¹ Listen, O isles, to me; and listen, you people, from far; The LORD has called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother has he made mention of my name. ² And he has made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand has he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver has he hid me; ³ And said to me, you are my servant, O Israel, in who I will be glorified. ⁴ Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the LORD, and my work with my God. ⁵ And now, says the LORD that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, even though Israel be not gathered, yet will I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God will be my strength. ⁶ And he said, It is a light thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give you for a light to the Gentiles, that you may be my salvation to the end of the earth. ⁷ So says the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him who man despises, to him who the nation detests, to a servant of rulers, Kings will see and arise, princes also will worship, because of the LORD that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he will choose you. ⁸ So says the LORD, In an acceptable time have I heard you, and in a day of salvation have I 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 desolate heritages; ⁹ That you may say to the prisoners, Go forward; to them that are in darkness, show yourselves. They will feed in the ways, and their pastures will be in all high places. ¹⁰ They will not hunger nor thirst; neither will the heat nor sun smite them: for he that has mercy on them will lead them, even by the springs of water will he guide them. ¹¹ And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways will be exalted. ¹² See, these will come from far: 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; and break forward into singing, O mountains: for the LORD has comforted his people, and will have mercy on his afflicted. ¹⁴ But Zion said, The LORD has abandoned me, and my Lord has forgotten me. ¹⁵ Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yes, they may forget, yet will I not forget you. ¹⁶ See, I have graven you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me. ¹⁷ your children will make haste your destroyers and those made you waste will go forward of you. ¹⁸ Lift up your eyes round about, and see: all these gather themselves together, and come to you. As I live, says the LORD, you will surely clothe you with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on you, as a bride [does]. ¹⁹ For your wasteland and your desolate places, and the land of your destruction, will even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and those swallowed you up will be far away. ²⁰ The children which you will have, after you have lost the other, will say again in your ears, The place is too small for me: give place to me that I may dwell. ²¹ Then will you say in your heart, Who has born me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro ? and who has brought up these? See, I was left alone; these, where [had] they [been]? ²² So says the Lord GOD, See, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they will bring your sons in their arms, and your daughters will be carried on their shoulders. ²³ And kings will be your nursing fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers: they will bow down to you with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of your feet; and you will know that I am the LORD: for they will not be ashamed that wait for me. ²⁴ will the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered? ²⁵ But so says the LORD, Even the captives of the mighty will be taken away, and the prey of the terrible will be delivered: for I will contend with him that contends with you, and I will save your children. ²⁶ And I will feed them that oppress you with their own flesh; and they will be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh will know that I the LORD am your Saviour and your Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.