1  ^gListen to me, O coastlands,

and give attention, you peoples from afar.

The Lord called me ^hfrom the womb,

from the body of my mother he named my name.

2  He made my mouth like a ⁱsharp sword;

^jin 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 ^kmy servant,

Israel, ^lin whom I will be glorified.”¹

4  But 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  And now the Lord says,

he who formed me from the womb to be his servant,

to bring Jacob back to him;

and that Israel might be ^mgathered to him—

for I 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;

ⁿI will make you as a ^olight for the nations,

that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

7  Thus says the Lord,

the ^pRedeemer of Israel and his Holy One,

to one deeply ^qdespised, abhorred by the nation,

the servant of rulers:

^r“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.”

8  Thus says the Lord:

^s“In a time of favor I have answered you;

in a day of salvation I have helped you;

I will keep you and ^tgive you

as a covenant to the people,

to establish the land,

to apportion the desolate heritages,

9  ^usaying to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’

to those who are in darkness, ‘Appear.’

They shall feed along the ways;

on all bare heights shall be their pasture;

10  ^vthey shall not hunger or thirst,

neither scorching wind nor ^wsun shall strike them,

for he who has pity on them will lead them,

and by springs of water will ^xguide them.

11  And I will make all my ^ymountains a road,

and my highways shall be raised up.

12  Behold, these shall come from afar,

and behold, these ^zfrom the north and from the west,²

and these from the land of ^aSyene.”³

13  ^bSing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth;

break forth, O mountains, into singing!

For the Lord has ^ccomforted his people

and will have compassion on his afflicted.

14  But Zion said, ^d“The Lord has forsaken me;

my Lord has forgotten me.”

15  “Can a woman forget her nursing child,

that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?

Even these may forget,

yet ^eI will not forget you.

16  Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;

your walls are continually before me.

17  Your builders make haste;⁴

your destroyers and those who laid you waste go out from you.

18  ^fLift up your eyes around and see;

they all gather, they come to you.

As I live, declares the Lord,

you shall put them all on as an ornament;

you shall bind them on as a bride does.