The Servant and Light to the Gentiles
(Acts 13:42–52)
Listen to Me, O islands; 1 Jer 1:5Gal 1:15Isa 44:2Isa 49:5Luk 1:311Pe 1:20Luk 2:10-11Mat 1:20-21
pay attention, O distant peoples:
The LORD called Me from the womb;
from the body of My mother He named Me.
He made My mouth like a sharp sword; Heb 4:12Rev 1:16Isa 50:4Rev 2:12Isa 11:4Isa 51:16Jer 1:18Psa 91:1
He hid Me in the shadow of His hand.
He made Me like a polished arrow;
He hid Me in His quiver.
He said to Me, “You are My Servant, Israel, Isa 42:11Pe 2:9Isa 44:23Isa 52:13Jhn 17:1Jhn 17:4Zec 3:8Isa 53:10
in whom I will display My glory.”
But I said, “I have labored in vain, Isa 35:4Gal 4:112Co 12:152Co 2:15Ezk 3:19Isa 40:10Isa 53:10-12Isa 62:11
I have spent My strength in futility and vanity;
yet My vindication is with the LORD,
and My reward is with My God.”
And now says the LORD, Jhn 3:35Mat 17:51Pe 3:22Mat 28:18Rom 15:81Th 2:15-16Eph 1:20-22Isa 11:12
who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant,
to bring Jacob back to Him,
that Israel might be gathered to Him—
for I am honored in the sight of the LORD,
and My God is My strength—
He says: “It is not enough for You to be My Servant, Act 13:47Isa 42:6Luk 2:32Psa 98:2-3Isa 52:10Isa 60:3Luk 24:46-47Act 26:18
to raise up the tribes of Jacob,
and to restore the protected ones of Israel.
I will also make You a light for the nations,
to bring My salvation to the ends of the earth.” 2
Thus says the LORD, 1Pe 2:4Isa 53:3Mat 26:67Isa 48:17Psa 22:6-8Psa 72:10-11Isa 49:23Isa 49:1
the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel,
to Him who was despised and abhorred by the nation,
to the Servant of rulers:
“Kings will see You and rise,
and princes will bow down,
because of the LORD, who is faithful,
the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen You.”
This is what the LORD says: 2Co 6:2Isa 42:6Psa 69:13Heb 12:24Isa 61:4Isa 58:12Eph 2:12-19Heb 5:7
“In the time of favor I will answer You,
and in the day of salvation I will help You; 3
I will keep You and appoint You
to be a covenant for the people,
to restore the land,
to apportion its desolate inheritances,
to say to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’ 1Pe 2:9Isa 42:16Isa 42:7Luk 4:18Isa 61:1Isa 9:2Psa 102:20Psa 69:33
and to those in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’
They will feed along the pathways,
and find pasture on every barren hill.
They will not hunger or thirst, Rev 7:16-17Mat 5:6Ezk 34:23Isa 33:16Psa 121:5-6Isa 40:11Jer 31:9Jhn 10:3-4
nor will scorching heat or sun beat down on them. 4
For He who has compassion on them will guide them
and lead them beside springs of water.
I will turn all My mountains into roads, Isa 11:16Isa 35:8-10Isa 62:10Luk 3:4-5Isa 40:3-4Isa 43:19Isa 57:14Jhn 14:6
and My highways will be raised up.
Behold, they will come from far away, Isa 43:5-6Isa 11:10-11Isa 2:2-3Isa 60:9-14Isa 66:19-20Luk 13:29Mat 8:11Mic 4:2
from the north and from the west, 5
and from the land of Aswan. 6”
Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice, O earth; Isa 44:23Isa 51:3Psa 96:11-13Isa 40:1-2Isa 52:9Luk 2:13-142Th 2:16-17Isa 12:1
break forth in song, O mountains!
For the LORD has comforted His people,
and He will have compassion on His afflicted ones.
But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me; Isa 40:27Rom 11:1-5Jer 23:39Lam 5:20Psa 22:1Psa 31:22Psa 89:38-46Psa 13:1
the Lord has forgotten me!”
“Can a woman forget her nursing child, Isa 44:21Psa 103:13Mat 7:11Jer 31:20Hos 11:1Mal 3:17Lam 4:101Ki 3:26-27
or lack compassion for the son of her womb?
Even if she could forget,
I will not forget you!
Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Hag 2:23Isa 60:18Isa 62:6Sng 8:6Exo 13:9Isa 26:1Isa 54:12Psa 48:12-13
your walls are ever before Me.
Your builders 7hasten back; Isa 51:13Isa 62:5Ezk 28:24Isa 51:22-23Ezr 1:5Isa 10:6Isa 49:19Isa 51:18-20
your destroyers and wreckers depart from you.
Lift up your eyes and look around. Isa 54:1-3Isa 61:10Isa 66:12-13Isa 54:9Isa 43:5-6Isa 49:12Isa 54:7Isa 66:20
They all gather together; they come to you.
As surely as I live,” declares the LORD,
“you will wear them all as jewelry
and put them on like a bride.
For your ruined and desolate places Zec 10:10Isa 54:1-2Jer 30:18-19Hos 1:10-11Isa 49:25-26Isa 51:3Psa 56:1-2Ezk 36:3
and your ravaged land
will now indeed be too small for your people,
and those who devoured you will be far away.
Yet the children of your bereavement Jos 17:14-162Ki 6:1Gal 4:26-28Hos 1:10Isa 51:3Isa 54:1-3Isa 60:4Mat 3:9
will say in your hearing,
‘This place is too small for us;
make room for us to live here.’
Then you will say in your heart, Gal 3:29Gal 4:26-29Isa 1:8Isa 3:26Isa 5:13Isa 51:17-20Isa 52:2Isa 54:3-8
‘Who has begotten these for me?
I was bereaved and barren;
I was exiled and rejected.
So who has reared them?
Look, I was left all alone,
so where did they come from?’”
This is what the Lord GOD says: Isa 14:2Luk 13:29Psa 86:9Isa 11:10-12Isa 2:2-3Isa 42:1-4Isa 49:12Isa 60:3-11
“Behold, I will lift up My hand to the nations,
and raise My banner to the peoples.
They will bring your sons in their arms 8
and carry your daughters on their shoulders.
Kings will be your foster fathers, Isa 60:14Isa 60:16Isa 60:3Mic 7:17Isa 45:14Isa 60:10-11Rom 10:11Psa 25:3
and their queens your nursing mothers.
They will bow to you facedown
and lick the dust at your feet.
Then you will know that I am the LORD;
those who hope in Me will never be put to shame.”
Can the plunder be snatched from the mighty, Luk 11:21-22Psa 124:6-7Mat 12:29Ezk 37:3Isa 42:22Ezr 9:13Ezr 9:9Psa 126:1-3
or the captives of a tyrant 9be delivered?
Indeed, this is what the LORD says: Isa 54:15-17Isa 35:4Isa 41:11-12Jer 50:33-34Isa 54:13Rom 8:31-39Zec 14:12Isa 10:27
“Even the captives of the mighty will be taken away,
and the plunder of the tyrant will be retrieved;
I will contend with those who contend with you,
and I will save your children.
I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh; Isa 9:20Isa 41:14-20Isa 9:4Rev 16:6Ezk 39:7Isa 43:3Isa 60:16Psa 9:16
they will be drunk on their own blood, as with wine.
Then all mankind will know that I, the LORD,
am your Savior and your Redeemer,
the Mighty One of Jacob.”