Isaiah 49:1–7

Yahweh’s Servant Brings Salvation

49Listen to me, coastlands,

and listen attentively, peoples from far away!

Yahweh called me from the womb;

from the body^a of my mother he made my name known.

²And he made^b my mouth like a sharp sword;

he hid me in the shadow of his hand,

and he made^c me like a sharpened arrow;

he hid me in his quiver.

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

Israel, in whom I will show my glory.”

⁴But^d I myself said, “I have labored in^e vain;

I have used up my strength for nothing and vanity!

Nevertheless, my justice is with Yahweh,

and my reward is with my God.”

⁵And now Yahweh says,

who formed me from the womb as a servant for him,

to bring Jacob back to him,

and that Israel might not^f be gathered,

for^g I am honored in the eyes of Yahweh,

and my God has become my strength.

⁶And he says, “It is trivial for you to be^h a servant for me,

to raise up the tribes of Jacob

and to bring back the preserved of Israel.

I will give you as a light to the nations,

to be my salvation to the end of the earth.”

⁷Thus says Yahweh, the redeemer of Israel, his holy one,

to the one who despisesⁱ life,

to the one who abhors the nation,

to the slave of rulers:

“Kings shall see and stand up;

princes, and they shall bow down,

for the sake of Yahweh, who is faithful,

the holy one of Israel, and he has chosen you.”