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 sharpened 4 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 birth 10 to be his servant –
he did this 11 to restore Jacob to himself,
so that Israel might be gathered to him;
and I will be honored 12 in the Lord’s sight,
for my God is my source of strength 13 –
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 remnant 14 of Israel? 15
I will make you a light to the nations, 16
so you can bring 17 my deliverance to the remote regions of the earth.”
49:7 This is what the Lord,
the protector 18 of Israel, their Holy One, 19 says
to the one who is despised 20 and rejected 21 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 you 24 and make you a covenant mediator for people, 25
to rebuild 26 the land 27
and to reassign the desolate property.
49:9 You will say 28 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.