¹ Hear Me, coastlands, and you people from afar, and prick up your ear , Jehovah called Me from the womb; He mentioned My name from My mother's belly.

² And He made My mouth like a sharp sword; He hid Me in the shadow of His hand, and made Me a polished arrow; He hid me in His quiver;

³ and said to Me, You are My servant, Israel, You in whom I shall be glorified.

⁴ Then I said, I have labored in vain; I have spent My strength for nothing, and in vain; yet surely My judgment is with Jehovah, and My work with My God.

⁵ And now, says Jehovah who formed Me from the womb to be His servant, to bring Jacob back to Him: Though Israel is not gathered, yet I am honored in the eye of Jehovah, and My God is My strength.

⁶ And He said, It is too little that You should be My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You for a light of the nations, that You may be My salvation to the end of the earth.

⁷ So says Jehovah, the Redeemer of Israel, His Holy One, to the despised of soul, to the hated of the nation, the servant of rulers, Kings shall see and rise up; and chiefs shall worship; because of Jehovah who is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel; and He chose You.

⁸ So says Jehovah: In a favorable time I have answered You, and in a day of salvation I have helped You. And I will preserve You, and give You for a covenant of the people; to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolated inheritances;

⁹ to say to the prisoners, Go out! To those who are in darkness, Show yourselves! They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places.

¹⁰ They shall not hunger nor thirst; and the heat and sun shall not strike them. For He who has mercy on them shall lead them; and He shall guide them by the springs of water.

¹¹ And I will make all My mountains a way, and My highways shall be set on high.

¹² Behold, these shall come from afar; and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim.

¹³ Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; break out into singing, O mountains. For Jehovah has comforted His people and will have pity on His afflicted.

¹⁴ But Zion said, Jehovah has forsaken me, and, My Lord has forgotten me.

¹⁵ Can a woman forget her suckling child, from pitying the son of her womb? Yes, these may forget, yet I will surely not forget you.

¹⁶ Behold, I have carved you on the palms of My hands; your walls are always before Me.

¹⁷ Your sons hurry; those destroying you and ruining you shall go out from you.

¹⁸ Lift up your eyes all around and see! They all gather and come to you. As I live, says Jehovah, you shall surely wear all of them as an ornament, and bind them on as a bride.

¹⁹ For your wastes and your deserted places, and your land of ruins shall even now be too narrow to live there ; and they who swallow you shall be far away.

²⁰ The sons of your bereavement shall yet say in your ears, The place is too narrow for me; come near so that I may live.

²¹ Then you shall say in your heart, Who has borne these to me, for I am bereaved and desolate, turned aside and an exile; who then has brought up these? Behold, I was left alone. From where do these come ?

²² So says the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I will lift up My hand to the nations, and will set up My banner to peoples. And they shall bring your sons in the bosom, and your daughters shall be carried on the shoulder.

²³ And kings shall be your nursing fathers, and their queens your nurses. They shall bow to you, faces down to the earth, and lick up the dust of your feet. And you shall know that I am Jehovah, by whom they who wait for Me shall not be ashamed.

²⁴ Shall the plunder be taken from the warrior, or the righteous captive escape?

²⁵ But so says Jehovah, Even the captives of the warrior shall be taken, and the plunder of the terrifying ones shall be delivered. For I will strive with him who contends with you; and I will save your sons.

²⁶ And those who oppress you, I will feed with their own flesh: and they shall be drunk by their own blood, as with fresh wine. And all flesh shall know that I Jehovah am your Savior and your Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.