Isaiah 49:1-13

Salvation Reaches to the End of the Earth

1 Listen to Me, O ¹islands, And pay attention, you peoples from afar. ²The LORD called Me from the womb; From the body of My mother He named * Me.

2 He has made My ³mouth like a sharp sword, In the ⁴shadow of His hand He has concealed Me; And He has also made Me a select ⁵arrow, He has hidden Me in His quiver.

3 He said to Me, "⁶You are My Servant, Israel, ⁷In Whom I will show My glory."

4 But I said, "I have ⁸toiled in vain, I have spent My strength for nothing and vanity; Yet surely the justice due to Me is with the LORD, And My ⁹reward with My God."

5 And now says ¹⁰the LORD, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, To bring Jacob back to Him, so that ¹¹Israel might be gathered to Him (For I am ¹²honored in the sight of the LORD, And My God is My ¹³strength ),

6 He says, "It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the ¹⁴preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a ¹⁵light of the nations So that My salvation may reach to the ¹⁶end of the earth."

7 Thus says the LORD, the ¹⁷Redeemer of Israel and its Holy One, To the ¹⁸despised One, To the One abhorred by the nation, To the Servant of rulers, "¹⁹Kings will see and arise, Princes will also ²⁰bow down, Because of the LORD who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen You."

8 Thus says the LORD, "In a ²¹favorable time I have answered You, And in a day of salvation I have helped You; And I will ²²keep You and ²³give You for a covenant of the people, To ²⁴restore the land, to make them inherit the desolate heritages;

9 Saying to those who are ²⁵bound, 'Go forth,' To those who are in darkness, 'Show yourselves.' Along the roads they will feed, And their pasture will be on all ²⁶bare heights.

10 "They will ²⁷not hunger or thirst, Nor will the scorching ²⁸heat or sun strike them down; For ²⁹He who has compassion on them will ³⁰lead them And will guide them to ³¹springs of water.

11 "I will make all ³²My mountains a road, And My ³³highways will be raised up.

12 "Behold, these will come ³⁴from afar; And lo, these will come from the ³⁵north and from the west, And these from the land of Sinim."

13 ³⁶Shout for joy, O heavens! And rejoice, O earth! Break forth into joyful shouting, O mountains! For the ³⁷LORD has comforted His people And will ³⁸have compassion on His afflicted.

Isaiah 49:1-13 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 49

This is a prophecy concerning Christ, and redemption by him; and of the enlargement of the church in the latter day, by the conversion of Jews and Gentiles; which the isles, and people afar off, are exhorted to listen and hearken to, delivered out by the prophet, in the person of Christ; who gives an account of his call to his office, and the time of it; of what the Lord did for him, and said unto him, Isa 49:1-3, then follows a complaint of his labouring in vain, and a correction of it, Isa 49:4 and a further declaration of his call and appointment to office, and of each of the parts of the work assigned him, with encouragement to it, Isa 49:5,6. Christ is again represented under discouraging circumstances, as despised of men, abhorred by the nation, and a servant of rulers; who is encouraged by divine promises that kings should rise up before him, and worship him; that God would be faithful to his promise to him, and yet choose him, hear and help him, at a proper time; preserve him, and give him for a covenant to the people, to the establishment of the earth, and making it habitable, Isa 49:7,8 for the release of prisoners, and feeding, leading, and guiding them, and removing all difficulties out of the way, Isa 49:9-11 when the calling of the Gentiles is foretold, which would occasion great joy in the world, Isa 49:12,13 yet the church is introduced as complaining that she was forsaken of God, Isa 49:14 which is denied, and the contrary affirmed; being dear to the Lord as a sucking child to its mother, and more so; never forgotten by him, and always under his care, Isa 49:16, and, for her comfort, she is assured that those who had destroyed and made her waste should be removed; and that she should have converts that would be an ornament to her, and these numerous, insomuch that the place of their habitation would be too strait and narrow, and which would be matter of astonishment to her, Isa 49:17-21 and, besides those that would be converted in the land of Judea, there would be great numbers in the Gentile world converted by the power of God accompanying his Gospel, set up as a standard there, kings and queens countenancing and encouraging the interest of Christ, Isa 49:22,23 and yet still it is questioned whether the church should be delivered from her oppressors, Isa 49:24 to which it is answered, that she should be delivered, and her persecutors destroyed; by which it would be known that the Lord is the Redeemer and Saviour of his people, Isa 49:25,26.

Cross References

• 1. Isaiah 42:4
• 2. Isaiah 44:2, 24; Isaiah 46:3; Jeremiah 1:5
• 3. Isaiah 11:4; Hebrews 4:12; Revelation 1:16; Revelation 2:12, 16
• 4. Isaiah 51:16
• 5. Habakkuk 3:11
• 6. Zechariah 3:8
• 7. Isaiah 44:23
• 8. Isaiah 65:23
• 9. Isaiah 35:4; Isaiah 59:18
• 10. Isaiah 44:2
• 11. Isaiah 11:12; Isaiah 27:12
• 12. Isaiah 43:4
• 13. Isaiah 12:2
• 14. Psalms 37:28; Psalms 97:10
• 15. Isaiah 42:6; Isaiah 51:4; Luke 2:32; Acts 13:47; Acts 26:23
• 16. Isaiah 48:20
• 17. Isaiah 48:17
• 18. Psalms 22:6-8; Psalms 69:7-9; Isaiah 53:3
• 19. Isaiah 52:15
• 20. Isaiah 19:21, 23; Isaiah 27:13; Isaiah 66:23
• 21. Psalms 69:13; 2 Corinthians 6:2
• 22. Isaiah 26:3; Isaiah 27:3; Isaiah 42:6
• 23. Isaiah 42:6
• 24. Isaiah 44:26
• 25. Isaiah 42:7; Isaiah 61:1; Luke 4:18
• 26. Isaiah 41:18
• 27. Isaiah 33:16; Isaiah 48:21; Revelation 7:16
• 28. Psalms 121:6
• 29. Isaiah 14:1
• 30. Psalms 23:2; Isaiah 40:11
• 31. Isaiah 35:7; Isaiah 41:17
• 32. Isaiah 40:4
• 33. Isaiah 11:16; Isaiah 19:23; Isaiah 35:8; Isaiah 62:10
• 34. Isaiah 49:1; Isaiah 60:4
• 35. Isaiah 43:5, 6
• 36. Isaiah 44:23
• 37. Isaiah 40:1; Isaiah 51:3, 12
• 38. Is 54:7, 8, 10

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "inward parts"
• [b]. Or "sharpened"
• [c]. Or "glorify Myself"
• [d]. Lit "light"
• [e]. Or "to"
• [f]. Lit "be"
• [g]. Lit "establish"