49 Coasts and islands,^[a] listen to me;
distant peoples, pay attention.
The Lord called me before I was born.
He named me while I was in my mother’s womb.
² He made my words like a sharp sword;
he hid me in the shadow of his hand.
He made me like a sharpened arrow;
he hid me in his quiver.
³ He said to me, “You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”
⁴ But I myself said: I have labored in vain,
I have spent my strength for nothing and futility;
yet my vindication is with the Lord,
and my reward is with my God.
⁵ And now, says the Lord,
who formed me from the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him
so that Israel might be gathered to him;
for I am honored in the sight of the Lord,
and my God is my strength—
⁶ he says,
“It is not enough for you to be my servant
raising up the tribes of Jacob
and restoring the protected ones of Israel.
I will also make you a light for the nations,
to be my salvation to the ends of the earth.”
⁷ This is what the Lord,
the Redeemer of Israel, his Holy One, says
to one who is despised,
to one abhorred by people,^[b]
to a servant of rulers:
“Kings will see, princes will stand up,
and they^[c] will all bow down
because of the Lord, who is faithful,
the Holy One of Israel—and he has chosen you.”

I will answer you in a time of favor,
and I will help you in the day of salvation.
I will keep you, and I will appoint you
to be a covenant for the people,
to restore the land,
to make them possess the desolate inheritances,
⁹ saying to the prisoners: Come out,
and to those who are in darkness: Show yourselves.
They will feed along the pathways,
and their pastures will be on all the barren heights.
¹⁰ They will not hunger or thirst,
the scorching heat or sun will not strike them;
for their compassionate one will guide them,
and lead them to springs.
¹¹ I will make all my mountains into a road,
and my highways will be raised up.
¹² See, these will come from far away,
from the north and from the west,^[d]
and from the land of Sinim.^[e][f]

¹⁴ Zion says, “The Lord has abandoned me;
the Lord has forgotten me!”
¹⁵ “Can a woman forget her nursing child,
or lack compassion for the child of her womb?
Even if these forget,
yet I will not forget you.
¹⁶ Look, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands;
your walls are continually before me.
¹⁷ Your builders^[g] hurry;
those who destroy and devastate you will leave you.
¹⁸ Look up, and look around.
They all gather together; they come to you.
As I live”—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
“you will wear all your children^[h] as jewelry,
and put them on as a bride does.