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It is not enough for you to be my servant, he says,
    to raise up the tribes of Jacob
    and to bring back the survivors of Israel.
I will make you a light to the nations
    so that my salvation may reach
    to the ends of the earth.
Thus says the Lord,
    the redeemer, the Holy One of Israel,
to the one who is despised
    and whom the people abhor,
    the slave of tyrants:
Kings will rise up when they see you,
    and princes will prostrate themselves in homage,
because of the Lord who is faithful,
    the Holy One of Israel who has chosen you.

The Deliverance and Restoration of Zion

    [a]Thus says the Lord:
    In a time of my favor I have answered you;
    on the day of salvation I have helped you.
I have formed you and have destined you
    to be a covenant to the people,
to restore the land
    and to allot the desolate heritages,

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 49:8 The following chapters no longer speak either of Cyrus or of Babylon; their attention is focused entirely on the restoration of Jerusalem and the joy of the people as they return to the Promised Land. A new age is beginning, and the holy city will be seen rising from ruins and becoming the capital in which the glory of the Lord is manifested. But amid those hymns to the future, the figure of the Servant insistently reappears, as though to give a deeper foundation for the hope.

he says:
“It is too small a thing for you to be my servant(A)
    to restore the tribes of Jacob
    and bring back those of Israel I have kept.(B)
I will also make you a light(C) for the Gentiles,(D)
    that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”(E)

This is what the Lord says—
    the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel(F)
to him who was despised(G) and abhorred by the nation,
    to the servant of rulers:
“Kings(H) will see you and stand up,
    princes will see and bow down,(I)
because of the Lord, who is faithful,(J)
    the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen(K) you.”

Restoration of Israel

This is what the Lord says:

“In the time of my favor(L) I will answer you,
    and in the day of salvation I will help you;(M)
I will keep(N) you and will make you
    to be a covenant for the people,(O)
to restore the land(P)
    and to reassign its desolate inheritances,(Q)

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