ISAIAH 49 [†] Listen to me,  k O coastlands,

and give attention, you peoples  l from afar.

 m The LORD called me from the womb,

from the body of my mother he named my name.

2[^][†]  n He made my mouth like a sharp sword;

 o in 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 my servant,

Israel,  p in whom I will be glorified.” [1]

4[†]  q 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[†]  r And now the LORD says,

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

to bring Jacob back to him;

and that Israel might be gathered to him—

for  s 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;

 t I will make you  u as a light for the nations,

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

7[†] Thus says the LORD,

 w the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One,

 x to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation,

the servant of rulers:

 y “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:

 z “In a  a time of favor I have answered you;

in a day of salvation I have helped you;

I will keep you  b and give you

as a covenant to the people,

to establish the land,

 c to apportion the desolate heritages,

9  d saying to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’

to those who are in darkness, ‘Appear.’

 e They shall feed along the ways;

on all bare heights shall be their pasture;

10[^]  f they shall not hunger or thirst,

neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them,

for he who has pity on them  g will lead them,

and by springs of water will guide them.

11  h And I will make all my mountains a road,

and my highways shall be raised up.

12  i Behold, these shall come from afar,

and behold,  j these from the north and from the west, [2]

and these from the land of Syene.” [3]

13[†]  k Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth;

break forth, O mountains, into singing!

For the LORD  l has comforted his people

and will have compassion on his afflicted.

14[†] But Zion said,  m “The LORD has forsaken me;

my Lord has forgotten me.”

15[†]  n “Can a woman forget her nursing child,

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

Even these may forget,

yet I will not forget you.

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

your walls are continually before me.

17 Your builders make haste; [4]

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

18[†]  q Lift up your eyes around and see;

they all gather, they come to you.

 r As I live, declares the LORD,

 s 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—

 t surely now you will be too narrow for your inhabitants,

and those who swallowed you up will be far away.

20  u The children of your bereavement

will yet say in your ears:

 t ‘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?

 u 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,

 v and raise my signal to the peoples;

 w and they shall bring your sons in their arms, [5]

and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.

23  x Kings shall be your foster fathers,

and their queens your nursing mothers.

 y With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you,

and  z lick the dust of your feet.

Then you will know that I am the LORD;

 a those who wait for me  b shall not be put to shame.”

24[†] Can the prey be taken from the mighty,

or the captives of a tyrant [6] be rescued?

25 For thus says the LORD:

 c “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  d I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh,

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

Then all flesh shall know

that  f I am the LORD your Savior,

and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”