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CHAPTER 49
GIVE ear, ye islands, and hearken, ye people from afar. The Lord has called me from the womb, from the bowels of my mother he has been mindful of my name.
2 And he has made my mouth like a sharp sword: in the shadow of his hand he has protected me, and has made me as a chosen arrow: in his quiver he has hidden me.
3 And he said to me: you are my servant Israel, for in you will I glory.
4 And I said: I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength without cause and in vain: therefore my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God.
5 And now said the Lord, that formed me from the womb to be his servant, that I may bring back Jacob unto him, and Israel will not be gathered together: and I am glorified in the eyes of the Lord, and my God is made my strength.
6 And he said: It is a small thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to convert the dregs of Israel. Behold, I have given you to be the light of the Gentiles, that you may be my salvation even to the farthest part of the earth.
7 Thus said the Lord the redeemer of Israel, his Holy One, to the soul that is despised, to the nation that is abhorred, to the servant of rulers: Kings shall see, end princes shall rise up, and adore for the Lord's sake, because he is faithful, and for the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.
8 Thus said the Lord: In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you: and I have preserved you, and given you to be a covenant of the people, that you might raise up the earth, and possess the inheritances that were destroyed:
9 That you might say to them that are bound: Come forth: and to them that are in darkness: Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in every plain.
10 They shall not hunger, nor thirst, neither shall the heat nor the sun strike them: for he that is merciful to them, shall be their shepherd, and at the fountains of waters he shall give them drink.
11 And I will make all my mountains a way, and my paths shall be exalted.
12 Behold these shall come from afar, and behold these from the north and from the sea, and these from the south country.
13 Give praise, O ye heavens, and rejoice, O earth, ye mountains, give praise with jubilation: because the Lord has comforted his people, and will have mercy on his poor ones.
14 And Sion said: The Lord has forsaken me, and the Lord has forgotten me.
15 Can a woman forget her infant, so as not to have pity on the son of her womb? and if she should forget, yet will not I forget you.
16 Behold, I have graven you in my hands: your walls are always before my eyes.
17 your builders are come: they that destroy you and make you waste shall go out of you.
18 Lift up your eyes round about, and see all these are gathered together, they are come to you: I live, said the Lord, you shall be clothed with all these se with an ornament, and as a bride you shall put them about you.
19 For your deserts, and your desolate places, and the land of your destruction shall now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, end they that swallowed you up shall be chased far away.
20 The children of your barrenness shall still say in your ears: The place is too strait for me, make me room to dwell in.
21 And you shall-say in your heart: Who has begotten these? I was barren and brought not forth, led away, and captive: and who has brought up these? I was destitute and alone: and these, where were they?
22 Thus said the Lord God: Behold I will lift up my hand to the Gentiles, and will set up my standard to the people. And they shall bring your sons in their arms, and carry your daughters upon their shoulders.
23 And kings shall be your nursing fathers, and queens your nurses: they shall worship you with their face toward the earth, and they shall lick up the dust of your feet. And you shall know that I am the Lord, for they shall not be confounded that wait for him.
24 Shall the prey be taken from the strong? or can that which was taken by the mighty be delivered?
25 For thus said the Lord: Yea verily, even the captivity shall be taken away from the strong: and that which was taken by the mighty, shall be delivered. But I will judge those that have judged you, and your children I will save.
26 And I will feed your enemies with their own flesh: and they shall be made drunk with their own blood, as with new wine: and all flesh shall know, that I am the Lord that save you, and your Redeemer the Mighty One of Jacob.