Isaiah 42

1 See my servant, whom I am supporting, my loved one, in whom I take delight: I have put my spirit on him; he will give the knowledge of the true God to the nations.

“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.

2 He will make no cry, his voice will not be loud: his words will not come to men's ears in the streets.

He will not cry out or raise His voice, nor make His voice heard in the streets.

3 He will not let a crushed stem be quite broken, and he will not let a feebly burning light be put out: he will go on sending out the true word to the peoples.

A bruised reed He will not break and a smoldering wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice.

4 His light will not be put out, and he will not be crushed, till he has given the knowledge of the true God to the earth, and the sea-lands will be waiting for his teaching.

He will not grow weak or discouraged before He has established justice on the earth. In His law the islands will put their hope.”

5 God the Lord, even he who made the heavens, measuring them out on high; stretching out the earth, and giving its produce; he who gives breath to the people on it, and life to those who go about on it, says:

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:

6 I the Lord have made you the vessel of my purpose, I have taken you by the hand, and kept you safe, and I have given you to be an agreement to the people, and a light to the nations:

“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,

7 To give eyes to the blind, to make free the prisoners from the prison, to let out those who are shut up in the dark.

to open the eyes of the blind, to bring prisoners out of the dungeon and those sitting in darkness out from the prison house.

8 I am the Lord; that is my name: I will not give my glory to another, or my praise to pictured images.

I am the LORD; that is My name! I will not yield My glory to another or My praise to idols.

9 See, the things said before have come about, and now I give word of new things: before they come I give you news of them.

Behold, the former things have happened, and now I declare new things. Before they spring forth I proclaim them to you.”

10 Make a new song to the Lord, and let his praise be sounded from the end of the earth; you who go down to the sea, and everything in it, the sea-lands and their people.

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.

11 Let the waste land and its flocks be glad, the tent-circles of Kedar; let the people of the rock give a glad cry, from the top of the mountains let them make a sound of joy.

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.

12 Let them give glory to the Lord, sounding his praise in the sea-lands.

Let them give glory to the LORD and declare His praise in the islands.

13 The Lord will go out as a man of war, he will be moved to wrath like a fighting-man: his voice will be strong, he will give a loud cry; he will go against his attackers like a man of war.

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:

14 I have long been quiet, I have kept myself in and done nothing: now I will make sounds of pain like a woman in childbirth, breathing hard and quickly.

“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.

15 I will make waste mountains and hills, drying up all their plants; and I will make rivers dry, and pools dry land.

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.

16 And I will take the blind by a way of which they had no knowledge, guiding them by roads strange to them: I will make the dark places light before them, and the rough places level. These things will I do and will not give them up.

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.

17 They will be turned back and be greatly shamed who put their hope in pictured images, who say to metal images, You are our gods.

But those who trust in idols and say to molten images, ‘You are our gods!’ will be turned back in utter shame.

18 Give ear, you whose ears are shut; and let your eyes be open, you blind, so that you may see.

Listen, you deaf ones; look, you blind ones, that you may see!

19 Who is blind, but my servant? who has his ears stopped, but he whom I send? who is blind as my true one, or who has his ears shut like the Lord's servant?

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?

20 Seeing much, but keeping nothing in mind; his ears are open, but there is no hearing.

Though seeing many things, you do not keep watch. Though your ears are open, you do not hear.”

21 It was the Lord's pleasure, because of his righteousness, to make the teaching great and give it honour.

The LORD was pleased, for the sake of His righteousness, to magnify His law and make it glorious.

22 But this is a people whose property has been taken away from them by force; they are all taken in holes, and shut up in prisons: they are made prisoners, and no one makes them free; they are taken by force and no one says, Give them back.

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!”

23 Who is there among you who will give ear to this? who will give attention to it for the time to come?

Who among you will pay attention to this? Who will listen and obey hereafter?

24 Who gave up Jacob to those who took away his goods, and Israel to his attackers? Did not the Lord? he against whom they did wrong, and in whose ways they would not go, turning away from his teaching.

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.

25 For this reason he let loose on him the heat of his wrath, and his strength was like a flame; and it put fire round about him, but he did not see it; he was burned, but did not take it to heart.

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.