Discovery BoxIsaiah 49:1 
Context49:1 Listen to me, you coastlands! 1
Pay attention, you people who live far away!
The Lord summoned me from birth; 2
he commissioned me when my mother brought me into the world. 3
Isaiah 61:1
Context61:1 The spirit of the sovereign Lord is upon me,
because the Lord has chosen 4 me. 5
He has commissioned 6 me to encourage 7 the poor,
to help 8 the brokenhearted,
to decree the release of captives,
and the freeing of prisoners,
1 tn Or “islands” (NASB, NIV); NLT “in far-off lands.”
sn The Lord’s special servant, introduced in chap. 42, speaks here of his commission.
2 tn Heb “called me from the womb.”
3 tn Heb “from the inner parts of my mother he mentioned my name.”
4 tn Heb “anointed,” i.e., designated to carry out an assigned task.
5 sn The speaker is not identified, but he is distinct from the Lord and from Zion’s suffering people. He possesses the divine spirit, is God’s spokesman, and is sent to release prisoners from bondage. The evidence suggests he is the Lord’s special servant, described earlier in the servant songs (see 42:1-4, 7; 49:2, 9; 50:4; see also 51:16).
6 tn Or “sent” (NAB); NCV “has appointed me.”
7 tn Or “proclaim good news to.”
8 tn Heb “to bind up [the wounds of].”
