Isaiah 49:1-5

Listen to what I have to say, you islands. Pay attention to me, you who live in distant lands. YAHWEH called me as his own before I was born and named me while I was still in my mother’s womb. He gives me words that pierce and penetrate. He hid me and protected me in the shadow of his hand. He prepared me like a polished arrow and concealed me in his quiver. And he said to me, “Israel, you are my special servant; in you I will be glorified.” I said, “I’ve worked and served for nothing. I have used up all my strength for nothing.” Yet my rights I leave in YAHWEH’s hands, and my just reward is with my God. And now, the Lord YAHWEH— who shaped me in the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob’s tribes back to him that Israel would be gathered back to him, for I am honored in the sight of YAHWEH. I find the source of all my strength in my God