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Isaiah 49:8-26
English Standard Version
Isaiah 49:8-26
English Standard Version
The Restoration of Israel
8 Thus says the Lord:
(A)“In a (B)time of favor I have answered you;
in a day of salvation I have helped you;
I will keep you (C)and give you
as a covenant to the people,
to establish the land,
(D)to apportion the desolate heritages,
9 (E)saying to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’
to those who are in darkness, ‘Appear.’
(F)They shall feed along the ways;
on all bare heights shall be their pasture;
10 (G)they shall not hunger or thirst,
neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them,
for he who has pity on them (H)will lead them,
and by springs of water will guide them.
11 (I)And I will make all my mountains a road,
and my highways shall be raised up.
12 (J)Behold, these shall come from afar,
and behold, (K)these from the north and from the west,[a]
and these from the land of Syene.”[b]
13 (L)Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth;
break forth, O mountains, into singing!
For the Lord (M)has comforted his people
and will have compassion on his afflicted.
14 But Zion said, (N)“The Lord has forsaken me;
my Lord has forgotten me.”
15 (O)“Can a woman forget her nursing child,
that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?
Even these may forget,
yet I will not forget you.
16 Behold, (P)I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
your walls are continually before me.
17 Your builders make haste;[c]
(Q)your destroyers and those who laid you waste go out from you.
18 (R)Lift up your eyes around and see;
they all gather, they come to you.
(S)As I live, declares the Lord,
(T)you shall put them all on as an ornament;
you shall bind them on as a bride does.
19 “Surely your waste and your desolate places
and your devastated land—
(U)surely now you will be too narrow for your inhabitants,
and those who swallowed you up will be far away.
20 (V)The children of your bereavement
will yet say in your ears:
(W)‘The place is too narrow for me;
make room for me to dwell in.’
21 Then you will say in your heart:
‘Who has borne me these?
(X)I was bereaved and barren,
exiled and put away,
but who has brought up these?
Behold, I was left alone;
from where have these come?’”
22 Thus says the Lord God:
“Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations,
(Y)and raise my signal to the peoples;
(Z)and they shall bring your sons in their arms,[d]
and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.
23 (AA)Kings shall be your foster fathers,
and their queens your nursing mothers.
(AB)With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you,
and (AC)lick the dust of your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord;
(AD)those who wait for me (AE)shall not be put to shame.”
24 Can the prey be taken from the mighty,
or the captives of a tyrant[e] be rescued?
25 For thus says the Lord:
(AF)“Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken,
and the prey of the tyrant be rescued,
for I will contend with those who contend with you,
and I will save your children.
26 (AG)I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh,
and they shall be drunk (AH)with their own blood as with wine.
Then all flesh shall know
that (AI)I am the Lord your Savior,
and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 49:12 Hebrew from the sea
- Isaiah 49:12 Dead Sea Scroll; Masoretic Text Sinim
- Isaiah 49:17 Dead Sea Scroll; Masoretic Text Your children make haste
- Isaiah 49:22 Hebrew in their bosom
- Isaiah 49:24 Dead Sea Scroll, Syriac, Vulgate (see also verse 25); Masoretic Text of a righteous man
Isaiah 49:8-26
New International Version
Isaiah 49:8-26
New International Version
Restoration of Israel
8 This is what the Lord says:
“In the time of my favor(A) I will answer you,
and in the day of salvation I will help you;(B)
I will keep(C) you and will make you
to be a covenant for the people,(D)
to restore the land(E)
and to reassign its desolate inheritances,(F)
9 to say to the captives,(G) ‘Come out,’
and to those in darkness,(H) ‘Be free!’
“They will feed beside the roads
and find pasture on every barren hill.(I)
10 They will neither hunger nor thirst,(J)
nor will the desert heat or the sun beat down on them.(K)
He who has compassion(L) on them will guide(M) them
and lead them beside springs(N) of water.
11 I will turn all my mountains into roads,
and my highways(O) will be raised up.(P)
12 See, they will come from afar(Q)—
some from the north, some from the west,(R)
some from the region of Aswan.[a]”
13 Shout for joy,(S) you heavens;
rejoice, you earth;(T)
burst into song, you mountains!(U)
For the Lord comforts(V) his people
and will have compassion(W) on his afflicted ones.(X)
15 “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast
and have no compassion on the child(AA) she has borne?
Though she may forget,
I will not forget you!(AB)
16 See, I have engraved(AC) you on the palms of my hands;
your walls(AD) are ever before me.
17 Your children hasten back,
and those who laid you waste(AE) depart from you.
18 Lift up your eyes and look around;
all your children gather(AF) and come to you.
As surely as I live,(AG)” declares the Lord,
“you will wear(AH) them all as ornaments;
you will put them on, like a bride.
19 “Though you were ruined and made desolate(AI)
and your land laid waste,(AJ)
now you will be too small for your people,(AK)
and those who devoured(AL) you will be far away.
20 The children born during your bereavement
will yet say in your hearing,
‘This place is too small for us;
give us more space to live in.’(AM)
21 Then you will say in your heart,
‘Who bore me these?(AN)
I was bereaved(AO) and barren;
I was exiled and rejected.(AP)
Who brought these(AQ) up?
I was left(AR) all alone,(AS)
but these—where have they come from?’”
22 This is what the Sovereign Lord(AT) says:
“See, I will beckon to the nations,
I will lift up my banner(AU) to the peoples;
they will bring(AV) your sons in their arms
and carry your daughters on their hips.(AW)
23 Kings(AX) will be your foster fathers,
and their queens your nursing mothers.(AY)
They will bow down(AZ) before you with their faces to the ground;
they will lick the dust(BA) at your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord;(BB)
those who hope(BC) in me will not be disappointed.(BD)”
25 But this is what the Lord says:
“Yes, captives(BF) will be taken from warriors,(BG)
and plunder retrieved from the fierce;(BH)
I will contend with those who contend with you,(BI)
and your children I will save.(BJ)
26 I will make your oppressors(BK) eat(BL) their own flesh;
they will be drunk on their own blood,(BM) as with wine.
Then all mankind will know(BN)
that I, the Lord, am your Savior,(BO)
your Redeemer,(BP) the Mighty One of Jacob.(BQ)”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 49:12 Dead Sea Scrolls; Masoretic Text Sinim
- Isaiah 49:24 Dead Sea Scrolls, Vulgate and Syriac (see also Septuagint and verse 25); Masoretic Text righteous
English Standard Version (ESV) 
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.