The Servant of the Lord
Listen to me, aO coastlands,
and give attention, you peoples bfrom afar.
cThe Lord called me from the womb,
from the body of my mother he named my name.
2 aHe made my mouth like a sharp sword;
bin the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me a polished arrow;
in his quiver he hid me away.
3 And he said to me, “You are my servant,
Israel, ain whom I will be glorified.”
4 aBut I said, “I have labored in vain;
I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;
yet surely my right is with the Lord,
and my recompense with my God.”
5 aAnd now the Lord says,
he bwho formed me from the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him;
and that Israel might be gathered to him—
for cI am honored in the eyes of the Lord,
and my God has become my strength—
6 he says:
“It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to bring back the preserved of Israel;
aI will make you bas a light for the nations,
that cmy salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
7 Thus says the Lord,
athe Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One,
bto one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation,
the servant of rulers:
c“Kings shall see and arise;
princes, and they shall prostrate themselves;
because of the Lord, who is faithful,
the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”
The Restoration of Israel
8 Thus says the Lord:
a“In a btime of favor I have answered you;
in a day of salvation I have helped you;
I will keep you cand give you
as a covenant to the people,
to establish the land,
dto apportion the desolate heritages,
9 asaying to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’
to those who are in darkness, ‘Appear.’
bThey shall feed along the ways;
on all bare heights shall be their pasture;
10 athey shall not hunger or thirst,
neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them,
for he who has pity on them bwill lead them,
and by springs of water will guide them.
11 aAnd I will make all my mountains a road,
and my highways shall be raised up.
12 aBehold, these shall come from afar,
and behold, bthese from the north and from the west,
and these from the land of Syene.”
13 aSing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth;
break forth, O mountains, into singing!
For the Lord bhas comforted his people
and will have compassion on his afflicted.
14 But Zion said, a“The Lord has forsaken me;
my Lord has forgotten me.”
15 a“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, aI have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
your walls are continually before me.
17 Your builders make haste;
ayour destroyers and those who laid you waste go out from you.
18 aLift up your eyes around and see;
they all gather, they come to you.
bAs I live, declares the Lord,
cyou 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—
asurely now you will be too narrow for your inhabitants,
and those who swallowed you up will be far away.
20 aThe children of your bereavement
will yet say in your ears:
b‘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?
aI was bereaved and barren,
exiled and put away,
but who has brought up these?
Behold, I was left alone;
from where have these come?’”
22 Thus says the Lord God:
“Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations,
aand raise my signal to the peoples;
band they shall bring your sons in their arms,
and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.
23 aKings shall be your foster fathers,
and their queens your nursing mothers.
bWith their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you,
and click the dust of your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord;
dthose who wait for me eshall not be put to shame.”
24 Can the prey be taken from the mighty,
or the captives of a tyrant be rescued?
25 For thus says the Lord:
a“Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken,
and the prey of the tyrant be rescued,
for I will contend with those who contend with you,
and I will save your children.
26 aI will make your oppressors eat their own flesh,
and they shall be drunk bwith their own blood as with wine.
Then all flesh shall know
that cI am the Lord your Savior,
and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”