1
Listen to me,kSee ch. 11:11 O coastlands,
and give attention, you peopleslch. 33:13 from afar.
mSee ch. 44:2 The Lord called me from the womb,
from the body of my mother he named my name.
2 nch. 11:4; Hos. 6:5; [Heb. 4:12; Rev. 1:16] He made my mouth like a sharp sword;
och. 51:16 in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me a polished arrow;
in his quiver he hid me away.
3 And he said to me, “You are my servant,
Israel,pch. 44:23 in whom I will be glorified. ”1Or I will display my beauty
4 q[ch. 65:23]; See ch. 50:6-8; 53:10-12 But 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. ”
5 r[ch. 50:4] And now the Lord says,
hem[See ver. 1 above] who formed me from the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him;
and that Israel might be gathered to him—
fors[ch. 52:13] I am honored in the eyes of the Lord,
and my God has become my strength—
6 he 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;
tCited Acts 13:47 I will make youuch. 42:6 as a light for the nations,
thatv[Ps. 98:3] my salvation may reach to the end of the earth. ”
7 Thus says the Lord,
wch. 48:17 the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One,
xver. 1; ch. 53:3; [ch. 50:6, 7] to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation,
the servant of rulers:
yver. 23 “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. ”
8
Thus says the Lord :
zCited 2 Cor. 6:2 “In aaPs. 69:13 time of favor I have answered you;
in a day of salvation I have helped you;
I will keep youbch. 42:6 and give you
as a covenant to the people,
to establish the land,
cch. 61:4 to apportion the desolate heritages,
9 dch. 42:7 saying to the prisoners, ‘Come out, ’
to those who are in darkness, ‘Appear. ’
e[ch. 41:18] They shall feed along the ways;
on all bare heights shall be their pasture;
10 fCited Rev. 7:16 they shall not hunger or thirst,
neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them,
for he who has pity on themgRev. 7:17; See ch. 40:11 will lead them,
and by springs of water will guide them.
11 h[ch. 40:4] And I will make all my mountains a road,
and my highways shall be raised up.
12 ich. 43:5, 6 Behold, these shall come from afar,
and behold,j[Ps. 107:3] these from the north and from the west,
and these from the land of Syene. ”
13 kSee ch. 44:23 Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth;
break forth, O mountains, into singing!
for the Lordlch. 40:1 has comforted his people
and will have compassion on his afflicted.
14 But Zion said,m[ch. 40:27; 54:6; 62:4] “The Lord has forsaken me;
my Lord has forgotten me. ”
15 n[ch. 43:1; Ps. 27:10] “Can a woman forget her nursing child,
that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?
Even these may forget,
yet I will not forget you.
16 Behold,oSong 8:6; Rev. 13:16 I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
your walls are continually before me.
17 Your builders make haste;
pSee Zech. 1:18-21 your destroyers and those who laid you waste go out from you.
18 qch. 60:4 Lift up your eyes around and see;
they all gather, they come to you.
rNum. 14:21; See Ezek. 5:11 As I live, declares the Lord,
s[Jer. 43:12] you shall put them all on as an ornament;
you shall bind them on as a bride does.
19 Surely your waste and your desolate places
and your devastated land—
t[Zech. 10:10] surely now you will be too narrow for your inhabitants,
and those who swallowed you up will be far away.
20 uch. 54:1 The children of your bereavement
will yet say in your ears:
t[See ver. 19 above] ‘The place is too narrow for me;
make room for me to dwell in. ’
21 Then you will say in your heart:
‘Who has borne me these?
u[See ver. 20 above] I was bereaved and barren,
exiled and put away,
but who has brought up these?
Behold, I was left alone;
from where have these come? ’ ”
22 Thus says the Lord God :
“Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations,
vch. 11:12 and raise my signal to the peoples;
wch. 14:2 and they shall bring your sons in their bosom,
and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.
23 xch. 60:3, 16 Kings shall be your foster fathers,
and their queens your nursing mothers.
ych. 60:14 With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you,
andzPs. 72:9; [Mic. 7:17] lick the dust of your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord;
a[ch. 40:31] those who wait for mebPs. 25:3; Joel 2:27 shall not be put to shame. ”
24 Can the prey be taken from the mighty,
or the captives of a tyrant be rescued?
25 For thus says the Lord :
c[Matt. 12:29; Luke 11:21, 22] “Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken,
and the prey of the tyrant be rescued,
for I will contend with those who contend with you,
and I will save your children.
26 d[ch. 9:20; Zech. 11:9] I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh,
and they shall be drunke[Rev. 14:20; 16:6] with their own blood as with wine.
Then all flesh shall know
thatfch. 43:3; See Ex. 20:2 I am the Lord your Savior,
and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. ”