49 Coasts and islands,^[a] listen to me;
distant peoples, pay attention.
The Lord called^(A) me before I was born.
He named me while I was in my mother’s womb.^(B)
2 He made my words like a sharp sword;^(C)
he hid me in the shadow of his hand.^(D)
He made me like a sharpened arrow;
he hid me in his quiver.
³ He said to me, “You are my servant,^(E)
Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”
⁴ But I myself said: I have labored in vain,
I have spent my strength for nothing and futility;
yet my vindication is with the Lord,
and my reward is with my God.