The Holy Bible: Revised Common Version

1  Listen to me, O islands,/
and listen, you people, from far./
The LORD has called me from the womb./
From the body of my mother/
he has made mention of my name.

2  And he has made my mouth like a sharp sword./
In the shadow of his hand he has hid me,/
and made me a polished shaft./
In his quiver he has hid me,

3  And said to me, "You are my servant,/
O Israel, in whom I will be glorified."

4  Then I said, "I have labored in vain./
I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain./
Yet surely my judgment is with the LORD/
and my work with my God."

5  And now, the LORD says,/
who formed me from the womb to be his servant/
to bring Jacob back to him,/
though Israel is not gathered/
(yet I shall be glorious in the eyes of the LORD,/
and my God shall be my strength),

6  And he said, "It is a light thing/
that you should be my servant/
to raise up the tribes of Jacob/
and to restore the preserved of Israel./
I will also give you for a light to the Gentiles,/
so that you may be my salvation/
to the end of the earth."

7  Thus says the LORD,/
the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One,/
to him whom man despises,/
to him whom the nation abhors,/
to a servant of rulers:/
"Kings shall see and arise,/
princes also shall worship,/
because of the LORD who is faithful,/
and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose you."

8  Thus says the LORD:/
"In an acceptable time I have heard you,/
and in a day of salvation I have helped you./
And I will preserve you, and give you/
for a covenant of the people,/
to establish the earth,/
to cause to inherit the desolate heritages,

9  So that you may say to the prisoners, 'Go forth,'/
to those who are in darkness, 'Show yourselves.'/
They shall feed in the ways,/
and their pastures shall be in all high places.

10 They shall not hunger nor thirst,/
neither shall the heat nor sun smite them,/
for he who has mercy on them shall lead them,/
even by the springs of water he shall guide them.

11 And I will make all my mountains a way,/
and my highways shall be exalted.

12 Behold, these shall come from far./
And behold, these from the north and from the west,/
and these from the land of Sinim."

13 Sing, O heavens, and be joyful, O earth,/
and break forth into singing, O mountains,/
for the LORD has comforted his people/
and will have mercy upon his afflicted.

14 But Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken me,/
and my Lord has forgotten me."

15 "Can a woman forget her nursing child,/
that she should not have compassion/
on the son of her womb?/
Even they may forget,/
yet I will not forget you.

16 Behold, I have engraved you/
upon the palms of my hands./
Your walls are continually before me.

17 Your children shall make haste./
Your destroyers and those who made you waste/
shall go forth from you.

18 Lift up your eyes around and behold./
All these assemble themselves and come to you./
As I live," says the LORD,/
"you shall surely clothe yourself with them all,/
as with an ornament,/
and bind them on yourself,/
as a bride does.

19 For your waste and your desolate places/
and the land of your destruction/
shall even now be too narrow/
by reason of the inhabitants./
And those who swallowed you up/
shall be far away.

20 The children which you shall have,/
after you have lost the other,/
shall say again in your ears,/
'The place is too narrow for me./
Give place to me so that I may dwell.'

21 Then you shall say in your heart,/
'Who has begotten these for me,/
seeing I have lost my children and am desolate,/
a captive, and wandering to and fro?/
And who has brought these up?/
Behold, I was left alone./
These, where have they been?'"

22 Thus says the Lord GOD:/
"Behold, I will lift up my hand to the Gentiles/
and set up my standard to the people./
And they shall bring your sons in their arms,/
and your daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.

23 And kings shall be your nursing fathers,/
and their queens your nursing mothers./
They shall bow to you with their face toward the earth/
and lick up the dust of your feet./
And you shall know that I am the LORD,/
for they shall not be ashamed who wait for me.

24 Shall the prey be taken from the mighty,/
or the lawful captive delivered?"

25 But thus says the LORD:/
"Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away,/
and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered,/
for I will contend with him who contends with you,/
and I will save your children.

26 And I will feed those who oppress you with their own flesh,/
and they shall be drunken with their own blood,/
as with sweet wine./
And all flesh shall know/
that I, the LORD, am your Savior/
and your Redeemer,/
the mighty One of Jacob."