New Living Translation NLT
The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
1 Listen 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.
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Coastlands, listen to me; listen, you peoples far away: ADONAI called me from the womb; before I was born, he had spoken my name.
2 He 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.
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He has made my mouth like a sharp sword while hiding me in the shadow of his hand; he has made me like a sharpened arrow while concealing me in his quiver.
3 He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, and you will bring me glory.”
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He said to me, "You are my servant, Isra'el, through whom I will show my glory."
4 I 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.”
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But I said, "I have toiled in vain, spent my strength for nothing, futility." Yet my cause is with ADONAI, my reward is with my God.
5 And 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.
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So now ADONAI says - he formed me in the womb to be his servant, to bring Ya'akov back to him, to have Isra'el gathered to him, so that I will be honored in the sight of ADONAI, my God having become my strength
6 He 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.”
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he has said, "It is not enough that you are merely my servant to raise up the tribes of Ya'akov and restore the offspring of Isra'el. I will also make you a light to the nations, so my salvation can spread to the ends of the earth."
7 The 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.”
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Here is what ADONAI, the Redeemer of Isra'el, his Holy One, says to the one despised, whom the nations detest, to the servant of tyrants: "When kings see you, they will stand up; princes too will prostrate themselves, because of ADONAI, who is faithful, the Holy One of Isra'el, who has chosen you."
8 This 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.
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Here is what ADONAI says: "At the time when I choose, I will answer you; on the day of salvation, I will help you. I have preserved you, and I have appointed you to be the covenant for a people, to restore the land and distribute again its ruined inheritances to their owners,
9 I 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.
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to say to the prisoners, 'Come out!' to those in darkness, 'Show yourselves!' They will feed along the paths, and all the high hills will be their pastures.
10 They 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.
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They will be neither hungry nor thirsty; neither scorching wind nor sun will strike them; for he who has mercy on them will lead them and guide them to springs of water.
11 And I will make my mountains into level paths for them. The highways will be raised above the valleys.
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I will turn all my mountains into a road, my highways will be raised up.
12 See, my people will return from far away, from lands to the north and west, and from as far south as Egypt. ”
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There they come, some from far away, some from the north, some from the west, and some from the land of Sinim."
13 Sing 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.
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Sing, heaven! Rejoice, earth! Break out in song, you mountains! For ADONAI is comforting his people, having mercy on his own who have suffered.
14 Yet Jerusalem says, “The LORD has deserted us; the Lord has forgotten us.”
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"But Tziyon says, 'ADONAI has abandoned me, Adonai has forgotten me.'
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!
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Can a woman forget her child at the breast, not show pity on the child from her womb? Even if these were to forget, I would not forget you.
16 See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands. Always in my mind is a picture of Jerusalem’s walls in ruins.
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I have engraved you on the palms of my hands, your walls are always before me."
17 Soon your descendants will come back, and all who are trying to destroy you will go away.
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Your children are coming quickly, your destroyers and plunderers are leaving and going.
18 Look 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.
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Raise your eyes, and look around: they are all gathering and coming to you. ADONAI swears: "As surely as I am alive, you will wear them all like jewels, adorn yourself with them like a bride."
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.
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For your desolate places and ruins and your devastated land will be too cramped for those living in it; your devourers will be far away.
20 The generations born in exile will return and say, ‘We need more room! It’s crowded here!’
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The day will come when the children born when you were mourning will say to you, "This place is too cramped for me! Give me room, so I can live!"
21 Then 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?’”
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Then you will ask yourself, "Who fathered these for me? I've been mourning my children, alone, as an exile, wandering to and fro; so who has raised these? I was left alone, so where have these come from?"
22 This 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.
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Adonai ELOHIM answers: "I am beckoning to the nations, raising my banner for the peoples. They will bring your sons in their arms and carry your daughters on their shoulders.
23 Kings 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.”
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Kings will be your foster-fathers, their princesses your nurses. They will bow to you, face toward the earth, and lick the dust on your feet. Then you will know that I am ADONAI - those who wait for me will not be sorry."
24 Who can snatch the plunder of war from the hands of a warrior? Who can demand that a tyrant let his captives go?
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But can booty be wrested from a warrior? Can a victor's captives be freed?
25 But 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.
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Here is ADONAI's answer: "Even a warrior's captives will be snatched away, and the booty of the fearful will be freed. I will fight those who fight you, and I will save your children.
26 I 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. ”
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I will feed those oppressing you with their own flesh; they will be drunk on their own blood as with wine. Then everyone will know that I, ADONAI, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Ya'akov."
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.