The Servant of the Lord

49 Listens to me, you islands;t

hear this, you distant nations:

Before I was bornu the Lord calledv me;

from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name.w

2 He made my mouthx like a sharpened sword,y

in the shadow of his handz he hid me;

he made me into a polished arrowa

and concealed me in his quiver.

3 He said to me, “You are my servant,b

Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.c”

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

I have spent my strength for nothing at all.

Yet what is due me is in the Lord’s hand,e

and my rewardf is with my God.”g

5 And now the Lord says—

he who formed me in the wombh to be his servant

to bring Jacob back to him

and gather Israeli to himself,

for I ama honoredj in the eyes of the Lord

and my God has been my strengthk—

6 he says:

“It is too small a thing for you to be my servantl

to restore the tribes of Jacob

and bring back those of Israel I have kept.m

I will also make you a lightn for the Gentiles,o

that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”p