Called From the Womb
49 1 Listen to me, coastlands; pay attention, you peoples from afar. Our Father called me — Jesus — from the womb; from within my mother he named me. a a v1 The Servant who speaks in this chapter is Jesus — the New Testament applies these verses directly to him (Luke 2:32; Acts 13:47). 2 He made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand he hid me. He made me a polished arrow; in his quiver he concealed me.
3 And he said to me, "You are my servant — Jesus, the true Israel — in whom I will display my splendor."
4 But I said, "I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing and in futility. Yet surely my justice is with my Father, and my reward with my Father."
5 And now our Father says — he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, that Israel might be gathered to him, for I am honored in his eyes, and my Father has become my strength —
6 he says: "It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back those preserved in Israel; I will also make you a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth." b b v6 Simeon held the infant Jesus and called him "a light for the nations" (Luke 2:32), and Paul applied this same word to his mission to the Gentiles (Acts 13:47).
7 Thus says our Father, the Redeemer of Israel, his Holy One, to the one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation, to the servant of rulers: "Kings will see and rise; princes will bow down, because of our Father who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you."
A Covenant for the People
8 Thus says our Father: "In a time of favor I answered you, and in a day of salvation I helped you; I will keep you and give you as a covenant for the people, to restore the land, to apportion the desolate inheritances, 9 saying to the prisoners, 'Come out,' and to those in darkness, 'Show yourselves.' Along the roads they will feed, and on all the bare heights will be their pasture. 10 They will not hunger or thirst, nor will scorching wind or sun strike them, for the one whose heart is moved with compassion for them will lead them, and by springs of water he will guide them. 11 And I will turn all my mountains into a road, and my highways will be raised up. 12 Look — these will come from far away; and look, these from the north and the west, and these from the land of Sinim. c c v12 Sinim is a far-off land, most likely Syene (modern Aswan) in southern Egypt — naming the distant edge from which our Father's children return. 13 Sing for joy, heavens, and rejoice, earth; break out in singing, mountains! For our Father has comforted his people, and his heart is moved with compassion for his afflicted ones.
14 But Zion said, "Our Father has forsaken me; the Sovereign Father has forgotten me."
15 "Can a woman forget her nursing child, that her heart would not be moved with compassion for the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. d d v15 Of all the verses revealing our Father's heart, this one ranks among the tenderest. Even the most faithful mother's love can fail — our Father's never will. 16 Look — I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me. 17 Your children hurry back; those who tore you down and laid you waste go away from you. 18 Look all around you and see: they all gather and come to you. As surely as I live, declares our Father, you will wear them all like an ornament; you will bind them on like a bride. 19 Surely your ruins and your desolate places and your devastated land — surely now you will be too cramped for your inhabitants, and those who swallowed you up will be far away. 20 The children born in your bereavement will yet say in your hearing, "This place is too narrow for me; make room for me to live." 21 Then you will say in your heart, "Who bore these for me? I was bereaved and barren, exiled and cast aside — who has raised these? I was left all alone; where did these come from?"
22 Thus says the Sovereign Father: "Look — I will lift up my hand to the nations and raise my signal to the peoples; and they will bring your sons in their arms, and your daughters will be carried on their shoulders. 23 Kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. With faces to the ground they will bow down to you and lick the dust of your feet. Then you will know that I am your Father; those who wait for me will not be ashamed.
24 Can the plunder be taken from the mighty, or the captives of a tyrant be rescued?
25 But thus says our Father: "Even the captives of the mighty will be taken, and the plunder of the tyrant rescued; for I myself will contend with those who contend with you, and I will save your children. 26 I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh, and they will be drunk on their own blood as with sweet wine. Then all flesh will know that I am your Savior — your Father — and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob."