1 Listen to me, you coastlands!Pay attention, you people who live far away!The Lord summoned me from birth;he commissioned me when my mother brought me into the world.
2 He made my mouth like a sharp sword,he hid me in the hollow of his hand;he made me like a sharpened arrow,he hid me in his quiver.
3 He said to me, “You are my servant,Israel, through whom I will reveal my splendor.”
4 But I thought, “I have worked in vain;I have expended my energy for absolutely nothing.”But the Lord will vindicate me;my God will reward me.
5 So now the Lord says,the one who formed me from birth to be his servant – he did this to restore Jacob to himself,so that Israel might be gathered to him;and I will be honored in the Lord’s sight,for my God is my source of strength –
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 of Israel?I will make you a light to the nations,so you can bring my deliverance to the remote regions of the earth.”