Isaiah 49

Listen, islands, to me.

He has made my mouth like a sharp sword.

He said to me, “You are my servant;

But I said, “I have labored in vain.

Now Yahweh says, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant,

Indeed, he says, “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob,

Yahweh, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One,

Yahweh says, “In an acceptable time I have answered you,

saying to those who are bound, ‘Come out!’;

They shall not hunger nor thirst;

I will make all my mountains a road,

Behold, these shall come from afar;

Sing, heavens; and be joyful, earth;

But Zion said, “Yahweh has forsaken me,

“Can a woman forget her nursing child,

Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.

Your children hurry.

Lift up your eyes all around, and see:

“For, as for your waste and your desolate places,

The children of your bereavement will say in your ears,

Then you will say in your heart, ‘Who has conceived these for me, since I have been bereaved of my children,

Thus says the Lord Yahweh, “Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations,

Kings shall be your foster fathers,

Shall the plunder be taken from the mighty,

But Yahweh says, “Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away,

I will feed those who oppress you with their own flesh;