1. Listen, O coastlands, unto me; and hearken, you people, from afar; The LORD has called me from the womb; from the body of my mother has he made mention of my name.
2. And he has made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand has he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver has he hid me;
3. And said unto me,
4. Then I said, I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing, and in vain: yet surely my due justice is with the LORD, and my recompense with my God.
5. And now, says the LORD that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my strength.
6. And he said,
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,
8. Thus says the LORD,
9. That you may say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that 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 strike them: for he that has mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them.
11. And I will make all my mountains a roadway, and my highways shall be exalted.
12. Behold, these shall come from afar: and, lo, 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? yea, they may forget, yet will I 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 they that made you waste shall go forth from you.
18. Lift up your eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to you. As I live,
19. For your waste and your desolate places, and the land of your destruction, shall even now be too narrow for the inhabitants, and they that 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 a place to me that I may dwell.
21. Then shall you say in your heart, Who has begotten for me these, since I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and moving to and fro? and who has brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been?
22. Thus says the Lord GOD,
23. And kings shall be your nursing fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers: they shall bow down 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 that wait for me.
24. Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered?
25. But thus says the LORD,
26. And I will feed them that oppress you with their own flesh; and they shall be drunk 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.