1Listen, islands, to me.
2He has made my mouth like a sharp sword.
3He said to me, “You are my servant,
4But I said, “I have laboured in vain.
5Now the LORD, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant,
6Indeed, he says, “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob,
7The LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One,
8The LORD says, “I have answered you in an acceptable time.
9saying to those who are bound, ‘Come out!’;
10They shall not hunger nor thirst;
11I will make all my mountains a road,
12Behold, these shall come from afar,
13Sing, heavens, and be joyful, earth!
14But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me,
15“Can a woman forget her nursing child,
16Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.
17Your children hurry.
18Lift up your eyes all around, and see:
19“For, as for your waste and your desolate places,
20The children of your bereavement will say in your ears,
21Then you will say in your heart, ‘Who has conceived these for me, since I have been bereaved of my children
22The Lord GOD says, “Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations,
23Kings shall be your foster fathers,
24Shall the plunder be taken from the mighty,
25But the LORD says, “Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away,
26I will feed those who oppress you with their own flesh;