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pay attention, O distant peoples far away!
The Lord called me before I was born,
He named me while I was in my mother’s womb.
2 He made my mouth like a sharp sword;
in the shadow of His hand He has hidden me;
He made me a polished arrow,
He has hidden me in His quiver.
3 “He said to me, ‘You are My servant, O Israel,
in whom I will be glorified’.
4 But I said, “I have laboured in vain,
I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain;
yet surely my just cause is with the Lord,
and my reward is with my God.”
5 “And now the Lord says—
who formed me in the womb to be His servant,
to bring Jacob back to Him,
so that Israel might be gathered to Himself;
for I am honoured in the eyes of the Lord,
and my God has been my strength—
6 He says:
‘Is it too small a thing that you should be My servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob,
and restore the survivors of Israel.
I will give you as a light to the Gentiles,
that you may bring My salvation to the ends of the earth’.”
7 This is what the Lord says—
the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One,
to him who is despised,
to him who is abhorred by the nation,
to the servant of rulers:
“Kings will see and rise up,
princes will also see and bow down,
because of the Lord, who is faithful,
the Holy One of Israel;
and He has chosen you.”
8 This is what the Lord says:
“In the time of favour I will answer you,
and on the day of salvation I will help you;
I will keep you and make you
to be a covenant to the people,
to restore the land,
and to reassign the desolate heritages;
9 to say 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 the barren heights.
10 They will neither hunger nor thirst,
neither scorching heat nor sun will strike them;
for He who has compassion on them will guide them,
and lead them to springs of water.
11 I will turn all My mountains into a road,
and My highways will be raised up.
12 Look, they will come from far away,
some from the north and some from the west,
and some from the land of Sinim.”
Shout for joy, O heavens!
Rejoice, O earth!
Break forth into singing, O mountains!
For the Lord has comforted His people,
and will have compassion on His afflicted ones.
14 But Zion said,
“The Lord has forsaken me;
my Lord has forgotten me!”
15 “Can a woman forget her nursing child,
or have no compassion for the son of her womb?
Though she may forget,
yet I will not forget you.
16 See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands;
your walls are continually before Me.
17 Your sons will rebuild faster than your destroyers,
and those who laid you waste will leave you.
18 Lift up your eyes and look around;
your sons all gather together and come to you.
As I live,” declares the Lord,
“you will clothe yourselves with them as with an ornament;
you will put them on as a bride does.
19 “For your ruined and desolate places,
and your devastated lands
will now be too small for the inhabitants,
and those who swallowed you up will be far away.
20 The children born in the time of your bereavement
will yet say in your hearing,
‘This place is too small for me;
give me more space to dwell in’.
21 Then you will say in your heart,
‘Who has fathered these for me?
For I was bereaved of my children and barren,
exiled, and wandering to and fro,
so who brought these up?
I looked around, and was left all alone,
so where then have these come from?’ ”
22 This is what Lord God says:
“Behold, I will lift up My hand to the Gentiles,
and raise My banner to the peoples;
they will bring your sons in their arms,
and your daughters will be carried on their shoulders.
23 Kings will be your foster fathers,
and their queens your nursing mothers.
They will bow down to you with their faces to the ground,
and lick the dust at your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord;
those who put their hope in Me
will not be put to shame.
24 “Can the prey be taken from the mighty,
or the captives of the righteous be delivered?”
25 For this is what the Lord says:
“Even the captives of the mighty will be taken,
and the prey of the tyrant will be delivered;
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 will be drunk with their own blood, as with wine.
Then all flesh will know
that I, the Lord am your Saviour,
and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”