to say to the captives,(A) ‘Come out,’
    and to those in darkness,(B) ‘Be free!’

“They will feed beside the roads
    and find pasture on every barren hill.(C)
10 They will neither hunger nor thirst,(D)
    nor will the desert heat or the sun beat down on them.(E)
He who has compassion(F) on them will guide(G) them
    and lead them beside springs(H) of water.
11 I will turn all my mountains into roads,
    and my highways(I) will be raised up.(J)
12 See, they will come from afar(K)
    some from the north, some from the west,(L)
    some from the region of Aswan.[a]

13 Shout for joy,(M) you heavens;
    rejoice, you earth;(N)
    burst into song, you mountains!(O)
For the Lord comforts(P) his people
    and will have compassion(Q) on his afflicted ones.(R)

14 But Zion(S) said, “The Lord has forsaken(T) me,
    the Lord has forgotten me.”

15 “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast
    and have no compassion on the child(U) she has borne?
Though she may forget,
    I will not forget you!(V)
16 See, I have engraved(W) you on the palms of my hands;
    your walls(X) are ever before me.
17 Your children hasten back,
    and those who laid you waste(Y) depart from you.
18 Lift up your eyes and look around;
    all your children gather(Z) and come to you.
As surely as I live,(AA)” declares the Lord,
    “you will wear(AB) them all as ornaments;
    you will put them on, like a bride.

19 “Though you were ruined and made desolate(AC)
    and your land laid waste,(AD)
now you will be too small for your people,(AE)
    and those who devoured(AF) 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.’(AG)
21 Then you will say in your heart,
    ‘Who bore me these?(AH)
I was bereaved(AI) and barren;
    I was exiled and rejected.(AJ)
    Who brought these(AK) up?
I was left(AL) all alone,(AM)
    but these—where have they come from?’”

22 This is what the Sovereign Lord(AN) says:

“See, I will beckon to the nations,
    I will lift up my banner(AO) to the peoples;
they will bring(AP) your sons in their arms
    and carry your daughters on their hips.(AQ)
23 Kings(AR) will be your foster fathers,
    and their queens your nursing mothers.(AS)
They will bow down(AT) before you with their faces to the ground;
    they will lick the dust(AU) at your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord;(AV)
    those who hope(AW) in me will not be disappointed.(AX)

24 Can plunder be taken from warriors,(AY)
    or captives be rescued from the fierce[b]?

25 But this is what the Lord says:

“Yes, captives(AZ) will be taken from warriors,(BA)
    and plunder retrieved from the fierce;(BB)
I will contend with those who contend with you,(BC)
    and your children I will save.(BD)
26 I will make your oppressors(BE) eat(BF) their own flesh;
    they will be drunk on their own blood,(BG) as with wine.
Then all mankind will know(BH)
    that I, the Lord, am your Savior,(BI)
    your Redeemer,(BJ) the Mighty One of Jacob.(BK)

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 49:12 Dead Sea Scrolls; Masoretic Text Sinim
  2. Isaiah 49:24 Dead Sea Scrolls, Vulgate and Syriac (see also Septuagint and verse 25); Masoretic Text righteous

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