Esias 42

1 Jacob is my servant, I will help him: Israel is my chosen, my soul has accepted him; I have put my Spirit upon him; he shall bring forth judgement to the Gentiles.

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.

2 He shall not cry, nor lift up [his voice], nor shall his voice be heard without.

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

3 A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench; but he shall bring forth judgement to truth.

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.

4 He shall shine out, and shall not be discouraged, until he have set judgement on the earth: and in his name shall the Gentiles trust.

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.

5 Thus says the Lord God, who made the heaven, and established it; who settled the earth, and the things in it, and gives breath to the people on it, and spirit to them that tread on it:

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:

6 I the Lord God have called you in righteousness, and will hold your hand, and will strengthen you: and I have given you for the covenant of a race, for a light of the Gentiles:

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:

7 to open the eyes of the blind, to bring the bound and them that sit in darkness out of bonds and the prison-house.

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.

8 I am the Lord God: that is my name: I will not give my glory to another, nor my praises to graven images.

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

9 Behold, the ancient things have come to pass, and [so will] the new things which I tell you: yes, before I tell [them] they are made known to you.

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.

10 Sing a new hymn to the Lord: you [who are] his dominion, glorify his name from the end of the earth: you that go down to the sea, and sail upon it; the islands, and they that dwell in them.

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.

11 Rejoice, you wilderness, and the villages thereof, the hamlets, and the dwellers in Kedar: the inhabitants of the rock shall rejoice, they shall shout from the top of the mountains.

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.

12 They shall give glory to God, [and] shall proclaim his praises in the islands.

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

13 The Lord God of hosts shall go forth, and crush the war: he shall stir up jealousy, and shall shout mightily against his enemies.

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.

14 I have been silent: shall I also always be silent and forbear: I have endured like a travailing [woman]: I will [now] amaze and wither at once.

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.

15 I will make desolate mountains and hills, and will dry up all their grass; and I will make the rivers islands, and dry up the pools.

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

16 And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not, and I will cause them to tread paths which they have not known: I will turn darkness into light for them, and crooked things into straight. These things will I do, and will not forsake them.

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.

17 But they are turned back: be you utterly ashamed that trust in graven [images], who say to the molten [images], You are our gods.

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.

18 Hear, you deaf, and look up, you blind, to see.

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

19 And who is blind, but my servants? and deaf, but they that rule over them? yes, the servants of God have been made blind.

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?

20 You have often seen, and have not taken heed; [your] ears have been opened, and you have not heard.

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

21 The Lord God has taken counsel that he might be justified, and might magnify [his] praise.

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

22 And I saw, and the people were spoiled and plundered: for [there is] a snare in the secret chambers everywhere, and in the houses also, where they have hidden them: they became a spoil, and there was no one that delivered the prey, and there was none who said, Restore.

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.

23 Who [is there] amongst you that will give ear to these things? listen you to the things which are coming to pass.

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

24 For what did he give to Jacob up to spoil, and Israel to them that plundered him? Did not God [do it] against whom they sinned? [and] they would not walk in his ways, nor listen to his law.

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.

25 So he brought upon them the fury of his wrath; and the war, and those that burnt round about them, prevailed against them; yet no one of them knew [it], neither did they lay [it] to heart.

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.