Isaiah 42
1 Behold my servant, I will uphold him, my elect, with him my soul is well-pleased. I have sent my Spirit upon him. He will offer judgment to the nations.
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 will not cry out, and he will not show favoritism to anyone; neither will his voice be heard abroad.
He will make no cry, his voice will not be loud: his words will not come to men's ears in the streets.
3 The bruised reed he will not break, and the smoldering wick he will not extinguish. He will lead forth judgment unto 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 will not be saddened or troubled, until he establishes judgment on earth. And the islands will await his law.
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 created the heavens and expanded it, who formed the earth and all that springs from it, who gives breath to the people in it, and spirit to those walking 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, have called you in justice, and I have taken your hand and preserved you. And I have presented you as a covenant of the people, as a light to 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 so that you may open the eyes of the blind, and lead out the prisoner from confinement and those sitting in darkness from the house of incarceration.
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; this is my name. I will not give my glory to another, nor my praise to graven things.
I am the Lord; that is my name: I will not give my glory to another, or my praise to pictured images.
9 The things that were first, behold, they have arrived. And I also announce what is new. Before these things arise, I will cause you to hear about them.
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 to the Lord a new canticle, sing his praise from the ends of the earth, you who descend into the sea and all its fullness, the islands and their inhabitants.
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 Let the desert and its cities be lifted up. Kedar will dwell in houses. O inhabitants of the rock, give praise! They will cry out 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 will give glory to the Lord, and they will announce his praise to the islands.
Let them give glory to the Lord, sounding his praise in the sea-lands.
13 The Lord will go forth like a strong man; like a man of battle, he will stir up zeal. He will shout and cry out. He will prevail 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 always been quiet; I have been silent; I have been patient. I will speak like a woman giving birth. I will destroy and consume, all 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 desolate the mountains and the hills, and I will wither all their grass. And I will turn rivers into islands, and I will dry up the pools of water.
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 lead the blind along a way which they do not know. And I will cause them to walk along paths with which they were unfamiliar. I will turn darkness into light before them, and crooked into straight. These things I have done for them. For I have not abandoned 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 They have been converted again. Let those who trust in graven idols be greatly confounded, for they say to a molten thing, “You are our god.”
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 You who are deaf, hear! You who are blind, turn your gaze and see!
Give ear, you whose ears are shut; and let your eyes be open, you blind, so that you may see.
19 Who is blind, except my servant? Who is deaf, except the one to whom I have sent my messengers? Who is blind, except the one who has been sold? And who is blind, except the servant of the Lord?
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 who see many things, will you not keep them? You who have open ears, will you not listen?
Seeing much, but keeping nothing in mind; his ears are open, but there is no hearing.
21 And the Lord was willing to sanctify him, and to magnify the law, and to exalt him.
It was the Lord's pleasure, because of his righteousness, to make the teaching great and give it honour.
22 But this same people has robbed and laid waste. All their youth are a snare, and they have been hidden in houses of confinement. They have become victims; there is no one who may rescue them. They have been plundered; there is no one who may say, “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 among you who will hear this, who will listen closely and heed this in the future?
Who is there among you who will give ear to this? who will give attention to it for the time to come?
24 Who has handed over Jacob into plunder, and Israel into devastation? Is it not the Lord himself, against whom we have sinned? And they were not willing to walk in his ways, and they have not listened 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 And so, he poured out over him the indignation of his fury and a strong battle. And he burned him all around, and he did not realize it. And he set him on fire, and he did not understand it.
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.
