Isaiah 49:1-9

1Listen to Me, O 1islands, And pay attention, you peoples from afar. 2The Lord called Me from the womb; From the 3body of My mother He named Me.2He has made My 4mouth like a sharp sword, In the 5shadow of His hand He has concealed Me; And He has also made Me a 6select 7arrow, He has hidden Me in His quiver.3He said to Me, “8You are My Servant, Israel, 9In Whom I will 10show My glory.”4But I said, “I have 11toiled in vain, I have spent My strength for nothing and vanity; Yet surely the justice due to Me is with the Lord, And My 12reward with My God.”

5And now says 13the Lord, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, To bring Jacob back to Him, so that 14Israel might be gathered to Him (For I am 15honored in the sight of the Lord, And My God is My 16strength),6He says, “It is too 17small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the 18preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a 19light 20of the nations So that My salvation may 21reach to the 22end of the earth.”7Thus says the Lord, the 23Redeemer of Israel and its Holy One, To the 24despised One, To the One abhorred by the nation, To the Servant of rulers, “25Kings will see and arise, Princes will also 26bow down, Because of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen You.”

8Thus says the Lord, “In a 27favorable time I have answered You, And in a day of salvation I have helped You; And I will 28keep You and 29give You for a covenant of the people, To 3031restore the land, to make them inherit the desolate heritages;9Saying to those who are 32bound, ‘Go forth,’ To those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’ Along the roads they will feed, And their pasture will be on all 33bare heights.