Isaiah 49

1 Ἀκούσατε μου νῆσοι, καὶ προσέχετε ἔθνη, διὰ χρόνου πολλοῦ στήσεται, λέγει Κύριος, ἐκ κοιλίας μητρός μου ἐκάλεσε τὸ ὄνομά μου.

2 Καὶ ἔθηκε τὸ στόμα μου ὡς μάχαιραν ὀξεῖαν, καὶ ὑπὸ τὴν σκέπην τῆς χειρὸς αὐτοῦ ἔκρυψέ με· ἔθηκέ με ὡς βέλος ἐκλεκτὸν, καὶ ἐν τῇ φαρέτρᾳ αὐτοῦ ἔκρυψέ με,

3 καὶ εἶπέ μοι, δοῦλός μου εἶ σὺ Ἰσραὴλ, καὶ ἐν σοὶ ἐνδοξασθήσομαι.

4 Καὶ ἐγὼ εἶπα, κενῶς ἐκοπίασα, εἰς μάταιον καὶ εἰς οὐδὲν ἔδωκα τὴν ἰσχύν μου· διατοῦτο ἡ κρίσις μου παρὰ· Κυρίῳ, καὶ ὁ πόνος μου ἐναντίον τοῦ Θεοῦ μου.

5 Καὶ νῦν οὕτω λέγει Κύριος, ὁ πλάσας με ἐκ κοιλίας δοῦλον ἑαυτῷ, τοῦ συναγαγεῖν τὸν Ἰακὼβ πρὸς αὐτὸν καὶ Ἰσραήλ· συναχθήσομαι καὶ δοξασθήσομαι ἐναντίον Κυρίου, καὶ ὁ Θεὸς μου ἔσται μοι ἰσχύς.

6 Καὶ εἶπέ μοι, μέγα σοι ἐστὶ τοῦ κληθῆναί σε παῖδά μου, τοῦ στῆσαι τὰς φυλὰς Ἰακὼβ, καὶ τὴν διασπορὰν τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ ἐπιστρέψαι· ἰδοὺ δέδωκά σε εἰς διαθήκην γένους, εἰς φῶς ἐθνῶν, τοῦ εἶναί σε εἰς σωτηρίαν ἕως ἐσχάτου τῆς γῆς.

7 Οὕτως λέγει Κύριος, ὁ ῥυσάμενός σε, ὁ Θεὸς Ἰσραὴλ, ἁγιάσατε τὸν φαυλίζοντα τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ, τὸν βδελυσσόμενον ὑπὸ τῶν ἐθνῶν τῶν δούλων τῶν ἀρχόντων· βασιλεῖς ὄψονται αὐτὸν, καὶ ἀναστήσονται ἄρχοντες, καὶ προσκυνήσουσιν αὐτῷ, ἕνεκεν Κυρίου· ὅτι πιστός ἐστιν ὁ ἅγιος Ἰσραὴλ, καὶ ἐξελεξάμην σε.

8 Οὕτως λέγει Κύριος, καιρῷ δεκτῷ ἐπήκουσά σου, καὶ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ σωτηρίας ἐβοήθησά σοι, καὶ ἔπλασά σε, καὶ ἔδωκά σε εἰς διαθήκην ἐθνῶν τοῦ καταστῆσαι τὴν γῆν, καὶ κληρονομῆσαι κληρονομίας ἐρήμους,

9 λέγοντα τοῖς ἐν δεσμοῖς, ἐξέλθατε, καὶ τοῖς ἐν τῷ σκότει, ἀνακαλυφθῆναι· ἐν πάσαις ταῖς ὁδοῖς βοσκηθήσονται, καὶ ἐν πάσαις ταῖς τρίβοις ἡ νομὴ αὐτῶν·

10 Οὐ πεινάσουσιν, οὐδὲ διψήσουσιν, οὐδὲ πατάξει αὐτοὺς ὁ καύσων, οὐδὲ ὁ ἥλιος, ἀλλʼ ὁ ἐλεῶν αὐτοὺς παρακαλέσει, καὶ διὰ πηγῶν ὑδάτων ἄξει αὐτούς·

11 Καὶ θήσω πᾶν ὄρος εἰς ὁδὸν, καὶ πᾶσαν τρίβον εἰς βόσκημα αὐτοῖς.

12 Ἰδοὺ οὗτοι πόῤῥωθεν ἥξουσιν, οὗτοι ἀπὸ Βοῤῥᾶ καὶ θαλάσσης, ἄλλοι δὲ ἐκ γῆς Περσῶν.

13 Εὐφραίνεσθε οὐρανοί, καὶ ἀγαλλιάσθω ἡ γῆ, ῥηξάτωσαν τὰ ὄρη εὐφροσύνην, ὅτι ἠλέησεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ, καὶ τοὺς ταπεινοὺς τοῦ λαοῦ αὐτοῦ παρεκάλεσεν.

14 Εἶπεν δὲ Σιὼν, ἐγκατέλιπέ με Κύριος, καὶ ὅτι Κύριος ἐπελάθετό μου.

15 Μὴ ἐπιλήσεται γυνὴ τοῦ παιδίου αὐτῆς, ἢ τοῦ μὴ ἐλεῆσαι τὰ ἔκγονα τῆς κοιλίας αὐτῆς; εἰ δὲ καὶ ταῦτα ἐπιλάθοιτο γυνὴ, ἀλλʼ ἐγὼ οὐκ ἐπιλήσομαί σου, εἶπεν Κύριος.

16 Ἰδοὺ ἐπὶ τῶν χειρῶν μου ἐζωγράφηκά σου τὰ τείχη, καὶ ἐνώπιόν μου εἶ διαπαντὸς,

17 καὶ ταχὺ οἰκοδομηθήσῃ ὑφʼ ὧν καθῃρέθης, καὶ οἱ ἐρημώσαντές σε ἐξελεύσονται ἐκ σοῦ.

18 Ἆρον κύκλῳ τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς σου, καὶ ἴδε πάντας, ἰδοὺ συνήχθησαν καὶ ἤλθοσαν πρὸς σέ. Ζῶ ἐγὼ, λέγει Κύριος, ὅτι πάντας αὐτοὺς ὡς κόσμον ἐνδύσῃ, καὶ περιθήσεις αὐτοὺς ὡς κόσμον νύμφη.

19 Ὅτι τὰ ἔρημά σου καὶ τὰ κατεφθαρμένα καὶ πεπτωκότα, ὅτι νῦν στενοχωρήσει ἀπὸ τῶν κατοικούντων, καὶ μακρυνθήσονται ἀπὸ σοῦ οἱ καταπίνοντές σε.

20 Ἐροῦσι γὰρ εἰς τὰ ὦτά σου οἱ υἱοί σου, οὓς ἀπολώλεκας, στενός μοι ὁ τόπος, ποίησόν μοι τόπον ἵνα κατοικήσω.

21 Καὶ ἐρεῖς ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ σου, τίς ἐγέννησέ μοι τούτους; ἐγὼ δὲ ἄτεκνος καὶ χήρα, τούτους δὲ τίς ἐξέθρεψέ μοι; ἐγὼ δὲ κατελείφθην μόνη, οὗτοι δέ μοι ποῦ ἦσαν;

22 Οὕτως λέγει Κύριος Κύριος, ἰδοὺ αἴρω εἰς τὰ ἔθνη τὴν χεῖρά μου, καὶ εἰς τὰς νήσους ἀρῶ σύσσημόν μου, καὶ ἄξουσι τοὺς υἱούς σου ἐν κόλπῳ, τὰς δὲ θυγατέρας σου ἐπʼ ὤμων ἀροῦσι.

23 Καὶ ἔσονται βασιλεῖς τιθηνοί σου, αἱ δὲ ἄρχουσαι αὐτῶν τροφοί σου· ἐπὶ πρόσωπον τῆς γῆς προσκυνήσουσί σε, καὶ τὸν χοῦν τῶν ποδῶν σου λείξουσι, καὶ γνώσῃ, ὅτι ἐγὼ Κύριος, καὶ οὐκ αἰσχυνθήσονται οἱ ὑπομένοντές με.

24 Μὴ λήμψεταί τις παρὰ γίγαντος σκῦλα; καὶ ἐὰν αἰχμαλωτεύσῃ τις ἀδίκως, σωθήσεται;

25 Ὅτι οὕτω λέγει Κύριος, ἐάν τις αἰχμαλωτεύσῃ γίγαντα, λήψεται σκῦλα· λαμβάνων δὲ παρὰ ἰσχύοντος σωθήσεται· ἐγὼ δὲ τὴν κρίσιν σου κρινῶ, καὶ ἐγὼ τοὺς υἱούς σου ῥύσομαι·

26 Καὶ φάγονται οἱ θλίψαντές σε τὰς σάρκας αὐτῶν, καὶ πίονται ὡς οἶνον νέον τὸ αἷμα αὐτῶν, καὶ μεθυσθήσονται· καὶ αἰσθανθήσεται πᾶσα σὰρξ, ὅτι ἐγὼ Κύριος ὁ ῥυσάμενός σε, καὶ ἀντιλαμβανόμενος ἰσχύος Ἰακώβ.

1 Hearken to me, ye islands; and attend, ye Gentiles; after a long time it shall come to pass, saith the Lord: from my mother's womb he has called my name:

2 and he has made my mouth as a sharp sword, and he has hid me under the shadow of his hand; he has made me as a choice shaft, and he has hid me in his quiver;

3 and said to me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, and in thee I will be glorified.

4 Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have given my strength for vanity and for nothing: therefore is my judgment with the Lord, and my labour before my God.

5 And now, thus saith the Lord that formed me from the womb to be his own servant, to gather Jacob to him and Israel. I shall be gathered and glorified before the Lord, and my God shall be my strength.

6 And he said to me, It is a great thing for thee to be called my servant, to establish the tribes of Jacob, and to recover the dispersion of Israel: behold, I have given thee for the covenant of a race, for a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation to the end of the earth.

a perpetual covenant.

7 Thus saith the Lord that delivered thee, the God of Israel, Sanctify him that despises his life, him that is abhorred by the nations that are the servants of princes: kings shall behold him, and princes shall arise, and shall worship him, for the Lord's sake: for the Holy One of Israel is faithful, and I have chosen thee.

8 Thus saith the Lord, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I succoured thee: and I have formed thee, and given thee for a covenant of the nations, to establish the earth, and to cause to inherit the desert heritages:

9 saying to them that are in bonds, Go forth; and bidding them that are in darkness shew themselves. They shall be fed in all the ways, and in all the paths shall be their pasture.

10 They shall not hunger, neither shall they thirst; neither shall the heat nor the sun smite them; but he that has mercy on them shall comfort them , and by fountains of waters shall he lead them.

11 And I will make every mountain a way, and every path a pasture to them.

12 Behold, these shall come from far: and these from the north and the west, and others from the land of the Persians.

13 Rejoice, ye heavens; and let the earth be glad: let the mountains break forth with joy; for the Lord has had mercy on his people, and has comforted the lowly ones of his people.

14 But Sion said, The Lord has forsaken me, and, The Lord has forgotten me.

15 Will a woman forget her child, so as not to have compassion upon the offspring of her womb? but if a woman should even forget these, yet I will not forget thee, saith the Lord.

16 Behold, I have painted thy walls on my hands, and thou art continually before me.

17 And thou shalt soon be built by those by whom thou wert destroyed, and they that made thee desolate shall go forth of thee.

18 Lift up thine eyes round about, and look on them all; behold, they are gathered together, and are come to thee. As I live, saith the Lord, thou shalt clothe thyself with them all as with an ornament, and put them on as a bride her attire.

19 For thy desert and marred and ruined places shall now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that devoured thee shall be removed far from thee.

20 For thy sons whom thou hast lost shall say in thine ears, The place is too narrow for me: make room for me that I may dwell.

21 And thou shalt say in thine heart, Who has begotten me these? whereas I was childless, and a widow; but who has brought up these for me? and I was left alone; but whence came these to me?

22 Thus saith the Lord, even the Lord, Behold, I lift up mine hand to the nations, and I will lift up my signal to the islands: and they shall bring thy sons in their bosom, and shall bear thy daughters on their shoulders.

23 And kings shall be thy nursing-fathers, and their princesses thy nurses, they shall bow down to thee on the face of the earth, and shall lick the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord, and they that wait on me shall not be ashamed.

24 Will any one take spoils from a giant? and if one should take a man captive unjustly, shall he be delivered?

25 For thus saith the Lord, If one should take a giant captive, he shall take spoils, and he who takes them from a mighty man shall be delivered: for I will plead thy cause, and I will deliver thy children.

26 And they that afflicted thee shall eat their own flesh; and they shall drink their own blood as new wine, and shall be drunken: and all flesh shall perceive that I am the Lord that delivers thee, and that upholds the strength of Jacob.