³ He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel,
    and you will bring me glory.”

⁴ I replied, “But my work seems so useless!
    I have spent my strength for nothing and to no purpose.
Yet I leave it all in the Lord’s hand;
    I will trust God for my reward.”

⁵ And now the Lord speaks—
    the one who formed me in my mother’s womb to be his servant,
    who commissioned me to bring Israel back to him.
The Lord has honored me,
    and my God has given me strength.
⁶ He says, “You will do more than restore the people of Israel to me.
    I will make you a light to the Gentiles,
    and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”

⁷ The Lord, the Redeemer
    and Holy One of Israel,
says to the one who is despised and rejected by the nations,
    to the one who is the servant of rulers:
“Kings will stand at attention when you pass by.
    Princes will also bow low
because of the Lord, the faithful one,
    the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

“At just the right time, I will respond to you.^[a]
    On the day of salvation I will help you.
I will protect you and give you to the people
    as my covenant with them.
Through you I will reestablish the land of Israel
    and assign it to its own people again.
⁹ I will say to the prisoners, ‘Come out in freedom,’
    and to those in darkness, ‘Come into the light.’
They will be my sheep, grazing in green pastures
    and on hills that were previously bare.
¹⁰ They will neither hunger nor thirst.
    The searing sun will not reach them anymore.
For the Lord in his mercy will lead them;
    he will lead them beside cool waters.
¹¹ And I will make my mountains into level paths for them.
    The highways will be raised above the valleys.
¹² See, my people will return from far away,
    from lands to the north and west,
    and from as far south as Egypt.^[b]”

¹³ Sing for joy, O heavens!
    Rejoice, O earth!
    Burst into song, O mountains!
For the Lord has comforted his people
    and will have compassion on them in their suffering.

² The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior;
    my God is my rock, in whom I find protection.
He is my shield, the power that saves me,
    and my place of safety.
³ I called on the Lord, who is worthy of praise,
    and he saved me from my enemies.

⁴ The ropes of death entangled me;
    floods of destruction swept over me.
⁵ The grave^[a] wrapped its ropes around me;
    death laid a trap in my path.
⁶ But in my distress I cried out to the Lord;
    yes, I prayed to my God for help.
He heard me from his sanctuary;
    my cry to him reached his ears.

⁷ Then the earth quaked and trembled.
    The foundations of the mountains shook;
    they quaked because of his anger.
⁸ Smoke poured from his nostrils;
    fierce flames leaped from his mouth.
    Glowing coals blazed forth from him.
⁹ He opened the heavens and came down;
    dark storm clouds were beneath his feet.
¹⁰ Mounted on a mighty angelic being,^[b] he flew,
    soaring on the wings of the wind.
¹¹ He shrouded himself in darkness,
    veiling his approach with dark rain clouds.

¹⁶ He reached down from heaven and rescued me;
    he drew me out of deep waters.
¹⁷ He rescued me from my powerful enemies,
    from those who hated me and were too strong for me.
¹⁸ They attacked me at a moment when I was in distress,
    but the Lord supported me.
¹⁹ He led me to a place of safety;
    he rescued me because he delights in me.