Isaiah 49 from Scroll 1Q Isaiah^a

1 Listen, islands, to me.

Listen, you peoples, from afar:

Yahweh has called me from the womb;

from the inside of my mother he has mentioned my name.

2 He has made my mouth like a sharp sword.

He has hidden me in the shadow of his hand hands.

He has made me a polished shaft.

He has kept me close in his quiver.

3 He said to me, “You are my servant;

Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”

4 But I said, “I have labored in vain.

I have spent my strength in vain for nothing;

yet surely the justice due to me is with Yahweh,

and my reward with my God.”

 

5 Now Yahweh says, he who formed me you from the womb to be his servant,

to bring Jacob again to him,

and to gather Israel to him,

for I am honorable in Yahweh’s eyes,

and my God has become my strength.

6 Indeed, he says, “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob Israel,

and to restore the preserved of Israel Jacob?

I will also give you as a light to the nations,

that you may be my salvation to the end of the earth.”

7 Yahweh, the your Redeemer, of Israel, and his Holy One,

says to him whom man despises, to him whom the nation abhors, to a servant of rulers:

“Kings shall see and rise up;

and princes, and they shall worship;

because of Yahweh who is faithful, even the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

 

8 Yahweh says, “In an acceptable time I have answered will answer you,

and in a day of salvation I have helped will help you.

I will preserve you, and give you for a covenant of the people,

to raise up the land, to make them inherit the desolate heritage,

9 saying to those who are bound, ‘Come out!’;

And to those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves!’

“They shall feed along the paths all the hills,

and their pasture shall be on all treeless heights.

10 They shall not hunger nor thirst;

neither shall the heat nor sun strike them:

for he who has mercy on them will lead them.

He will guide them by springs of water.

11 I will make all my mountains a road,

and my highways shall be exalted.

12 Behold, these shall come from afar;

and behold, these from the north and from the west;

and these from the land of Sinim.”

13 Sing, heavens; and be joyful, earth;

and break out into singing, mountains:

for Yahweh has comforted his people,

and will have compassion on his afflicted.

 

14 But Zion said, “Yahweh has forsaken me,

and the Lord and my God has forgotten me.”

15 “Can a woman forget her nursing child,

that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb?

Yes, these may forget,

yet I will not forget you!

16 Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.

And your walls are continually before me.

17 Your children hurry.

Your destroyers and those who devastated you will leave you.

18 Lift up your eyes all around, and see:

all these gather themselves together, and come to you.

As I live,” says Yahweh, “you shall surely clothe yourself with them all as with an ornament,

and dress yourself with them, like a bride.

19 “For, as for your waste and your desolate places,

and your land that has been destroyed,

surely now that land will be too small for the inhabitants,

and those who swallowed you up will be far away.

20 The children of your bereavement will say in your ears,

‘This place is too small for me.

Give me a place to live in.’

21 Then you will say in your heart, ‘Who has conceived these for me, since I have been bereaved of my children,

and am solitary, an exile, and wandering back and forth?

And who has brought these up?

Behold, I was left alone. Where were these?’ ”

 

22 For thus says the Lord Yahweh, “Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations,

and lift up my banner to the peoples;

and they shall bring your sons in their bosom,

and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.

23 Kings shall be your foster fathers,

and their queens your nursing mothers.

They will bow down to you with their faces to the earth,

and lick the dust of your feet;

Then you will know that I am Yahweh;

and those who wait for me shall not be disappointed.”

 

24 Shall the plunder be taken from the mighty,

or the lawful captives of the fierce be delivered?

25 But Yahweh says, “Even the captives those taken of the mighty shall be taken away,

and the plunder retrieved from and the captives of the fierce retrieved;

for I will contend with him who contends with you,

and I will save your children.

26 I will feed those who oppress you with their own flesh;

and they will be drunk on their own blood, as with sweet wine.

Then all flesh shall know that I, Yahweh, am your Savior,

and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”

 

Isaiah 49 from Scroll 1Q Isaiah^b

1 Listen, islands, to me.

Listen, you peoples, from afar:

Yahweh has called me from the womb;

from the inside of my mother he has mentioned my name.

2 He has made my mouth like a sharp sword.

He has hidden me in the shadow of his hand.

He has made me a polished shaft.

He has kept me close in his quiver.

3 He said to me, “You are my servant;

Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”

4 But I said, “I have labored in vain.

I have spent my strength in vain for nothing;

yet surely the justice due to me is with Yahweh,

and my reward with my God.”

 

5 Now Yahweh says this: he who formed me from the womb to be his servant,

to bring Jacob again to him,

and to gather Israel to him,

for I am honorable in Yahweh’s eyes,

and my God has become my strength.

6 Indeed, he says, “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob,

and to restore the preserved of Israel?

I will also give you as a light to the nations,

that you may be my salvation to the end of the earth.”

7 The Lord Yahweh, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One,

says to him whom man despises, to him whom the nation abhors, to a servant of rulers:

“Kings shall see and rise up;

princes, and they shall worship;

because of Yahweh who is faithful, even the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

 

8 Yahweh says, “In an acceptable time I have answered you,

and in a day of salvation I have helped you.

I will preserve you, and give you for a covenant of the people,

to raise up the land, to make them inherit the desolate heritage,

9 saying to those who are bound, ‘Come out!’;

to those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves!’

“They shall feed along the paths,

and their pasture shall be on all treeless heights.

10 They shall not hunger nor thirst;

neither shall the heat nor sun strike them:

for he who has mercy on them will lead them.

He will guide them by springs of water.

11 I will make all my mountains a road,

and my highways shall be exalted.

12 Behold, these shall come from afar;

and behold, these from the north and from the west;

and these from the land of Sinim.”

13 Sing, heavens; and be joyful, earth;

and break out into singing, mountains:

for Yahweh has comforted his people,

and will have compassion on his afflicted. 

[..]

15 “Can a woman forget her nursing child,

that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb?

Yes, these may forget,

yet I will not forget you!

 

Isaiah 49 from Scroll 4Q56 Isaiah^b

21 Then you will say in your heart, ‘Who has conceived these for me, since I have been bereaved of my children,

and am solitary, an exile, and wandering back and forth?

Who has brought these up?

Behold, I was left alone. Where were these?’ ”

 

22 Thus says the Lord Yahweh, “Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations,

and lift up my banner to the peoples;

and they shall bring your sons in their bosom,

and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.

23 Kings shall be your foster fathers,

and their queens your nursing mothers.

They will bow down to you with their faces to the earth,

and lick the dust of your feet;

Then you will know that I am Yahweh;

and those who wait for me shall not be disappointed.”

 

Isaiah 49 from Scroll 4Q57 Isaiah^c

22 Thus says the Lord Yahweh, “Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations,

and lift up my banner to the peoples;

and they shall bring your sons in their bosom,

and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.

23 Kings shall be your foster fathers,

and their queens your nursing mothers.

They will bow down to you with their faces to the earth,

and lick the dust of your feet;

Then you will know that I am Yahweh;

and those who wait for me shall not be disappointed.”

 

Isaiah 49 from Scroll 4Q58 Isaiah^d

1 Listen, islands, to me.[1]

Listen, you peoples, from afar:

Yahweh has called me from the womb;

from the inside of my mother he has mentioned my name.

2 He has made my mouth like a sharp sword.

He has hidden me in the shadow of his hand.

He has made me a polished shaft.

He has kept me close in his quiver.

[..]

4 But I said, “I have labored in vain.

I have spent my strength in vain for nothing;

yet surely the justice due to me is with Yahweh,

and my reward with Yahweh my God.”

 

5 Now Yahweh says, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant,

to bring Jacob again to him,

and to gather Israel to him,

for I am honorable in Yahweh’s eyes,

and my God has become my strength.

6 Indeed, he says, “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob,

and to restore the preserved of Israel?

I will also give you as a light to the nations,

that you may be my salvation to the end of the earth.”

7 Yahweh, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One,

says to him whom man despises, to him whom the nation abhors, to a servant of rulers:

“Kings shall see and rise up;

princes, and they shall worship;

because of Yahweh who is faithful, even the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

 

8 Yahweh says, “In an acceptable time I have answered you,

and in a day of salvation I have helped you.

I will preserve you, and give you for a covenant of the people,

to raise up the land, to make them inherit the desolate heritage,

9 saying to those who are bound, ‘Come out!’;

to those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves!’

“They shall feed along the paths,

and their pasture shall be on all treeless heights.

10 They shall not hunger nor thirst;

neither shall the heat nor sun strike them:

for he who has mercy on them will lead them.

He will guide them by springs of water.

11 I will make all my mountains a road,

and my highways shall be exalted.

12 Behold, these shall come from afar;

and behold, these from the north and from the west;

and these from the land of Sinim.”

13 Sing, heavens; and be joyful, earth;

and break out into singing, mountains:

for Yahweh has comforted his people,

and will have compassion on his afflicted.

 

14 But Zion said, “Yahweh has forsaken me,

and the Lord has forgotten me.”

15 “Can a woman forget her nursing child,

that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb?

Yes, these may forget,

yet I will not forget you!