Listen, foreign shores, to me;
heed, peoples far away.
Yahweh called me from the womb,
from my mother’s insides he made mention of my name.
He made my mouth like a sharp sword,
in the shadow of his hand he hid me.
He made me into a burnished arrow,
in his quiver he concealed me.
He said to me, ‘You’re my servant, Yisra’el;
in you I will show my majesty.’

But I myself said, ‘It was to empty results that I toiled,
for futility and hollowness that I used up my energy.’
Yet a ruling for me is with Yahweh,
my earnings are with my God.

Now Yahweh has said
– the one who formed me from the womb as a servant for him,
By bringing Ya’aqob back to him,
so that Yisra’el might not withdraw;
And I have found honour in Yahweh’s eyes,
and my God has become my vigour –
He has said,
‘It’s slight, your being a servant for me
to raise Ya’aqob’s clans and bring back Yisra’el’s shoots.
I shall make you into a light of nations,
to be my deliverance to the end of the earth.’
Yahweh has said this
– Yisra’el’s restorer, its sacred one –
To one despised in spirit,
offensive to nations,
to a servant of rulers:
Kings will see and rise,
leaders, and they will fall low,
For the sake of Yahweh,
who is trustworthy,
Yisra’el’s sacred one
– he chose you.

Yahweh has said this:
In a time of acceptance I’m answering you,
on a day of deliverance I’m helping you.
I’ll guard you
and make you into a pact for people,
By raising up the country,
by giving out the desolate domains,
By saying to captives, ‘Go out’,
to people in darkness, ‘Appear.’
Along the roads they will pasture,
on all the bare places will be their pasture.
They will not hunger and not thirst;
khamsin and sun won’t strike them down.
Because the one who has compassion on them will lead them,
and guide them by springs of water.
I’ll make all my mountains into a road;
my causeways will rise up.
There – these will come from afar;
there – these from the north and the west,
and these from the country of Sinim.

Goldingay, John; Goldingay, John; Wright, Tom; Wright, Tom. The Bible for Everyone . SPCK. Kindle Edition.

Steer the ship of my life, good Lord, to your quiet harbour,
where I can be safe from the storms of sin and conflict.
Show me the course I should take.
Renew in me the gift of discernment,
so that I can always see the right direction in which I should go.
And give me the strength and the courage to choose the right course,
even when the sea is rough and the waves are high,
knowing that through enduring hardship and danger in your name
we shall find comfort and peace.
Amen

Basil of Caesarea (c.329-379)