UNROLL
Early morning in a dewy spring meadow in the Judean hills: a ewe standing over her small lamb as it nurses, the sky above pale and calm.

The Servant and Zion

Isaiah 49

Have you ever felt forgotten?

26 verses≈ 6 minBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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Where we are

  1. 1–5Zion on trialJudah’s sin, the mountain raised, the vineyard’s song
  2. 6Holy, holy, holyIsaiah’s call, in the year King Uzziah died (about 740 BC)
  3. 7–12ImmanuelAhaz’s fear, the sign, the Child, the shoot of Jesse
  4. 13–23The nations judgedBabylon to Tyre: the LORD is Judge of all the earth
  5. 24–27The whole earthThe earth laid waste, and death swallowed up
  6. 28–35Woe and a KingEgypt’s help or the LORD’s, and the King in His beauty
  7. 36–39Hezekiah’s crisisSennacherib, 701 BC: the prayer, the sickness, the envoys
  8. 40–48Comfort My peopleTo the exiles ahead: Cyrus, the idols, the Servant
  9. 49–55The Servant and ZionPierced for our transgressions; Zion restoredChapter 49
  10. 56–66New heavens and earthA house of prayer, the Anointed One, all things new

The Servant and Light to the Gentiles

The Servant

Listen 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.

Tap to go deeper: meaning, history and related Scripture

The Servant
In deep shadow, one shaft of light falls on a leather quiver lying on dark wool, a single polished arrow with a bright bronze head drawn half out of it.

He 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.

The Servant

He said to Me, “You are My Servant, Israel,

in whom I will display My glory.”

The Servant

But 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.”

The Servant

And 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—

The Servant

He 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.”

God

Thus 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.”

Question

Quick question

Paul and Barnabas quote 49:6 at Pisidian Antioch (Acts 13:47). Read verses 5–6 again before you answer.

In Acts 13:47, what do Paul and Barnabas say the Lord commanded them to be?

God

This 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,

God
Morning on bare, stony hills where fresh green grass has sprung up after rain, sheep spreading out along a path to graze.

to 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.

God
God

They 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.

God
A raised road winding over a high mountain pass at morning, small groups of travelers with donkeys and bundles coming along it from far away.

I will turn all My mountains into roads,

and My highways will be raised up.

Behold, they will come from far away,

from the north and from the west,

and from the land of Aswan.”

Isaiah
Morning light breaking over a range of mountains, pouring down their slopes into the valleys as mist lifts.

Shout 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.

0:11

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

Isaiah

But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me;

the Lord has forgotten me!”

God

“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!

Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands;

your walls are ever before Me.

Isaiah 49:15–16

God
Early morning on the road up to broken Jerusalem: men carrying building stones and timber on their shoulders and on donkeys toward the gaps in the wall, seen from behind.

Your builders hasten back;

your destroyers and wreckers depart from you.

Lift 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.

God

For 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.

Yet the children of your bereavement

will say in your hearing,

‘This place is too small for us;

make room for us to live here.’

God

Then 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?’”

God
Dawn on a long road toward the Judean hills: travelers from many lands carrying small children in their arms and on their shoulders, a plain cloth banner on a pole on the hilltop ahead.

This 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.

God

Kings 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.”

Isaiah

Can the plunder be snatched from the mighty,

or the captives of a tyrant be delivered?

God

Indeed, 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.

God

I 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.”

Pray

Pray

Lord, thank You for Your Servant, a light for the nations. When I feel forgotten, let me hear You say, “I will not forget you!” Teach me to hope in You, for those who hope in You will never be put to shame. Amen.

You’ve experienced

Isaiah 49

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A verse to carry with you

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

Isaiah 49:15–16

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