Isaiah 49:1–7

The Servant of the Lord

49Listen to me, ^kO coastlands,

and give attention, you peoples ^lfrom afar.

^mThe Lord called me from the womb,

from the body of my mother he named my name.

²ⁿHe made my mouth like a sharp sword;

^oin the shadow of his hand he hid me;

he made me a polished arrow;

in his quiver he hid me away.

³And he said to me, “You are my servant,

Israel, ^pin whom I will be glorified.”¹

^4qBut 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.”

^5rAnd now the Lord says,

he ^mwho formed me from the womb to be his servant,

to bring Jacob back to him;

and that Israel might be gathered to him—

for ^sI am honored in the eyes of the Lord,

and my God has become my strength—

⁶he 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;

^tI will make you ^uas a light for the nations,

that ^vmy salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

⁷Thus says the Lord,

^wthe Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One,

^xto 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.”