Isaiah 49:5

⁵And now the Lord says— he who formed me in the womb to be his servant to bring Jacob back to him and gather Israel to himself, for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord and my God has been my strength—

Isaiah 49 introduces the Servant of the Lord in a new light: not only as a restorer of Israel but as a light to the nations. The chapter opens with the Servant’s own testimony of being called from the womb, then shifts to a tender address to a despondent Zion, assuring her that God