Ideal Israel Delivers the Exiles

49:1 Listen to me, you coastlands!1

Pay attention, you people who live far away!

The Lord summoned me from birth;2

he commissioned me when my mother brought me into the world.3

49:2 He made my mouth like a sharp sword,

he hid me in the hollow of his hand;

he made me like a sharpened4 arrow,

he hid me in his quiver.5

49:3 He said to me, “You are my servant,

Israel, through whom I will reveal my splendor.”6

49:4 But I thought,7 “I have worked in vain;

I have expended my energy for absolutely nothing.”8

But the Lord will vindicate me;

my God will reward me.9

49:5 So now the Lord says,

the one who formed me from birth10 to be his servant—

he did this11 to restore Jacob to himself,

so that Israel might be gathered to him;

and I will be honored12 in the Lord’s sight,

for my God is my source of strength13—

49:6 he says, “Is it too insignificant a task for you to be my servant,

to reestablish the tribes of Jacob,

and restore the remnant14 of Israel?15

I will make you a light to the nations,16

so you can bring17 my deliverance to the remote regions of the earth.”

49:7 This is what the Lord,

the protector18 of Israel, their Holy One,19 says

to the one who is despised20 and rejected21 by nations,22

a servant of rulers:

“Kings will see and rise in respect,23

princes will bow down,

because of the faithful Lord,

the Holy One of Israel who has chosen you.”

49:8 This is what the Lord says:

“At the time I decide to show my favor, I will respond to you;

in the day of deliverance I will help you;

I will protect you24 and make you a covenant mediator for people,25

to rebuild26 the land27

and to reassign the desolate property.

49:9 You will say28 to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’

and to those who are in dark dungeons,29 ‘Emerge.’30

They will graze beside the roads;

on all the slopes they will find pasture.

49:10 They will not be hungry or thirsty;

the sun’s oppressive heat will not beat down on them,31

for one who has compassion on them will guide them;

he will lead them to springs of water.

49:11 I will make all my mountains into a road;

I will construct my roadways.”

49:12 Look, they come from far away!

Look, some come from the north and west,

and others from the land of Sinim!32

49:13 Shout for joy, O sky!33

Rejoice, O earth!

Let the mountains give a joyful shout!

For the Lord consoles his people

and shows compassion to the34 oppressed.