Isaiah 49-53 - Prayer Tents

The Lord’s Servant Commissioned

49Listen to me, all you in distant lands! Pay attention, you who are far away! The Lord called me before my birth; from within the womb he called me by name.H8085H339H7181H3816H7350H3068H7121H990H4578H517H2142H8034 2He made my words of judgment as sharp as a sword. He has hidden me in the shadow of his hand. I am like a sharp arrow in his quiver.H7760H6310H2299H2719H6738H3027H2244H7760H1305H2671H827H5641 3He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, and you will bring me glory.”H559H5650H3478H6286 4I replied, “But my work seems so useless! I have spent my strength for nothing and to no purpose. Yet I leave it all in the Lord’s hand; I will trust God for my reward.”H559H3021H7385H3615H3581H8414H1892H403H4941H3068H6468H430 5And now the Lord speaks—the one who formed me in my mother’s womb to be his servant, who commissioned me to bring Israel back to him. The Lord has honored me, and my God has given me strength.H559H3068H3335H990H5650H7725H3290H7725H3478H622H3513H5869H3068H430H5797 6He says, “You will do more than restore the people of Israel to me. I will make you a light to the Gentiles, and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”H559H7043H5650H6965H7626H3290H7725H5341H5336H3478H5414H216H1471H3444H7097H776 7The Lord, the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel, says to the one who is despised and rejected by the nations, to the one who is the servant of rulers. “Kings will stand at attention when you pass by. Princes will also bow low because of the Lord, the faithful one, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”H559H3068H1350H3478H6918H5315H960H1471H8581H5650H4910H4428H7200H6965H8269H7812H3068H539H6918H3478H977

Promises of Israel’s Restoration

8This is what the Lord says. “At just the right time, I will respond to you. On the day of salvation I will help you. I will protect you and give you to the people as my covenant with them. Through you I will reestablish the land of Israel and assign it to its own people again.H559H3068H7522H6256H6030H3117H3444H5826H5341H5414H1285H5971H6965H776H5157H8074H5159 9I will say to the prisoners, ‘Come out in freedom,’ and to those in darkness, ‘Come into the light.’ They will be my sheep, grazing in green pastures and on hills that were previously bare.H559H631H3318H2822H1540H7462H1870H4830H8205 10They will neither hunger nor thirst. The searing sun will not reach them anymore. For the Lord in his mercy will lead them; he will lead them beside cool waters.H7456H6770H8273H8121H5221H7355H5090H4002H4325H5095 11And I will make my mountains into level paths for them. The highways will be raised above the valleys.H7760H2022H1870H4546H7311 12See, my people will return from far away, from lands to the north and west, and from as far south as Egypt.”H935H7350H6828H3220H776H5515 13Sing for joy, O heavens! Rejoice, O earth! Burst into song, O mountains! For the Lord has comforted his people and will have compassion on them in their suffering.H7442H8064H1523H776H6476H7440H2022H3068H5162H5971H7355H6041 14Yet Jerusalem says, “The Lord has deserted us; the Lord has forgotten us.”H6726H559H3068H5800H136H7911 15“Never! Can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for the child she has borne? But even if that were possible, I would not forget you!H802H7911H5764H7355H1121H990H7911H7911 16See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands. Always in my mind is a picture of Jerusalem’s walls in ruins.H2710H3709H2346H8548 17Soon your descendants will come back, and all who are trying to destroy you will go away.H1121H4116H2040H2717H3318 18Look around you and see, for all your children will come back to you. As surely as I live,” says the Lord, “they will be like jewels or bridal ornaments for you to display.H5375H5869H5439H7200H6908H935H2416H5002H3068H3847H5716H7194H3618 19“Even the most desolate parts of your abandoned land will soon be crowded with your people. Your enemies who enslaved you will be far away.H2723H8074H776H2035H3334H3427H1104H7368 20The generations born in exile will return and say, ‘We need more room! It’s crowded here!’H1121H7923H559H241H4725H6862H5066H4725H3427 21Then you will think to yourself, ‘Who has given me all these descendants? For most of my children were killed, and the rest were carried away into exile. I was left here all alone. Where did all these people come from? Who bore these children? Who raised them for me?’”H559H3824H3205H7921H1565H1540H5493H1431H7604H375 22This is what the Sovereign Lord says. “See, I will give a signal to the godless nations. They will carry your little sons back to you in their arms; they will bring your daughters on their shoulders.H559H136H3069H5375H3027H1471H7311H5251H5971H935H1121H2684H1323H5375H3802 23Kings and queens will serve you and care for all your needs. They will bow to the earth before you and lick the dust from your feet. Then you will know that I am the Lord. Those who trust in me will never be put to shame.”H4428H539H8282H3243H7812H639H776H3897H6083H7272H3045H3068H954H6960 24Who can snatch the plunder of war from the hands of a warrior? Who can demand that a tyrant let his captives go?H4455H3947H1368H6662H7628H4422 25But the Lord says, “The captives of warriors will be released, and the plunder of tyrants will be retrieved. For I will fight those who fight you, and I will save your children.H559H3068H7628H1368H3947H4455H6184H4422H7378H3401H3467H1121 26I will feed your enemies with their own flesh. They will be drunk with rivers of their own blood. All the world will know that I, the Lord, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Israel.”H398H3238H1320H7937H1818H6071H1320H3045H3068H3467H1350H46H3290

50This is what the Lord says. “Was your mother sent away because I divorced her? Did I sell you as slaves to my creditors? No, you were sold because of your sins. And your mother, too, was taken because of your sins.H559H3068H5612H517H3748H7971H5383H4376H5771H4376H6588H517H7971 2Why was no one there when I came? Why didn’t anyone answer when I called? Is it because I have no power to rescue? No, that is not the reason! For I can speak to the sea and make it dry up! I can turn rivers into deserts covered with dying fish.H935H376H7121H6030H3027H7114H7114H6304H3581H5337H1606H2717H3220H7760H5104H4057H1710H887H4325H4191H6772 3I dress the skies in darkness, covering them with clothes of mourning.”H3847H8064H6940H7760H8242H3682

The Lord’s Obedient Servant

4The Sovereign Lord has given me his words of wisdom, so that I know how to comfort the weary. Morning by morning he wakens me and opens my understanding to his will.H136H3069H5414H3956H3928H3045H5790H1697H3287H5782H1242H1242H5782H241H8085H3928 5The Sovereign Lord has spoken to me, and I have listened. I have not rebelled or turned away.H136H3069H6605H241H4784H5472H268 6I offered my back to those who beat me and my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard. I did not hide my face from mockery and spitting.H5414H1460H5221H3895H4803H5641H6440H3639H7536 7Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore, I have set my face like a stone, determined to do his will. And I know that I will not be put to shame.H136H3069H5826H3637H7760H6440H2496H3045H954 8He who gives me justice is near. Who will dare to bring charges against me now? Where are my accusers? Let them appear!H7138H6663H7378H5975H3162H1167H4941H5066 9See, the Sovereign Lord is on my side! Who will declare me guilty? All my enemies will be destroyed like old clothes that have been eaten by moths!H136H3069H5826H7561H1086H899H6211H398 10Who among you fears the Lord and obeys his servant? If you are walking in darkness, without a ray of light, trust in the Lord and rely on your God.H3373H3068H8085H6963H5650H1980H2825H5051H982H8034H3068H8172H430 11But watch out, you who live in your own light and warm yourselves by your own fires. This is the reward you will receive from me. You will soon fall down in great torment.H6919H784H247H2131H3212H217H784H2131H1197H3027H7901H4620

51“Listen to me, all who hope for deliverance—all who seek the Lord! Consider the rock from which you were cut, the quarry from which you were mined.H8085H7291H6664H1245H3068H5027H6697H2672H4718H953H5365 2Yes, think about Abraham, your ancestor, and Sarah, who gave birth to your nation. Abraham was only one man when I called him. But when I blessed him, he became a great nation.”H5027H85H1H8283H2342H7121H259H1288H7235 3The Lord will comfort Israel again and have pity on her ruins. Her desert will blossom like Eden, her barren wilderness like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness will be found there. Songs of thanksgiving will fill the air.H3068H5162H6726H5162H2723H7760H4057H5731H6160H1588H3068H8342H8057H4672H8426H6963H2172 4“Listen to me, my people. Hear me, Israel, for my law will be proclaimed, and my justice will become a light to the nations.H7181H5971H238H3816H8451H3318H4941H7280H216H5971 5My mercy and justice are coming soon. My salvation is on the way. My strong arm will bring justice to the nations. All distant lands will look to me and wait in hope for my powerful arm.H6664H7138H3468H3318H2220H8199H5971H339H6960H2220H3176 6Look up to the skies above, and gaze down on the earth below. For the skies will disappear like smoke, and the earth will wear out like a piece of clothing. The people of the earth will die like flies, but my salvation lasts forever. My righteous rule will never end!H5375H5869H8064H5027H776H8064H4414H6227H776H1086H899H3427H4191H3644H3654H3444H5769H6666H2865 7“Listen to me, you who know right from wrong you who cherish my law in your hearts. Do not be afraid of people’s scorn, nor fear their insults.H8085H3045H6664H5971H3820H8451H3372H2781H582H2865H1421 8For the moth will devour them as it devours clothing. The worm will eat at them as it eats wool. But my righteousness will last forever. My salvation will continue from generation to generation.”H6211H398H899H5580H398H6785H6666H5769H3444H1755H1755 9Wake up, wake up, O Lord! Clothe yourself with strength! Flex your mighty right arm! Rouse yourself as in the days of old when you slew Egypt, the dragon of the Nile.H5782H5782H3847H5797H2220H3068H5782H6924H3117H1755H5769H2672H7294H2490H8577 10Are you not the same today, the one who dried up the sea, making a path of escape through the depths so that your people could cross over?H2717H3220H4325H7227H8415H7760H4615H3220H1870H1350H5674 11Those who have been ransomed by the Lord will return. They will enter Jerusalem singing, crowned with everlasting joy. Sorrow and mourning will disappear, and they will be filled with joy and gladness.H6299H3068H7725H935H7440H6726H5769H8057H7218H5381H8342H8057H3015H585H5127 12“I, yes I, am the one who comforts you. So why are you afraid of mere humans, who wither like the grass and disappear?H5162H3372H582H4191H1121H120H5414H2682 13Yet you have forgotten the Lord, your Creator, the one who stretched out the sky like a canopy and laid the foundations of the earth. Will you remain in constant dread of human oppressors? Will you continue to fear the anger of your enemies? Where is their fury and anger now? It is gone!H7911H3068H6213H5186H8064H3245H776H6342H8548H3117H6440H2534H6693H834H3559H7843H2534H6693 14Soon all you captives will be released! Imprisonment, starvation, and death will not be your fate!H6808H4116H6605H4191H7845H3899H2637 15For I am the Lord your God, who stirs up the sea, causing its waves to roar. My name is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.H3068H430H7280H3220H1530H1993H3068H6635H8034 16And I have put my words in your mouth and hidden you safely in my hand. I stretched out the sky like a canopy and laid the foundations of the earth. I am the one who says to Israel, ‘You are my people!’”H7760H1697H6310H3680H6738H3027H5193H8064H3245H776H559H6726H5971 17Wake up, wake up, O Jerusalem! You have drunk the cup of the Lord’s fury. You have drunk the cup of terror, tipping out its last drops.H5782H5782H6965H3389H8354H3027H3068H3563H2534H8354H6907H3563H8653H4680 18Not one of your children is left alive to take your hand and guide you.H5095H1121H3205H2388H3027H1121H1431 19These two calamities have fallen on you. desolation and destruction, famine and war. And who is left to sympathize with you? Who is left to comfort you?H8147H7122H5110H7701H7667H7458H2719H5162 20For your children have fainted and lie in the streets, helpless as antelopes caught in a net. The Lord has poured out his fury; God has rebuked them.H1121H5968H7901H7218H2351H8377H4364H4392H2534H3068H1606H430 21But now listen to this, you afflicted ones who sit in a drunken stupor, though not from drinking wine.H8085H6041H7937H3196 22This is what the Sovereign Lord, your God and Defender, says. “See, I have taken the terrible cup from your hands. You will drink no more of my fury.H559H113H3068H430H7378H5971H3947H3027H3563H8653H6907H3563H2534H3254H8354 23Instead, I will hand that cup to your tormentors, those who said, ‘We will trample you into the dust and walk on your backs.’”H7760H3027H3013H559H5315H7812H5674H7760H1460H776H2351H5674

52Wake up, wake up, O Zion! Clothe yourself with strength. Put on your beautiful clothes, O holy city of Jerusalem, for unclean and godless people will enter your gates no longer.H5782H5782H3847H5797H6726H3847H8597H899H3389H6944H5892H3254H935H6189H2931 2Rise from the dust, O Jerusalem. Sit in a place of honor. Remove the chains of slavery from your neck, O captive daughter of Zion.H5287H6083H6965H3427H3389H6605H4147H6677H7628H1323H6726 3For this is what the Lord says. “When I sold you into exile, I received no payment. Now I can redeem you without having to pay for you.”H559H3068H4376H2600H1350H3701 4This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “Long ago my people chose to live in Egypt. Now they are oppressed by Assyria.H559H136H3069H5971H3381H7223H4714H1481H804H6231H657 5What is this?” asks the Lord. “Why are my people enslaved again? Those who rule them shout in exultation. My name is blasphemed all day long.H5002H3068H5971H3947H2600H4910H3213H5002H3068H8034H8548H3117H5006 6But I will reveal my name to my people, and they will come to know its power. Then at last they will recognize that I am the one who speaks to them.”H5971H3045H8034H3117H1696 7How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger who brings good news, the good news of peace and salvation, the news that the God of Israel reigns!H4998H2022H7272H1319H8085H7965H1319H2896H8085H3444H559H6726H430H4427 8The watchmen shout and sing with joy, for before their very eyes they see the Lord returning to Jerusalem.H6822H5375H6963H6963H3162H7442H7200H5869H5869H3068H7725H6726 9Let the ruins of Jerusalem break into joyful song, for the Lord has comforted his people. He has redeemed Jerusalem.H6476H7442H3162H2723H3389H3068H5162H5971H1350H3389 10The Lord has demonstrated his holy power before the eyes of all the nations. All the ends of the earth will see the victory of our God.H3068H2834H6944H2220H5869H1471H657H776H7200H3444H430 11Get out! Get out and leave your captivity, where everything you touch is unclean. Get out of there and purify yourselves, you who carry home the sacred objects of the Lord.H5493H5493H3318H5060H2931H3318H8432H1305H5375H3627H3068 12You will not leave in a hurry, running for your lives. For the Lord will go ahead of you; yes, the God of Israel will protect you from behind.H3318H2649H3212H4499H3068H1980H6440H430H3478H622 13See, my servant will prosper; he will be highly exalted.H5650H7919H7311H5375H3966H1361 14But many were amazed when they saw him. His face was so disfigured he seemed hardly human, and from his appearance, one would scarcely know he was a man.H7227H8074H4758H4893H376H8389H1121H120 15And he will startle many nations. Kings will stand speechless in his presence. For they will see what they had not been told; they will understand what they had not heard about.H5137H7227H1471H4428H7092H6310H5608H7200H8085H995

53Who has believed our message? To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm?H539H8052H2220H3068H1540 2My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him.H5927H6440H3126H8328H6723H776H8389H1926H7200H4758H2530 3He was despised and rejected—a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care.H959H2310H376H376H4341H3045H2483H4564H6440H959H2803 4Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins!H403H5375H2483H5445H4341H2803H5060H5221H430H6031 5But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.H2490H6588H1792H5771H4148H7965H2250H7495 6All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.H6629H8582H6437H376H1870H3068H6293H5771 7He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth.H5065H6031H6605H6310H2986H7716H2874H7353H6440H1494H481H6605H6310 8Unjustly condemned, he was led away. No one cared that he died without descendants, that his life was cut short in midstream. But he was struck down for the rebellion of my people.H3947H6115H4941H7878H1755H1504H776H2416H6588H5971H5061 9He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man’s grave.H5414H6913H7563H6223H4194H6213H2555H4820H6310 10But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands.H2654H3068H1792H2470H7760H5315H817H7200H2233H748H3117H2656H3068H6743H3027 11When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins.H7200H5999H5315H7646H1847H6662H5650H6663H7227H5445H5771 12I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier, because he exposed himself to death. He was counted among the rebels. He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels.H2505H7227H2505H7998H6099H6168H5315H4194H4487H6586H5375H2399H7227H6293H6586