Salvation Reaches to the End of the Earth

1Listen to Me, O islands,
         And pay attention, you peoples from afar.
         The LORD called Me from the womb;
         From the body of My mother He named Me.

2He has made My mouth like a sharp sword,
         In the shadow of His hand He has concealed Me;
         And He has also made Me a select arrow,
         He has hidden Me in His quiver.

3He said to Me, “You are My Servant, Israel,
         In Whom I will show My glory.”

4But I said, “I have toiled in vain,
         I have spent My strength for nothing and vanity;
         Yet surely the justice due to Me is with the LORD,
         And My reward with My God.”

5And now says the LORD, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant,
         To bring Jacob back to Him, so that Israel might be gathered to Him
         (For I am honored in the sight of the LORD,
         And My God is My strength),

6He says, “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant
         To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel;
         I will also make You a light of the nations
         So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

7Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel and its Holy One,
         To the despised One,
         To the One abhorred by the nation,
         To the Servant of rulers,
         “Kings will see and arise,
         Princes will also bow down,
         Because of the LORD who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen You.”

8Thus says the LORD,
         “In a favorable time I have answered You,
         And in a day of salvation I have helped You;
         And I will keep You and give You for a covenant of the people,
         To restore the land, to make them inherit the desolate heritages;

9Saying to those who are bound, ‘Go forth,’
         To those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’
         Along the roads they will feed,
         And their pasture will be on all bare heights.

10“They will not hunger or thirst,
         Nor will the scorching heat or sun strike them down;
         For He who has compassion on them will lead them
         And will guide them to springs of water.

11“I will make all My mountains a road,
         And My highways will be raised up.

12“Behold, these will come from afar;
         And lo, these will come from the north and from the west,
         And these from the land of Sinim.”

13Shout for joy, O heavens! And rejoice, O earth!
         Break forth into joyful shouting, O mountains!
         For the LORD has comforted His people
         And will have compassion on His afflicted.

Promise to Zion

14But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me,
         And the Lord has forgotten me.”

15“Can a woman forget her nursing child
         And have no compassion on the son of her womb?
         Even these may forget, but I will not forget you.

16“Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands;
         Your walls are continually before Me.

17“Your builders hurry;
         Your destroyers and devastators
         Will depart from you.

18“Lift up your eyes and look around;
         All of them gather together, they come to you.
         As I live,” declares the LORD,
         “You will surely put on all of them as jewels and bind them on as a bride.

19“For your waste and desolate places and your destroyed land—
         Surely now you will be too cramped for the inhabitants,
         And those who swallowed you will be far away.

20“The children of whom you were bereaved will yet say in your ears,
         ‘The place is too cramped for me;
         Make room for me that I may live here.’

21“Then you will say in your heart,
         ‘Who has begotten these for me,
         Since I have been bereaved of my children
         And am barren, an exile and a wanderer?
         And who has reared these?
         Behold, I was left alone;
         From where did these come?’”

      22Thus says the Lord GOD,
         “Behold, I will lift up My hand to the nations
         And set up My standard to the peoples;
         And they will bring your sons in their bosom,
         And your daughters will be carried on their shoulders.

23“Kings will be your guardians,
         And their princesses your nurses.
         They will bow down to you with their faces to the earth
         And lick the dust of your feet;
         And you will know that I am the LORD;
         Those who hopefully wait for Me will not be put to shame.

24“Can the prey be taken from the mighty man,
         Or the captives of a tyrant be rescued?”

25Surely, thus says the LORD,
         “Even the captives of the mighty man will be taken away,
         And the prey of the tyrant will be rescued;
         For I will contend with the one who contends with you,
         And I will save your sons.

26“I will feed your oppressors with their own flesh,
         And they will become drunk with their own blood as with sweet wine;
         And all flesh will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior
         And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”

NASB ©1995

American Standard Version
Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye peoples, from far: Jehovah hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name:

Douay-Rheims Bible
GIVE ear, ye islands, and hearken, ye people from afar. The Lord hath called me from the womb, from the bowels of my mother he hath been mindful of my name.

Darby Bible Translation
Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye peoples from afar. Jehovah hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name.

English Revised Version
Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye peoples, from far: the LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name:

Webster's Bible Translation
Listen to me, O Isles; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name.

World English Bible
Listen, islands, to me; and listen, you peoples, from far: Yahweh has called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother has he made mention of my name:

Young's Literal Translation
Hearken, O isles, unto me, And attend, O peoples, from afar, Jehovah from the womb hath called me, From the bowels of my mother He hath made mention of my name.September 20. "They Shall not be Ashamed that Wait" (Isa. Xlix. 23).
"They shall not be ashamed that wait" (Isa. xlix. 23). Often He calls us aside from our work for a season and bids us be still and learn ere we go forth again to minister. Especially is this so when there has been some serious break, some sudden failure and some radical defect in our work. There is no time lost in such waiting hours. Fleeing from his enemies the ancient knight found that his horse needed to be reshod. Prudence seemed to urge him without delay, but higher wisdom taught him to halt …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

The Mountain Road
And I will make all My mountains a way, and My highways shall be exalted.'--ISAIAH xlix. 11. This grand prophecy is far too wide to be exhausted by the return of the exiles. There gleamed through it the wider redemption and the true return of the real captives. The previous promises all find their fulfilment in the experiences of the soul on its journey back to God. Here we have two characteristics of that journey. I. The Path through the mountains. 'My mountains.' That is the claim that all …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Writing on God's Hands
'Behold! I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands; thy walls are continually before Me.'--ISAIAH xlix. 16. In the preceding context we have the infinitely tender and beautiful words: 'Zion hath said, The Lord hath forsaken me. Can a woman forget her sucking child? ... yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.' There is more than a mother's love in the Father's heart. But wonderful in their revelation of God, and mighty to strengthen, calm, and comfort, as these transcendent words are, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Feeding in the Ways
'They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places.' ISAIAH xlix. 9. This is part of the prophet's glowing description of the return of the Captives, under the figure of a flock fed by a strong shepherd. We have often seen, I suppose, a flock of sheep driven along a road, some of them hastily trying to snatch a mouthful from the dusty grass by the wayside. Little can they get there; they have to wait until they reach some green pasture in which they can be folded. This …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

A Clearing-Up Storm in the Realm
(Revelation, Chapters vi.-viii.) "God Almighty! King of nations! earth Thy footstool, heaven Thy throne! Thine the greatness, power, and glory, Thine the kingdom, Lord, alone! Life and death are in Thy keeping, and Thy will ordaineth all: From the armies of Thy heavens to an unseen insect's fall. "Reigning, guiding, all-commanding, ruling myriad worlds of light; Now exalting, now abasing, none can stay Thy hand of might! Working all things by Thy power, by the counsel of Thy will. Thou art God! …
by S. D. Gordon—Quiet Talks on the Crowned Christ of Revelation

Christ in the Covenant
First, we shall examine this property; secondly, we shall notice the purpose for which it was conveyed to us; and thirdly, we shall give one precept, which may well be affixed upon so great a blessing as this, and is indeed an inference from it. I. In the first place, then, here is a GREAT POSSESSION--Jesus Christ by the covenant is the property of every believer. By this we must understand Jesus Christ in many different senses; and we will begin, first of all, by declaring that Jesus Christ is ours, …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 2: 1856

Twentieth Day for God's Spirit on the Heathen
WHAT TO PRAY.--For God's Spirit on the Heathen "Behold, these shall come from far; and these from the land of Sinim."--ISA. xlix. 12. "Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall haste to stretch out her hands to God."--PS. lxviii. 31. "I the Lord will hasten it in His time."--ISA. lx. 22. Pray for the heathen, who are yet without the word. Think of China, with her three hundred millions--a million a month dying without Christ. Think of Dark Africa, with its two hundred millions. Think …
Andrew Murray—The Ministry of Intercession

Sixteenth Day for the Power of the Holy Spirit in Our Sabbath Schools
WHAT TO PRAY.--For the Power of the Holy Spirit in our Sabbath Schools "Thus saith the Lord, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children."--ISA. xlix. 25. Every part of the work of God's Church is His work. He must do it. Prayer is the confession that He will, the surrender of ourselves into His hands to let Him, work in us and through us. Pray for the hundreds …
Andrew Murray—The Ministry of Intercession

A Preacher of Righteousness
"Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered?" "Thus saith the Lord, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered." "They shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in graven images, that say to the molten images, Ye are our gods." Isaiah 49:24, 25; 42:17. …
Ellen Gould White—The Story of Prophets and Kings

The Quotation in Matt. Ii. 6.
Several interpreters, Paulus especially, have asserted that the interpretation of Micah which is here given, was that of the Sanhedrim only, and not of the Evangelist, who merely recorded what happened and was said. But this assertion is at once refuted when we consider the object which Matthew has in view in his entire representation of the early life of Jesus. His object in recording the early life of Jesus is not like that of Luke, viz., to communicate historical information to his readers. …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

"Sing, O Heavens; and be Joyful, O Earth; for the Lord Hath Comforted his People. " -- Isaiah 49:13.
"For the Lord shall comfort Zion; He will comfort all her waste places; and He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody." -- Isaiah 51:3. "Sing, O Heavens; and be joyful, O Earth; for the Lord hath comforted his people." -- Isaiah 49:13. A living, loving, lasting word, My listening ear believing heard, While bending down in prayer; Like a sweet breeze that none can stay, It passed …
Miss A. L. Waring—Hymns and Meditations

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