1  Listen to me, ^kO coastlands,

and give attention, you peoples ^lfrom afar.

^mThe Lord called me from the womb,

from the body of my mother he named my name.

2  ⁿHe made my mouth like a sharp sword;

^oin 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, ^pin whom I will be glorified.”¹

4  ^qBut 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  ^rAnd now the Lord says,

he ^mwho formed me from the womb to be his servant,

to bring Jacob back to him;

and that Israel might be gathered to him—

for ^sI 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;

^tI will make you ^uas a light for the nations,

that ^vmy salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

7  Thus says the Lord,

^wthe Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One,

^xto one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation,

the servant of rulers:

^y“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:

^z“In a ^atime of favor I have answered you;

in a day of salvation I have helped you;

I will keep you ^band give you

as a covenant to the people,

to establish the land,

^cto apportion the desolate heritages,

9  ^dsaying to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’

to those who are in darkness, ‘Appear.’

^eThey shall feed along the ways;

on all bare heights shall be their pasture;

10  ^fthey shall not hunger or thirst,

neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them,

for he who has pity on them ^gwill lead them,

and by springs of water will guide them.

11  ^hAnd I will make all my mountains a road,

and my highways shall be raised up.

12  ⁱBehold, these shall come from afar,

and behold, ^jthese from the north and from the west,²

and these from the land of Syene.”³

13  ^kSing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth;

break forth, O mountains, into singing!

For the Lord ^lhas comforted his people

and will have compassion on his afflicted.

14  But Zion said, ^m“The Lord has forsaken me;

my Lord has forgotten me.”

15  ⁿ“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, ^oI have engraved you on the palms of my hands;

your walls are continually before me.

17  Your builders make haste;⁴

^pyour destroyers and those who laid you waste go out from you.

18  ^qLift up your eyes around and see;

they all gather, they come to you.

^rAs I live, declares the Lord,

^syou 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—

^tsurely now you will be too narrow for your inhabitants,

and those who swallowed you up will be far away.

20  ^uThe children of your bereavement

will yet say in your ears:

^t‘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?

^uI 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,

^vand raise my signal to the peoples;

^wand they shall bring your sons in their arms,⁵

and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.

23  ^xKings shall be your foster fathers,

and their queens your nursing mothers.

^yWith their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you,

and ^zlick the dust of your feet.

Then you will know that I am the Lord;

^athose who wait for me ^bshall not be put to shame.”

24  Can the prey be taken from the mighty,

or the captives of a tyrant⁶ be rescued?

25  For thus says the Lord:

^c“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  ^dI will make your oppressors eat their own flesh,

and they shall be drunk ^ewith their own blood as with wine.

Then all flesh shall know

that ^fI am the Lord your Savior,

and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”

1  Thus says the Lord:

“Where is ^gyour mother’s certificate of divorce,

with which ^hI sent her away?

Or ⁱwhich of my creditors is it

to whom I have sold you?

^jBehold, for your iniquities you were sold,

and for your transgressions your mother was sent away.

2  ^kWhy, when I came, was there no man;

why, when I called, was there no one to answer?

^lIs my hand shortened, that it cannot redeem?

Or have I no power to deliver?

^mBehold, by my rebuke ⁿI dry up the sea,

^oI make the rivers a desert;

^ptheir fish stink for lack of water

and die of thirst.

3  ^qI clothe the heavens with blackness

and make sackcloth their covering.”

4  The Lord God has given ^rme

the tongue of those who are taught,

that ^sI may know how to sustain with a word

^thim who is weary.

Morning by morning he awakens;

he awakens my ear

to hear as those who are taught.

5  ^uThe Lord God has opened my ear,

^vand I was not rebellious;

I turned not backward.

6  ^wI gave my back to those who strike,

and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard;

I hid not my face

from disgrace and spitting.

7  But the Lord God helps me;

therefore I have not been disgraced;

^xtherefore I have set my face like a flint,

and I know that I shall not be put to shame.

8  ^yHe who vindicates me is near.

Who will contend with me?

Let us stand up together.

Who is my adversary?

Let him come near to me.

9  ^zBehold, the Lord God helps me;

who will declare me guilty?

Behold, all of them will wear out like a garment;

the moth will eat them up.

10  Who among you fears the Lord

and obeys ^athe voice of his servant?

^bLet him who walks in darkness

and has no light

trust in the name of the Lord

and rely on his God.

11  Behold, all you who kindle a fire,

who equip yourselves with burning torches!

Walk by the light of your fire,

and by the torches that you have kindled!

^cThis you have from my hand:

you shall lie down in torment.

1  ^d“Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness,

you who seek the Lord:

look to the rock from which you were hewn,

and to the quarry from which you were dug.

2  Look to Abraham your father

and to Sarah who bore you;

for ^ehe was but one when I called him,

that I might bless him and multiply him.

3  For the Lord ^fcomforts Zion;

he comforts all her waste places

and makes her wilderness like ^gEden,

her desert like ^hthe garden of the Lord;

ⁱjoy and gladness will be found in her,

thanksgiving and the voice of song.

4  ^j“Give attention to me, my people,

and give ear to me, my nation;

^kfor a law⁷ will go out from me,

and I will set my justice for a light to the peoples.

5  ^lMy righteousness draws near,

my salvation has gone out,

and my arms will judge the peoples;

^mthe coastlands hope for me,

and for my arm they wait.

6  ⁿLift up your eyes to the heavens,

and look at the earth beneath;

^ofor the heavens vanish like smoke,

the earth will wear out like a garment,

and they who dwell in it will die in like manner;⁸

^pbut my salvation will be forever,

and my righteousness will never be dismayed.

7  ^q“Listen to me, you who know righteousness,

the people ^rin whose heart is my law;

^sfear not the reproach of man,

nor be dismayed at their revilings.

8  ^tFor the moth will eat them up like a garment,

and the worm will eat them like wool,

^pbut my righteousness will be forever,

and my salvation to all generations.”

9  ^uAwake, awake, ^vput on strength,

O ^warm of the Lord;

awake, ^xas in days of old,

the generations of long ago.

Was it not you who cut ^yRahab in pieces,

who pierced ^zthe dragon?

10  ^aWas it not you who dried up the sea,

the waters of the great deep,

who made the depths of the sea a way

for the redeemed to pass over?

11  ^bAnd the ransomed of the Lord shall return

and come to Zion with singing;

everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;

they shall obtain gladness and joy,

and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

12  “I, I am he ^cwho comforts you;

who are you that you are afraid of ^dman who dies,

of the son of man who is made ^elike grass,

13  and have forgotten the Lord, your Maker,

^fwho stretched out the heavens

and ^glaid the foundations of the earth,

and you fear continually all the day

because of the wrath of ^hthe oppressor,

when he sets himself to destroy?

And where is the wrath of ^hthe oppressor?

14  ⁱHe who is bowed down shall speedily be released;

he shall not die and go down ^jto the pit,

neither shall his bread be lacking.

15  I am the Lord your God,

^kwho stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—

the Lord of hosts is his name.

16  ^lAnd I have put my words in your mouth

^mand covered you in the shadow of my hand,

ⁿestablishing⁹ the heavens

and ^olaying the foundations of the earth,

and saying to Zion, ‘You are my people.’”

17  ^pWake yourself, wake yourself,

stand up, O Jerusalem,

^qyou who have drunk from the hand of the Lord

the cup of his wrath,

who have drunk to the dregs

the bowl, ^rthe cup of staggering.

18  ^sThere is none to guide her

among all the sons she has borne;

there is none to take her by the hand

among all the sons she has brought up.

19  ^tThese two things have happened to you—

who will console you?—

devastation and destruction, famine and sword;

who will comfort you?¹⁰

20  ^uYour sons have fainted;

they lie at the head of every street

like an ^vantelope ^win a net;

they are full of the wrath of the Lord,

the rebuke of your God.

21  ^xTherefore hear this, you who are afflicted,

who are drunk, but not with wine:

22  Thus says your Lord, the Lord,

your God ^ywho pleads the cause of his people:

“Behold, I have taken from your hand ^rthe cup of staggering;

the bowl of my wrath you shall drink no more;

23  ^zand I will put it into the hand of your tormentors,

^awho have said to you,

‘Bow down, that we may pass over’;

and ^byou have made your back like the ground

and like the street for them to pass over.”

65  You have dealt well with your servant,

O Lord, ^zaccording to your word.

66  Teach me ^agood judgment and knowledge,

for I believe in your commandments.

67  ^bBefore I was afflicted I went astray,

but now I keep your word.

68  ^cYou are good and do good;

^dteach me your statutes.

69  ^eThe insolent ^fsmear me with lies,

but with my whole heart I ^gkeep your precepts;

70  their heart is unfeeling ^hlike fat,

but I ⁱdelight in your law.

71  It is ^jgood for me that I was afflicted,

that I might learn your statutes.

72  ^kThe law of your mouth is better to me

than thousands of gold and silver pieces.

73  ^lYour hands have made and fashioned me;

^mgive me understanding that I may learn your commandments.

74  Those who fear you shall see me and ⁿrejoice,

because I have ^ohoped in your word.

75  I know, O Lord, that your rules are ^prighteous,

and that in ^qfaithfulness you have afflicted me.

76  Let your steadfast love comfort me

according to your promise to your servant.

77  Let your ^rmercy come to me, that I may live;

for your law is my ^sdelight.

78  Let ^tthe insolent be put to ^ushame,

because they have ^vwronged me with falsehood;

as for me, I will ^wmeditate on your precepts.

79  Let those who fear you ^xturn to me,

that they may know your testimonies.

80  May my heart be ^yblameless in your statutes,

^zthat I may not be put to shame!

81  My soul ^alongs for your salvation;

I ^bhope in your word.

82  My ^ceyes long for your promise;

I ask, ^d“When will you comfort me?”

83  For I have ^ebecome like a ^fwineskin in the smoke,

yet I have not forgotten your statutes.

84  ^gHow long must your servant endure?¹

^hWhen will you judge those who persecute me?

85  ⁱThe insolent have ^jdug pitfalls for me;

they do not live according to your law.

86  All your commandments are ^ksure;

they persecute me ^lwith falsehood; ^mhelp me!

87  They have almost made an end of me on earth,

but I have not forsaken your precepts.

88  In your steadfast love ⁿgive me life,

that I may keep the testimonies of your mouth.

89  Forever, O Lord, your ^oword

is firmly fixed in the heavens.

90  Your ^pfaithfulness endures to all generations;

you have ^qestablished the earth, and it ^rstands fast.

91  By your ^sappointment they stand this day,

for all things are your servants.

92  If your law had not been my ^tdelight,

I would have perished in my affliction.

93  I will never forget your precepts,

for by them you have ^ugiven me life.

94  I am yours; save me,

^vfor I have sought your precepts.

95  The wicked lie in wait to destroy me,

but I consider your testimonies.

96  I have seen a limit to all perfection,

but your commandment is exceedingly ^wbroad.