The Servant, the Light to the Gentiles
1 “Listen,O coastlands, to Me,
And take heed, you peoples from afar!
# TheLordhas called Me from the womb;
From the matrix of My mother He has made mention of My name.
2 And He has madeMy mouth like a sharp sword;
# In the shadow of His hand He has hidden Me,
# And made Mea polished shaft;
In His quiver He has hidden Me.”
3 “And He said to me,
# ‘YouareMy servant, O Israel,
# In whom I will be glorified.’
4 Then I said, ‘I have labored in vain,
I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain;
Yet surely my just rewardiswith theLord,
And my work with my God.’ ”
5 “And now theLordsays,
Who formed Me from the wombtobeHis Servant,
To bring Jacob back to Him,
# So that Israelis gathered to Him
(For I shall be glorious in the eyes of theLord,
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 alight to the Gentiles,
That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ”
7 Thus says theLord,
The Redeemer of Israel, their Holy One,
# To Him whom man despises,
To Him whom the nation abhors,
To the Servant of rulers:
# “Kings shall see and arise,
Princes also shall worship,
Because of theLordwho is faithful,
The Holy One of Israel;
And He has chosen You.”
8 Thus says theLord:
# “In anacceptable time I have heard You,
And in the day of salvation I have helped You;
# I will preserve Youand give You
As a covenant to the people,
To restore the earth,
To cause them to inherit the desolate heritages;
9 That You may sayto the prisoners, ‘Go forth,’
To those whoarein darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’
“They shall feed along the roads,
And their pasturesshallbeon all desolate heights.
10 They shall neitherhunger nor thirst,
# Neither heat nor sun shall strike them;
# For He who has mercy on themwill lead them,
Even by the springs of water He will guide them.
11 I will make each of My mountains a road,
And My highways shall be elevated.
12 Surelythese shall come from afar;
Look! Those from the north and the west,
And these from the land of Sinim.”
13 Sing, O heavens!
Be joyful, O earth!
And break out in singing, O mountains!
For theLordhas comforted His people,
And will have mercy on His afflicted.
God Will Remember Zion
14 But Zion said, “TheLordhas forsaken me,
And my Lord has forgotten me.”
15 “Cana woman forget her nursing child,
And not have compassion on the son of her womb?
Surely they may forget,
# Yet I will not forget you.
16 See,I have inscribed you on the palmsofMyhands;
Your wallsarecontinually before Me.
17 Your sons shall make haste;
Your destroyers and those who laid you waste
Shall go away from you.
18 Lift up your eyes, look around and see;
All these gather togetherandcome to you.
AsI live,” says theLord,
# “You shall surely clothe yourselves with them allas an ornament,
And bind themonyouas a bridedoes.
19 “For your waste and desolate places,
And the land of your destruction,
# Will even now be too small for the inhabitants;
And those who swallowed you up will be far away.
20 The children you will have,
# After you have lost the others,
Will say again in your ears,
‘The placeistoo 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, wherewerethey?’ ”
22 Thus says the LordGod:
“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 intheirarms,
And your daughters shall be carried ontheirshoulders;
23 Kings shall be your foster fathers,
And their queens your nursing mothers;
They shall bow down to you withtheirfaces to the earth,
# Andlick up the dust of your feet.
Then you will know that IamtheLord,
# For they shall not be ashamed who wait for Me.”
24 Shall the prey be taken from the mighty,
Or the captives of the righteous be delivered?
25 But thus says theLord:
“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 willfeed those who oppress you with their own flesh,
# And they shall be drunk with their ownblood as with sweet wine.
# All fleshshall know
That I, theLord,amyour Savior,
And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”