Isaiah 42
1 “Here is My Servant, whom I uphold, My Chosen One, in whom My soul delights. I will put My Spirit on Him, and He will bring justice to the nations.
Behold my servant, I will uphold him: my elect, my soul delighteth in him: I have given my spirit upon him, he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
2 He will not cry out or raise His voice, nor make His voice heard in the streets.
He shall not cry, nor have respect to person, neither shall his voice be heard abroad.
3 A bruised reed He will not break and a smoldering wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice.
The bruised reed he shall not break, and smoking flax he shall not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.
4 He will not grow weak or discouraged before He has established justice on the earth. In His law the islands will put their hope.”
He shall not be sad, nor troublesome, till he set judgment in the earth: and the islands shall wait for his law.
5 This is what God the LORD says— He who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and its offspring, who gives breath to the people on it and life to those who walk in it:
Thus saith the Lord God that created the heavens, and stretched them out: that established the earth, and the things that spring out of it: that giveth breath to the people upon it, and spirit to them that tread thereon.
6 “I, the LORD, have called you for a righteous purpose, and I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and appoint you to be a covenant for the people and a light to the nations,
I the Lord have called thee in justice, and taken thee by the hand, and preserved thee. And I have given thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles:
7 to open the eyes of the blind, to bring prisoners out of the dungeon and those sitting in darkness out from the prison house.
That thou mightest open the eyes of the blind, and bring forth the prisoner out of prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.
8 I am the LORD; that is My name! I will not yield My glory to another or My praise to idols.
I the Lord, this is my name: I will not give my glory to another, nor my praise to graven things.
9 Behold, the former things have happened, and now I declare new things. Before they spring forth I proclaim them to you.”
The things that were first, behold they are come: and new things do I declare: before they spring forth, I will make you head them.
10 Sing to the LORD a new song— His praise from the ends of the earth— you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it, you islands, and all who dwell in them.
Sing ye to the Lora a new song, his praise is from the ends of the earth: you that go down to the sea, and all that are therein: ye islands, and ye inhabitants of them.
11 Let the desert and its cities raise their voices; let the villages of Kedar cry aloud. Let the people of Sela sing for joy; let them cry out from the mountaintops.
Let the desert and the cities thereof be exalted: Cedar shall dwell in houses: ye inhabitants of Petra, give praise, they shall cry from the top of the mountains.
12 Let them give glory to the LORD and declare His praise in the islands.
They shall give glory to the Lord, and shall declare his praise in the islands.
13 The LORD goes forth like a mighty one; He stirs up His zeal like a warrior. He shouts; yes, He roars in triumph over His enemies:
The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man, as a man of war shall he stir up zeal: he shall shout and cry: he shall prevail against his enemies.
14 “I have kept silent from ages past; I have remained quiet and restrained. But now I will groan like a woman in labor; I will at once gasp and pant.
I have always held my peace, I have I kept silence, I have been patient, I will speak now as a woman in labour: I will destroy, and swallow up at once.
15 I will lay waste the mountains and hills and dry up all their vegetation. I will turn the rivers into dry land and drain the marshes.
I will lay waste the mountains and hills, and will make all their grass to wither: and I will turn rivers into islands, and will dry up the standing pools.
16 I will lead the blind by a way they did not know; I will guide them on unfamiliar paths. I will turn darkness into light before them and rough places into level ground. These things I will do for them, and I will not forsake them.
And I will lead the blind into the way which they know not: and in the paths which they were ignorant of I will make them walk: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight: these things have I done to them, and have not forsaken them.
17 But those who trust in idols and say to molten images, ‘You are our gods!’ will be turned back in utter shame.
They are turned back: let them be greatly confounded, that trust in a graven thing, that say to a molten thing: You are our god.
18 Listen, you deaf ones; look, you blind ones, that you may see!
Hear, ye deaf, and, ye blind, behold that you may see.
19 Who is blind but My servant, or deaf like the messenger I am sending? Who is blind like My covenant partner, or blind like the servant of the LORD?
Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, but he to whom I have sent my messengers? Who is blind, but he that is sold? or who is blind, but the servant of the Lord?
20 Though seeing many things, you do not keep watch. Though your ears are open, you do not hear.”
Thou that seest many things, wilt thou not observe them? thou that hast ears open, wilt thou not hear?
21 The LORD was pleased, for the sake of His righteousness, to magnify His law and make it glorious.
And the Lord was willing to sanctify him, and to magnify the law, and exalt it.
22 But this is a people plundered and looted, all trapped in caves or imprisoned in dungeons. They have become plunder with no one to rescue them, and loot with no one to say, “Send them back!”
But this is a people that is robbed and wasted: they are all the snare of young men, and they are hid in the houses of prisons: they are made a prey, and there is none to deliver them: a spoil, and there is none that saith: Restore.
23 Who among you will pay attention to this? Who will listen and obey hereafter?
Who is there among you that will give ear to this, that will attend and hearken for times to come?
24 Who gave Jacob up for spoil, and Israel to the plunderers? Was it not the LORD, against whom we have sinned? They were unwilling to walk in His ways, and they would not obey His law.
Who hath given Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to robbers? hath not the Lord himself, against whom we have sinned? And they would not walk in his ways, and they have not hearkened to his law.
25 So He poured out on them His furious anger and the fierceness of battle. It enveloped them in flames, but they did not understand; it consumed them, but they did not take it to heart.
And he hath poured out upon him the indignation of his fury, and a strong battle, and hath burnt him round about, and he knew not: and set him on fire, and he understood not.
