Isaiah

¹ Listen to me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations: Before I was born the Lord called me; from my birth he has made mention of my name.

² in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me into a polished arrow and concealed me in his quiver.

³ Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.”

⁴ I have spent my strength in vain and for nothing. Yet what is due me is in the Lord’s hand, and my reward is with my God.”

⁵ he who formed me in the womb to be his servant to bring Jacob back to him and gather Israel to himself, for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord and my God has been my strength—

⁶ “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”

⁷ the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel— to him who was despised and abhorred by the nation, to the servant of rulers: “Kings will see you and rise up, princes will see and bow down, because of the Lord, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

⁸ This is what the Lord says: “In the time of my favor I will answer you, and in the day of salvation I will help you; I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land and to reassign its desolate inheritances,

⁹ and to those in darkness, ‘Be free!’ “They will feed beside the roads and find pasture on every barren hill.

¹⁰ nor will the desert heat or the sun beat upon them. He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water.

¹¹ and my highways will be raised up.

¹² some from the north, some from the west, some from the region of Aswan.”

¹³ rejoice, O earth; burst into song, O mountains! For the Lord comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.

¹⁴ the Lord has forgotten me.”

¹⁵ and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!

¹⁶ your walls are ever before me.

¹⁷ and those who laid you waste depart from you.

¹⁸ all your sons gather and come to you. As surely as I live,” declares the Lord, “you will wear them all as ornaments; you will put them on, like a bride.

¹⁹ and your land laid waste, now you will be too small for your people, and those who devoured you will be far away.

²⁰ will yet say in your hearing, ‘This place is too small for us; give us more space to live in.’

²¹ ‘Who bore me these? I was bereaved and barren; I was exiled and rejected. Who brought these up? I was left all alone, but these—where have they come from?’”

²² “See, I will beckon to the Gentiles, I will lift up my banner to the peoples; they will bring your sons in their arms and carry your daughters on their shoulders.

²³ and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow down before you with their faces to the ground; they will lick the dust at your feet. Then you will know that I am the Lord; those who hope in me will not be disappointed.”

²⁴ or captives rescued from the fierce?

²⁵ “Yes, captives will be taken from warriors, and plunder retrieved from the fierce; I will contend with those who contend with you, and your children I will save.

²⁶ they will be drunk on their own blood, as with wine. Then all mankind will know that I, the Lord, am your Savior, your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”