Bible Strands
Isaiah 49:8
This is what the LORD says: “In the time of favor I will answer You, and in the day of salvation I will help You; I will keep You and appoint You to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land, to apportion its desolate inheritances,
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Yahweh speaks directly to the Servant identified in v.7 as despised by the nation and in the service of rulers. The moment is a declaration of divine commitment to the Servant's mission.
The words — רָצוֹן (ra.tzOn, "favor") names the window of divine response; it is not a general kindness but a specific, bounded moment of acceptance.
The thread — Paul quotes this verse verbatim in 2 Corinthians 6:2, applying the "time of favor" to the present moment of the gospel. Isaiah 42:6 repeats the "I will keep you and appoint you" formula, and Psalms 69:13 prays within the same idiom of ʿet ra.tzOn.
Why it lands — The Servant's role is covenantal and restorative: not merely personal rescue but the re-apportioning of desolate inheritances. The verse demands that a reader hold salvation as corporate and land-shaping, not a private transaction.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Thus saith the Lord, In an acceptable time have I heard 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 establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages;
Cross-references
- 2 Corinthians 6:2 For He says: “In the time of favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” Behold, now is the time of favor; now is the day of salvation!
- Isaiah 42:6 “I, the LORD, have called you for a righteous purpose, and I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and appoint you to be a covenant for the people and a light to the nations,
- Psalms 69:13 But my prayer to You, O LORD, is for a time of favor. In Your abundant loving devotion, O God, answer me with Your sure salvation.
- Isaiah 61:4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins; they will restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities, the desolations of many generations.
- Hebrews 12:24 to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
- Isaiah 58:12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins; you will restore the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of the Breach, Restorer of the Streets of Dwelling.
- Isaiah 44:26 who confirms the message of His servant and fulfills the counsel of His messengers, who says of Jerusalem, ‘She will be inhabited,’ and of the cities of Judah, ‘They will be rebuilt, and I will restore their ruins,’
- Isaiah 51:16 I have put My words in your mouth, and covered you with the shadow of My hand, to establish the heavens, to found the earth, and to say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’”
- Ephesians 2:12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.
- Hebrews 5:7 During the days of Jesus’ earthly life, He offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the One who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverence.