The Servant, the Light to the Gentiles
“Listen, aO coastlands, to Me,
And take heed, you peoples from afar!
bThe Lord has called Me from the womb;
From the matrix of My mother He has made mention of My name.
2 And He has made aMy mouth like a sharp sword;
bIn the shadow of His hand He has hidden Me,
And made Me ca polished shaft;
In His quiver He has hidden Me.”
3 “And He said to me,
a‘You are My servant, O Israel,
bIn whom I will be glorified.’
4 aThen I said, ‘I have labored in vain,
I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain;
Yet surely my just reward is with the Lord,
And my work with my God.’ ”
5 “And now the Lord says,
Who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant,
To bring Jacob back to Him,
So that Israel ais gathered to Him
(For I shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord,
And My God shall be My strength),
6 Indeed He says,
‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant
To raise up the tribes of Jacob,
And to restore the preserved ones of Israel;
I will also give You as a alight to the Gentiles,
That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ”
7 Thus says the Lord,
The Redeemer of Israel, their Holy One,
aTo Him whom man despises,
To Him whom the nation abhors,
To the Servant of rulers:
b“Kings shall see and arise,
Princes also shall worship,
Because of the Lord who is faithful,
The Holy One of Israel;
And He has chosen You.”
8 Thus says the Lord:
“In an aacceptable time I have heard You,
And in the day of salvation I have helped You;
I will preserve You band give You
As a covenant to the people,
To restore the earth,
To cause them to inherit the desolate heritages;
9 That You may say ato the prisoners, ‘Go forth,’
To those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’
“They shall feed along the roads,
And their pastures shall be on all desolate heights.
10 They shall neither ahunger nor thirst,
bNeither heat nor sun shall strike them;
For He who has mercy on them cwill lead them,
Even by the springs of water He will guide them.
11 aI will make each of My mountains a road,
And My highways shall be elevated.
12 Surely athese shall come from afar;
Look! Those from the north and the west,
And these from the land of Sinim.”
13 aSing, O heavens!
Be joyful, O earth!
And break out in singing, O mountains!
For the Lord has comforted His people,
And will have mercy on His afflicted.
God Will Remember Zion
14 aBut Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me,
And my Lord has forgotten me.”
15 “Cana a woman forget her nursing child,
And not have compassion on the son of her womb?
Surely they may forget,
bYet I will not forget you.
16 See, aI have inscribed you on the palms of My hands;
Your walls are continually before Me.
17 Your sons shall make haste;
Your destroyers and those who laid you waste
Shall go away from you.
18 aLift up your eyes, look around and see;
All these gather together and come to you.
As I live,” says the Lord,
“You shall surely clothe yourselves with them all bas an ornament,
And bind them on you as a bride does.
19 “For your waste and desolate places,
And the land of your destruction,
aWill even now be too small for the inhabitants;
And those who swallowed you up will be far away.
20 aThe children you will have,
bAfter you have lost the others,
Will say again in your ears,
‘The place is too small for me;
Give me a place where I may dwell.’
21 Then you will say in your heart,
‘Who has begotten these for me,
Since I have lost my children and am desolate,
A captive, and wandering to and fro?
And who has brought these up?
There I was, left alone;
But these, where were they?’ ”
22 aThus says the Lord God:
“Behold, I will lift My hand in an oath to the nations,
And set up My standard for the peoples;
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;
They shall bow down to you with their faces to the earth,
And blick up the dust of your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord,
cFor they shall not be ashamed who wait for Me.”
24 aShall the prey be taken from the mighty,
Or the captives of the righteous be delivered?
25 But thus says the Lord:
“Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away,
And the prey of the terrible be delivered;
For I will contend with him who contends with you,
And I will save your children.
26 I will afeed those who oppress you with their own flesh,
And they shall be drunk with their own bblood as with sweet wine.
All flesh cshall know
That I, the Lord, am your Savior,
And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”
The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson.
All rights reserved.