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;¹

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.

19  “Surely your waste and your desolate places

and your devastated land—

surely now you will be ^gtoo narrow for your inhabitants,

and those who swallowed you up will be far away.

20  The children of your bereavement

will yet say in your ears:

‘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?

I 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,

and ^hraise my signal to the peoples;

and they shall ⁱbring your sons in their arms,²

^jand your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.

23  Kings shall be your foster fathers,

and their queens your ^knursing mothers.

With their faces to the ground ^lthey shall bow down to you,

and ^mlick the dust of your feet.

Then you will know that I am the Lord;

those who ⁿwait for me shall not be put to shame.”

24  Can the prey be taken from the mighty,

or the captives of a tyrant³ be rescued?

25  For thus says the Lord:

“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  I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh,

and they shall be drunk with their own blood as with wine.

Then all flesh shall know

that I am the Lord ^oyour Savior,

and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”

1  Thus says the Lord:

“Where is ^pyour mother’s ^qcertificate of divorce,

^rwith which I sent her away?

Or which of my creditors is it

to whom I have ^ssold you?

Behold, for your iniquities you were sold,

and for your transgressions your mother was sent away.

2  Why, when I came, ^twas there no man;

why, when I called, was there no one to answer?

^uIs my hand shortened, that it cannot redeem?

Or have I no power to deliver?

Behold, by my rebuke I dry up the sea,

I make the rivers a desert;

their fish stink for lack of water

and die of thirst.

3  I clothe the heavens with blackness

and make ^vsackcloth their covering.”