Isaiah 49

Isaiah 49:1

Listen, O ye isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; the LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name.

O all ye foreign nations of the world, listen unto me, your Saviour and Redeemer: the Lord, who, before all times, had decreed me to be the Mediator of his Church, hath accordingly performed it; and hath, from my miraculous conception and birth, set me apart to the accomplishing of this great work. ISAIAN, CHAP. XLVII.—XLIX.

Isaiah 49:2

And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me.

He hath given power and efficacy to his word in my mouth, that thereby I may rule my Church, and subdue my enemies; his Almighty protection hath been over me; and he hath destined me, from all worlds, to be a fit and perfect instrument of his service.

Isaiah 49:4

Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain; yet surely my judgment is with the LORD, and my work with my God.

Then I said, I have omitted nothing on my part, that I might do, for the gaining of my people, the Jews; but all my cost, and pains, that I have bestowed upon them, is no better than cast away: but it is mine Everlasting Father, with whom I am one, who gives full approbation of all that I have done; who graciously accepts of both my active and passive obedience. So also verse 5.

Isaiah 49:5

Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my strength.

Though Israel be so obstinate, that he will not reap the proffered benefit of my Redemption, yet my glory with the Lord shall be no whit the less.

Isaiah 49:6

And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.

Yea, this is not all the honour, that God my Father will put upon me; for, Behold, saith he, it were a poor matter, if thy redemption and rule should be only limited to the tribes of Israel; no, I will so extend and advance this glorious and happy office and work of thine, that it shall reach unto the Gentiles, all the world over.

Isaiah 49:8

And give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages.

I have given thee to renew and establish that covenant, which is between me and my Church; to raise up and settle all my chosen upon earth; and to bring into my Church those, which pertain unto it, so as even the most desolate parts thereof may be furnished and peopled.

Isaiah 49:9

They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places.

Such plenty of provision will I make for my people, that the very highways and dry and barren mountains shall yield them abundance of nourishment and increase.

Isaiah 49:12

Behold, these shall come from far: and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim.

From all the coasts of the earth shall the Jews return to Jerusalem; in figure of that general recourse, which shall be from all the nations under heaven, to the Holy Church of Christ, under the Gospel.

Isaiah 49:18

Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold; all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the LORD, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride doeth.

And now, O my Church, lift up thine eyes, and look round about thee: behold the multiplicity of all those nations, wherewith thou art encompassed: all these shall come in and submit themselves unto thee: their number and accession shall be an excellent ornament unto thee, wherewith thou shalt deck thyself, as a bride doth on the day of her wedding.

Isaiah 49:20

The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, The place is too strait for me.

The children, which thou, O my Church, shalt have of this new supply of the Gentiles, since the casting off thy former issue of the Jews, shall be so multiplied, that they shall have cause to complain of the want of room.

Isaiah 49:21

Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? and who hath brought up these.

Then shalt thou have occasion to think, How comes it about, that I am blessed with so large an issue, seeing my former brood is lost and perished? O God, this is thy wondrous mercy, thus to comfort me in my extreme desolation and captivity: thou, by the immortal seed of thy word, hast begotten them to thyself, and hast nourished and bred up them accordingly.

Isaiah 49:23

And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, &c.

Whereas, now, the princes of the world are opposite unto thee: then, kings and queens shall gladly take upon them thy patronage and protection: yea, they shall, in all humility, yield themselves over to thy spiritual authority.

Isaiah 49:24

Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered?

But now your diffidence is ready to say, Is it possible, that the Jews should be taken out of the hands of so great a monarch, as the king of Babylon; or the captive, which was according to the law of war seized upon and possessed, rescued from so powerful a victor? So verse 25.

Isaiah 49:26

And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, &c.

I will give them up to a civil and intestine war; so as they ISAIAN, CHAP. XLIX. L. shall be the mutual slaughterers of each other, and that with an insatiable fury.