Isa 9:6-7, Isa 49 | ESV | STEP | For to us a child is born , to us a son is given ; and the government shall be upon his shoulder , and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor , Mighty God , Everlasting Father , Prince of Peace .

6 ^aFor to us a child is born,
to us ^ba son is given;
^cand the government shall be ^dupon ^{▼▼Or is upon} his shoulder,
and his name shall be called ^{▼▼Or is called}
Wonderful ^gCounselor, ^hMighty God,
ⁱEverlasting ^jFather, Prince of ^kPeace.
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace
^lthere will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
^mwith justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
ⁿThe zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

Isaiah 49

The Servant of the Lord

1 Listen to me, ^oO coastlands,
and give attention, you peoples ^pfrom afar.
^qThe Lord called me from the womb,
from the body of my mother he named my name.
2 ^rHe made my mouth like a sharp sword;
^sin the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me a polished arrow;
in his quiver he hid me away.
3 And he said to me, “You are my servant,
Israel, ^tin whom I will be glorified.” ^{▼▼Or I will display my beauty}
4 ^vBut I said, “I have labored in vain;
I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;
yet surely my right is with the Lord,
and my recompense with my God.”
5 ^wAnd now the Lord says,
he ^xwho formed me from the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him;
and that Israel might be gathered to him—
for ^yI am honored in the eyes of the Lord,
and my God has become my strength—
6 he says:
“It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to bring back the preserved of Israel;
^zI will make you ^aaas a light for the nations,
that ^abmy salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
7 Thus says the Lord,
^acthe Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One,
^adto one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation,
the servant of rulers:
^ae“Kings shall see and arise;
princes, and they shall prostrate themselves;
because of the Lord, who is faithful,
the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

The Restoration of Israel

8 Thus says the Lord:
^af“In a ^agtime of favor I have answered you;
in a day of salvation I have helped you;
I will keep you ^ahand give you
as a covenant to the people,
to establish the land,
^aito apportion the desolate heritages,
9 ^ajsaying to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’
to those who are in darkness, ‘Appear.’
^akThey shall feed along the ways;
on all bare heights shall be their pasture;
10 ^althey shall not hunger or thirst,
neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them,
for he who has pity on them ^amwill lead them,
and by springs of water will guide them.
11 ^anAnd I will make all my mountains a road,
and my highways shall be raised up.
12 ^aoBehold, these shall come from afar,
and behold, ^apthese from the north and from the west, ^{▼▼Hebrew from the sea}
and these from the land of Syene.” ^{▼▼Dead Sea Scroll; Masoretic Text Sinim}
13 ^asSing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth;
break forth, O mountains, into singing!
For the Lord ^athas comforted his people
and will have compassion on his afflicted.
14 But Zion said, ^au“The Lord has forsaken me;
my Lord has forgotten me.”
15 ^av“Can a woman forget her nursing child,
that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?
Even these may forget,
yet I will not forget you.
16 Behold, ^awI have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
your walls are continually before me.
17 Your builders make haste; ^{▼▼Dead Sea Scroll; Masoretic Text Your children make haste}
^ayyour destroyers and those who laid you waste go out from you.
18 ^azLift up your eyes around and see;
they all gather, they come to you.
^baAs I live, declares the Lord,
^bbyou shall put them all on as an ornament;
you shall bind them on as a bride does.
19 “Surely your waste and your desolate places
and your devastated land—
^bcsurely now you will be too narrow for your inhabitants,
and those who swallowed you up will be far away.
20 ^bdThe children of your bereavement
will yet say in your ears:
^be‘The place is too narrow for me;
make room for me to dwell in.’
21 Then you will say in your heart:
‘Who has borne me these?
^bfI was bereaved and barren,
exiled and put away,
but who has brought up these?
Behold, I was left alone;
from where have these come?’”
22 Thus says the Lord God:
“Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations,
^bgand raise my signal to the peoples;
^bhand they shall bring your sons in their arms, ^{▼▼Hebrew in their bosom}
and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.
23 ^bjKings shall be your foster fathers,
and their queens your nursing mothers.
^bkWith their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you,
and ^bllick the dust of your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord;
^bmthose who wait for me ^bnshall not be put to shame.”
24 Can the prey be taken from the mighty,
or the captives of a tyrant ^{▼▼Dead Sea Scroll, Syriac, Vulgate (see also verse 25); Masoretic Text of a righteous man} be rescued?
25 For thus says the Lord:
^bp“Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken,
and the prey of the tyrant be rescued,
for I will contend with those who contend with you,
and I will save your children.
26 ^bqI will make your oppressors eat their own flesh,
and they shall be drunk ^brwith their own blood as with wine.
Then all flesh shall know
that ^bsI am the Lord your Savior,
and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”