Isaiah 49:14-21

The Restoration of Israel

14 But Zion said, m "The Lord has forsaken me;
my Lord has forgotten me."

15 n "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, o I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
your walls are continually before me.
 17 Your builders make haste; 1
p your destroyers and those who laid you waste go out from you.
 18 q Lift up your eyes around and see;
they all gather, they come to you.
r As I live, declares the Lord,
s you 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 -
t surely now you will be too narrow for your inhabitants,
and those who swallowed you up will be far away.
 20 u The children of your bereavement
will yet say in your ears:
t '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?
u I was bereaved and barren,
exiled and put away,
but who has brought up these?
Behold, I was left alone;
from where have these come?'"

  1. Cross References
    Isaiah 40:27
    Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, "My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God"?
    Isaiah 54:6
    For the Lord has called you like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit, like a wife of youth when she is cast off, says your God.
    Isaiah 62:4
    You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate, but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the Lord delights in you, and your land shall be married.
  2. Cross References
    Isaiah 43:1
    But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.
    Psalms 27:10
    For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me in.
  3. Cross References
    Song of Solomon 8:6
    Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the Lord.
    Revelation 13:16
    Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead.
  4. Cross References
    Zechariah 1:18 - 21
    And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, four horns!
  5. Cross References
    Isaiah 60:4
    Lift up your eyes all around, and see; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be carried on the hip.
  6. Cross References
    Numbers 14:21
    But truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord.
    Ezekiel 5:11
    Therefore, as I live, declares the Lord God, surely, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable things and with all your abominations, therefore I will withdraw. My eye will not spare, and I will have no pity.
  7. Cross References
    Jeremiah 43:12
    I shall kindle a fire in the temples of the gods of Egypt, and he shall burn them and carry them away captive. And he shall clean the land of Egypt as a shepherd cleans his cloak of vermin, and he shall go away from there in peace.
  8. Cross References
    Zechariah 10:10
    I will bring them home from the land of Egypt, and gather them from Assyria, and I will bring them to the land of Gilead and to Lebanon, till there is no room for them.
  9. Cross References
    Isaiah 54:1
    Sing, O barren one, who did not bear; break forth into singing and cry aloud, you who have not been in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than the children of her who is married," says the Lord.
  10. Cross References
    Isaiah 49:19
    Surely your waste and your desolate places and your devastated land - surely now you will be too narrow for your inhabitants, and those who swallowed you up will be far away.
  11. Cross References
    Isaiah 49:20
    The children of your bereavement will yet say in your ears: 'The place is too narrow for me; make room for me to dwell in.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.