A reading from
the Book of the Prophet Isaiah49:1-6
Hear me, O islands,/ listen, O distant peoples./ The Lord called me from birth,/ from my mother’s womb he gave me my name./ He made of me a sharp-edged sword/ and concealed me in the shadow of his arm./ He made me a polished arrow,/ in his quiver he hid me./ You are my servant, he said to me,/ Israel, through whom I show my glory.
Though I thought I had toiled in vain,/ and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength,/ Yet my reward is with the Lord,/ my recompense is with my God./ For now the Lord has spoken/ who formed me as his servant from the womb,/ That Jacob may be brought back to him/ and Israel gathered to him;/ And I am made glorious in the sight of the Lord,/ and my God is now my strength!/ It is too little, he says, for you to be my servant,/ to raise up the tribes of Jacob,/ and restore the survivors of Israel;/ I will make you a light to the nations,/ that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.
The word of the Lord.
