American Standard Version of 1901
Versliste
Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye peoples, from far: Jehovah hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name:
and he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me: and he hath made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he kept me close:
and he said unto me, Thou art my servant; Israel, in whom I will be glorified.
But I said, I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nought and vanity; yet surely the justice due to me is with Jehovah, and my recompense with my God.
And now saith Jehovah that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, {Another reading is, but Israel is not gathered, yet shall I be &c.}and that Israel be gathered unto him (for I am honorable in the eyes of Jehovah, and my God is become my strength);
yea, he saith, It is too light a 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, {Or, that my salvation may be}that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.
Thus saith Jehovah, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers: Kings shall see and arise; princes, and they shall worship; because of Jehovah that is faithful, even the Holy One of Israel, who hath chosen thee.
Thus saith Jehovah, In an acceptable time have I answered thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee; and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to {Or, establish the earth}raise up the land, to make them inherit the desolate heritages:
saying to them that are bound, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Show yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and on all bare heights shall be their pasture.
They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the {Or, mirage}heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them will lead them, even by springs of water will he guide them.
And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted.
Lo, these shall come from far; and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim.
Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for Jehovah hath comforted his people, and will have compassion upon his afflicted.
But Zion said, Jehovah hath forsaken me, and the Lord hath forgotten me.
Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, these may forget, yet will not I forget thee.
Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.
Thy children make haste; thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth from thee.
Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith Jehovah, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all as with an ornament, and gird thyself with them, like a bride.
For, as for thy waste and thy desolate places, and thy land that hath been destroyed, surely now shalt thou be too strait for the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away.
The children of thy bereavement shall yet say in thine ears, The place is too strait for me; give place to me that I may dwell.
Then shalt thou say in thy heart, Who hath {Or, borne}begotten me these, seeing I have been bereaved of my children, and am {Or, barren}solitary, an exile, and wandering to and fro? and who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where were they?
Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations, and set up my ensign to the peoples; and they shall bring thy sons in their bosom, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.
And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their faces to the earth, and lick the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am Jehovah; and they that wait for me shall not be put to shame.
Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or {Hebrew: the captives of the just.}the lawful captives be delivered?
But thus saith Jehovah, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered; for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.
And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I, Jehovah, am thy Saviour, and thy Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.
yea, he saith, It is too light a 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, {Or, that my salvation may be}that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.
Thus saith Jehovah, Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement, wherewith I have put her away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities were ye sold, and for your transgressions was your mother put away.
Wherefore, when I came, was there no man? when I called, was there none to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver? Behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish stink, because there is no water, and die for thirst.
I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering.
The Lord Jehovah hath given me the tongue of {Or, disciples}them that are taught, that I may know how {Or, to speak a word in season to him &c.}to sustain with words him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as {Or, disciples}they that are taught.
The Lord Jehovah hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away backward.
I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair; I hid not my face from shame and spitting.
For the Lord Jehovah will help me; therefore have I not been confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame.
He is near that justifieth me; who will contend with me? let us stand up together: who is mine adversary? let him come near to me.
Behold, the Lord Jehovah will help me; who is he that shall condemn me? behold, all they shall wax old as a garment, the moth shall eat them up.
Who is among you that feareth Jehovah, that obeyeth the voice of his servant? {Or, though he walketh}he that walketh in darkness, and hath no light, let him trust in the name of Jehovah, and rely upon his God.
Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that gird yourselves about with firebrands; walk ye in the flame of your fire, and among the brands that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of my hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.
There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and of death.
For what the law could not do, {Greek: wherein.}in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending his own Son in the likeness of {Greek: flesh of sin.}sinful flesh {Or, and as an offering for sin Leviticus 7:37 & c. Hebrews 10:6 & c. }and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
that the {Or, requirement}ordinance of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
For they that are after the flesh mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
For the mind of the flesh is death; but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace:
because the mind of the flesh is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be:
and they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
But ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. But if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the spirit is life because of righteousness.
But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwelleth in you, he that raised up Christ Jesus from the dead shall give life also to your mortal bodies {Many ancient authorities read because of.}through his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
So then, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh:
for if ye live after the flesh, ye must die; but if by the Spirit ye put to death the {Greek: doings.}deeds of the body, ye shall live.
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
For ye received not the spirit of bondage again unto fear; but ye received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
The Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are children of God:
and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified with him.
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us-ward.
For the earnest expectation of the creation waiteth for the revealing of the sons of God.
For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but by reason of him who subjected it, {Or, in hope: because the creation & c.}in hope
that the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God.
For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain {Or, with us}together until now.
And not only so, but ourselves also, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for our adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
For {Or, by}in hope were we saved: but hope that is seen is not hope: {Many ancient authorities read for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?}for who {Some ancient authorities read awaiteth.}hopeth for that which he seeth?
But if we hope for that which we see not, then do we with {Or, stedfastness}patience wait for it.
And in like manner the Spirit also helpeth our infirmity: for we know not how to pray as we ought; but the Spirit himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered;
and he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, {Or, that}because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
And we know that to them that love God {Some ancient authorities read God worketh all things with them for good.}all things work together for good, even to them that are called according to his purpose.
For whom he foreknew, he also foreordained to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren:
and whom he foreordained, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?
He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not also with him freely give us all things?
Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? {Or, Shall God that justifieth?}It is God that justifieth;
who is he that condemneth? {Or, Shall Christ Jesus that died…us?}It is Christ Jesus that died, yea rather, that was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
Who shall separate us from the love {Some ancient authorities read of God.}of Christ? shall tribulation, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Even as it is written, {Psalms 44:22}For thy sake we are killed all the day long;We were accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
nor height, nor depth, nor any other {Or, creation}creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
But I said, I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nought and vanity; yet surely the justice due to me is with Jehovah, and my recompense with my God.
And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my wrath, it upheld me.
And they have {Hebrew: laid upon me.}rewarded me evil for good,And hatred for my love.
Then said I, Lo, I am come(In the roll of the book it is written of me)To do thy will, O God.