Atlas Biblica

    Isaiah · 26 verses

    Isaiah 49

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    The chapter

    What happens here

    Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.

    Zion, once bereaved and barren, is suddenly surrounded by children who complain that there is not enough room—and Zion herself has no idea where they came from.

    The hidden Servant becomes a lightvv. 1–13

    The LORD calls the Servant from the womb, gives him a mouth like a sharp sword and hides him away like a polished arrow in a quiver. The Servant has laboured in vain, but the LORD appoints him not only to restore Israel, but to become a light for the nations and bring salvation to the ends of the earth. Prisoners are told to come out, the hungry find pasture, the thirsty are led beside springs, mountains become roads, and people arrive from far away—including the land of Aswan, which makes a most unexpected appearance.

    Zion's family expands rather dramaticallyvv. 14–23

    Zion says the LORD has forgotten her, and the answer is an appeal to the stubborn memory of a nursing mother: even if such forgetting were possible, the LORD will not forget Zion. Her ruined places are to be too small for her returning people, who will gather around her like jewellery—or, more precisely, like a bride's adornment. Then comes the chapter's splendid puzzle: the children of her bereavement demand more room, while Zion asks who begot them and who reared them. Kings and queens will carry these sons and daughters, bowing low enough to lick the dust at Zion's feet.

    The captives are retrievedvv. 24–26

    The closing question asks whether plunder can be taken from the mighty and captives rescued from a tyrant. The answer is emphatic: even these captives will be taken away. The LORD will contend with Zion's contenders, save her children, and give the oppressors a grisly feast of their own flesh and blood. By the end, all mankind is to know who the Savior and Redeemer is.

    The text

    Read it

    Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.

    1. Isa 49:1Listen to Me, O islands; pay attention, O distant peoples: The LORD called Me from the womb; from the body of My mother He named Me.

    2. Isa 49:2He made My mouth like a sharp sword; He hid Me in the shadow of His hand. He made Me like a polished arrow; He hid Me in His quiver.

    3. Isa 49:3He said to Me, “You are My Servant, Israel, in whom I will display My glory.”

    4. Isa 49:4But I said, “I have labored in vain, I have spent My strength in futility and vanity; yet My vindication is with the LORD, and My reward is with My God.”

    5. Isa 49:5And now says the LORD, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, to bring Jacob back to Him, that Israel might be gathered to Him—for I am honored in the sight of the LORD, and My God is My strength—

    6. Isa 49:6He says: “It is not enough for You to be My Servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the protected ones of Israel. I will also make You a light for the nations, to bring My salvation to the ends of the earth.”

    7. Isa 49:7Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel, to Him who was despised and abhorred by the nation, to the Servant of rulers: “Kings will see You and rise, and princes will bow down, because of the LORD, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen You.”

    8. Isa 49:8This is what the LORD says: “In the time of favor I will answer You, and in the day of salvation I will help You; I will keep You and appoint You to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land, to apportion its desolate inheritances,

    9. Isa 49:9to say to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’ and to those in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’ They will feed along the pathways, and find pasture on every barren hill.

    10. Isa 49:10They will not hunger or thirst, nor will scorching heat or sun beat down on them. For He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water.

    11. Isa 49:11I will turn all My mountains into roads, and My highways will be raised up.

    12. Isa 49:12Behold, they will come from far away, from the north and from the west, and from the land of Aswan.”

    13. Isa 49:13Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice, O earth; break forth in song, O mountains! For the LORD has comforted His people, and He will have compassion on His afflicted ones.

    14. Isa 49:14But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me; the Lord has forgotten me!”

    15. Isa 49:15“Can a woman forget her nursing child, or lack compassion for the son of her womb? Even if she could forget, I will not forget you!

    16. Isa 49:16Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; your walls are ever before Me.

    17. Isa 49:17Your builders hasten back; your destroyers and wreckers depart from you.

    18. Isa 49:18Lift up your eyes and look around. They all gather together; they come to you. As surely as I live,” declares the LORD, “you will wear them all as jewelry and put them on like a bride.

    19. Isa 49:19For your ruined and desolate places and your ravaged land will now indeed be too small for your people, and those who devoured you will be far away.

    20. Isa 49:20Yet the children of your bereavement will say in your hearing, ‘This place is too small for us; make room for us to live here.’

    21. Isa 49:21Then you will say in your heart, ‘Who has begotten these for me? I was bereaved and barren; I was exiled and rejected. So who has reared them? Look, I was left all alone, so where did they come from?’”

    22. Isa 49:22This is what the Lord GOD says: “Behold, I will lift up My hand to the nations, and raise My banner to the peoples. They will bring your sons in their arms and carry your daughters on their shoulders.

    23. Isa 49:23Kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow to you facedown and lick the dust at your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD; those who hope in Me will never be put to shame.”

    24. Isa 49:24Can the plunder be snatched from the mighty, or the captives of a tyrant be delivered?

    25. Isa 49:25Indeed, this is what the LORD says: “Even the captives of the mighty will be taken away, and the plunder of the tyrant will be retrieved; I will contend with those who contend with you, and I will save your children.

    26. Isa 49:26I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh; they will be drunk on their own blood, as with wine. Then all mankind will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”

    01 — Also here

    Who else the chapter reaches

    Names written in the English are linked in the text above. These are the ones that are not: an entity the Hebrew or Greek names under a spelling the translation does not use, or one reached only by an assertion about a verse of this chapter.

    Named in the Hebrew or Greek somewhere in this chapter, under a form the English renders differently — the registry's Ludim against the translation's Ludites — so there is no word in the sentence to hang the link on.

    Reached by an assertion Atlas extracted from a verse of this chapter rather than by a name written in it — a pronoun, a title, or a participant the sentence carries without naming. This layer is model-read and measured at 88.6–90.3% precision, and it is kept separate from the names above for that reason.

    02 — Read alongside

    Where this is echoed

    Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 464 passages were voted onto 26 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.

    • 25Isaiah 54:15–17If anyone attacks you, it is not from Me; whoever assails you will fall before you.
    • 25Isaiah 35:4Say to those with anxious hearts: “Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance. With divine retribution He will come to save you.”
    • 6Acts 13:47For this is what the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, to bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
    • 25Jeremiah 50:33–34This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “The sons of Israel are oppressed, and the sons of Judah as well. All their captors hold them fast, refusing to release them.
    • 6Isaiah 42:6“I, the LORD, have called you for a righteous purpose, and I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and appoint you to be a covenant for the people and a light to the nations,
    • 25Romans 8:31–39What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
    • 23Isaiah 60:16You will drink the milk of nations and nurse at the breasts of royalty; you will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.
    • 15Isaiah 44:21Remember these things, O Jacob, for you are My servant, O Israel. I have made you, and you are My servant; O Israel, I will never forget you.
    • 15Psalms 103:13As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.
    • 23Micah 7:17They will lick the dust like a snake, like reptiles slithering on the ground. They will come trembling from their strongholds in the presence of the LORD our God; they will tremble in fear of You.
    • 6Luke 2:32a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to Your people Israel.”
    • 15Matthew 7:11So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!
    • 23Isaiah 60:10–11Foreigners will rebuild your walls, and their kings will serve you. Although I struck you in anger, yet in favor I will show you mercy.
    • 23Romans 10:11It is just as the Scripture says: “Anyone who believes in Him will never be put to shame.”
    • 25Zechariah 14:12And this will be the plague with which the LORD strikes all the peoples who have warred against Jerusalem: Their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths.
    • 6Psalms 98:2–3The LORD has proclaimed His salvation and revealed His righteousness to the nations.

    Onward

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