Isaiah 49 - Easy To Read Version

¹ All you people in faraway places,\par listen to me!\par Listen all of you people living on earth!\par The Lord called me to serve him\par before I was born.\par The Lord called my name\par while I was still in my mother’s body.\par

² \{The Lord uses me to speak for him.\}\par He uses me like a sharp sword,\par \{But he also protects me,\}\par hiding me in his hand.\par The Lord uses me like a sharp arrow,\par but he also hides me in his arrow bag.\par

³ \{The Lord\} told me,\par “Israel, you are my servant.\par I will do wonderful things with you.”\par

⁴ I said,\par “I worked hard for nothing.\par I wore myself out,\par but I did nothing useful.\par I used all my power,\par but I did not really do anything.\par So, the Lord must decide\par what to do with me.\par God must decide my reward.\par

⁵ The Lord made me in my mother’s body\par so I could be his servant,\par and lead Jacob and Israel back to him.\par The Lord will honor me.\par I will get my strength from my God.”\par

⁶ “You are a very important servant to me.\par The people of Israel are prisoners,\par but they will be brought back to me.\par Jacob’s family groups will come back to me.\par But, you have another job;\par it is even more important than this!\par I will make you a light for all nations.\par You will be my way to save\par all the people on earth.”\par

⁷ The Lord, the Holy One of Israel,\par the Protector of Israel says,\par “My Servant is humble.\par He serves rulers.\par But people hate him.\par But, kings will see him,\par and stand \{to honor him\}.\par Great leaders will bow down to him.”\par

⁸ The Lord says,\par “There will be a special time\par when I show my kindness.\par At that time I will answer your prayers.\par There will be a special day\par when I save you.\par At that time I will help you.\par I will protect you.\par And you will be the proof that I have\par an Agreement with the people.\par The country is destroyed now,\par but you will give that land back\par to the people who own it.\par

⁹ You will tell the prisoners,\par ‘Come out of your prison!’\par You will tell the people that are in darkness,\par ‘Come out of the dark!’\par The people will eat while traveling.\par They will have food even on empty hills.\par

¹⁰ The people will not be hungry.\par They will not be thirsty.\par The hot sun and wind will not hurt them.\par Why? Because God comforts them\par and God will lead them.\par He will lead them near springs of water.\par

¹¹ “I will make a road for my people.\par The mountains will be made flat,\par and the low roads will be raised.\par

¹² “Look! People are coming to me\par from faraway places.\par People are coming to me\par from the north and from the west.\par People are coming to me\par from Aswan in Egypt.”\par

¹³ Heavens and Earth, be happy!\par Mountains, shout with joy!\par Why? Because the Lord comforts his people.\par The Lord is good to his poor people.\par

¹⁴ But now Zion {\cf2\super [415]} says,\par “The Lord left me.\par My Master forgot me.”\par

¹⁵ \{But I say\},\par “Can a woman forget her baby? No!\par Can a woman forget the child\par that came from her body?\par No! A woman can’t forget her children.\par And I (the Lord) can’t forget you.\par

¹⁶ Look, I have carved your name\par into my hand.\par I think about you all the time! {\cf2\super [416]} \par

¹⁷ Your children will come back to you.\par People defeated you,\par but those people will leave you alone.”\par

¹⁸ Look up! Look all around you!\par All of your children are gathering together and coming to you.\par

¹⁹ You are destroyed and defeated now.\par Your land is useless.\par But after a short time, you will have\par many people in your land.\par And the people that destroyed you\par will be far, far away.\par

²⁰ You were sad for the children you lost,\par but those children will tell you,\par ‘This place is too small!\par Give us a bigger place to live!’\par

²¹ Then you will say to yourself,\par ‘Who gave me all these children?\par This is very good!\par I was sad and lonely.\par I was defeated and away from my people.\par So who gave me these children?\par Look, I was left alone.\par Where did all these children come from?’”\par

²² The Lord my Master says,\par “Look, I will wave my hand to the nations.\par I will raise my flag for all people to see.\par Then they will bring your children to you.\par Those people will carry your children\par on their shoulders,\par and they will hold them in their arms.\par

²³ Kings will be teachers to your children.\par Kings’ daughters will care for them.\par Those kings and their daughters\par will bow down to you.\par They will kiss the dirt at your feet.\par Then you will know\par that I am the Lord.\par Then you will know\par that any person who trusts in me\par will not be disappointed.”\par

²⁴ When a strong soldier wins wealth in war,\par you can’t take that wealth from him.\par When a powerful soldier guards a prisoner,\par that prisoner can’t escape.\par

²⁵ But the Lord says,\par “The prisoners will escape.\par Someone will take those prisoners\par away from the strong soldier.\par \{How will this happen?\}\par I will fight your fights.\par I will save your children.\par

²⁶ “Those people hurt you.\par But I will force those people\par to eat their own bodies.\par Their own blood will be\par the wine that makes them drunk.\par Then every person will know that\par the Lord saved you.\par All people will know that\par the Powerful One of Jacob saved you.”\par