Today’s Scripture:

Listen to me, you coastlands![a]Pay attention, you people who live far away!The Lord summoned me from birth;[b]he commissioned me when my mother brought me into the world.[c]2 He made my mouth like a sharp sword,he hid me in the hollow of his hand;he made me like a sharpened[d] arrow,he hid me in his quiver.[e]3 He said to me, “You are my servant,Israel, through whom I will reveal my splendor.”[f]4 But I thought,[g] “I have worked in vain;I have expended my energy for absolutely nothing.”[h]But the Lord will vindicate me;my God will reward me.[i]5 So now the Lord says,the one who formed me from birth[j] to be his servant—he did this[k] to restore Jacob to himself,so that Israel might be gathered to him;and I will be honored[l] in the Lord’s sight,for my God is my source of strength[m]—6 he says, “Is it too insignificant a task for you to be my servant,to reestablish the tribes of Jacob,and restore the remnant[n] of Israel?[o]I will make you a light to the nations,[p]so you can bring[q] my deliverance to the remote regions of the earth.”7 This is what the Lord,the Protector[r] of Israel, their Holy One,[s] saysto the one who is despised[t] and rejected[u] by nations,[v]a servant of rulers:“Kings will see and rise in respect,[w]princes will bow down,because of the faithful Lord,the Holy One of Israel who has chosen you.”

8 This is what the Lord says:

“At the time I decide to show my favor, I will respond to you;in the day of deliverance I will help you;I will protect you[