joy, you heavens! Is 44:23
Earth, rejoice!
Mountains break into joyful shouts!
For the Lord has comforted His people, Is 40:1
and will have compassion on His afflicted ones. Is 54:7-10; Mt 11:29
Zion Remembered
14Zion says, “The Lord has abandoned me;
The Lord has forgotten me! ”
15“Can a woman forget her nursing child,
or lack compassion for the child of her womb?
Even if these forget,
yet I will not forget you.
16Look, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Sg 8:6; Hg 2:23
your walls are continually before Me.
17Your builders DSS, Aq, Theod, Vg; MT, Syr, Sym read sons hurry;
those who destroy and devastate you will leave you.
18Look up, and look around.
They all gather together; they come to you. Is 60:4
As I live” —
this is the Lord’s declaration —
“you will wear all your children Lit all of them as jewelry,
and put them on as a bride does.
19For your waste and desolate places
and your land marked by ruins —
will now be indeed too small for the inhabitants, Is 54:1-2; Zch 10:10
and those who swallowed you up will be far away.
20Yet as you listen, the children
that you have been deprived of will say,
‘This place is too small for me;
make room for me so that I may settle.’ Is 54:1-3
21Then you will say within yourself,
‘Who fathered these for me?
I was deprived of my children and unable to conceive,
exiled and wandering —
but who brought them up?
See, I was left by myself —
but these, where did they come from? ’ ” Lit where are they
22This is what the Lord God says:
Look, I will lift up My hand to the nations,
and raise My banner to the peoples. Is 11:10-12; 18:3; 62:10
They will bring your sons in their arms,
and your daughters will be carried on their shoulders. Is 14:2; 43:6; 60:4
23Kings will be your foster fathers,
and their queens Lit princesses your nursing mothers. Is 60:3,10-11
They will bow down to you
with their faces to the ground,
and lick the dust at your feet. Is 14:1-2
Then you will know that I am Yahweh; Is 41:20; 43:10; 60:16
those who put their hope in Me
will not be put to shame. Ps 25:3; Is 45:17; Jl 2:27
24Can the prey be taken from the mighty,
or the captives of the righteous DSS, Syr, Vg read fearsome one, or tyrant be delivered?
25For this is what the Lord says:
“Even the captives of a mighty man will be taken,
and the prey of a tyrant will be delivered;
I will contend with the one who contends with you,
and I will save your children.
26I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh, Is 9:20
and they will be drunk with their own blood
as with sweet wine.
Then all flesh will know
that I, Yahweh, am your Savior, Is 43:3
and your Redeemer, Is 41:14 the Mighty One of Jacob.” Gn 49:24; Ps 132:2,5; Is 60:16