Isaiah 42
1 Look! Here is my servant, the one I support; my chosen one who pleases me. I have placed my Spirit on him, and he will show the nations what is right.
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.
2 He won't shout or cry out; he won't raise his voice in the street.
He shall not cry, nor lift up [his voice], nor shall his voice be heard without.
3 He won't break a damaged reed; he won't snuff out a smoldering wick. He will faithfully make sure everyone is treated fairly.
A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench; but he shall bring forth judgement to truth.
4 He won't give up or become discouraged until he has made sure that justice is upheld throughout the world. Even lands overseas will look forward to his teachings.
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.
5 This is what God the Lord says, the one who created the heavens and stretched them out, who made the earth and everything in it, who gives breath to the people on it, and life to those who live there:
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:
6 “I, the Lord, have called you to demonstrate what's right, and I will hold your hand. I will take care of you, and give you as a sign of my agreement with the people and as a light to the nations.
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:
7 You will make the blind see, set free those who are locked up, and lead those who sit in darkness out from prison.
to open the eyes of the blind, to bring the bound and them that sit in darkness out of bonds and the prison-house.
8 I am the Lord—that is my name! I do not give my honor to anyone else; I do not give my praise to idols.
I am the Lord God: that is my name: I will not give my glory to another, nor my praises to graven images.
9 Notice that what I foretold has come true, as will the new things I'm saying to you now. I tell you what will happen before it does.”
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.
10 Sing a new song to the Lord! Sing praise from everywhere on earth, you who sail on the sea and everything in it, you islands and everyone who lives in them.
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.
11 Let the people in the desert and its towns shout; let the people of the villages of Kedar cry out loud. Let the people of Sela sing for joy; let them shout from the mountaintops.
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.
12 Let them glorify the Lord and praise him in the islands.
They shall give glory to God, [and] shall proclaim his praises in the islands.
13 Like a mighty warrior the Lord will march out, like a seasoned soldier he goes out with courage. He gives his war-cry, shouting as he battles and defeats his enemies.
The Lord God of hosts shall go forth, and crush the war: he shall stir up jealousy, and shall shout mightily against his enemies.
14 “I didn't say anything for a long time, I kept quiet and restrained myself. But now like a woman giving birth, I will moan and gasp and pant.
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.
15 I will dry up the mountains and the hills, and make all their greenery wither. I will turn rivers into islands and dry up the pools.
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.
16 I will lead the blind along a road they don't know; I will guide them along paths they don't know. I will turn darkness into light before them, and smooth out the rough places. This is what I'm going to do for them; I won't let them down.
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.
17 But those who trust in idols and say to images, ‘You are our gods!’ will be rejected in humiliation and shame.
But they are turned back: be you utterly ashamed that trust in graven [images], who say to the molten [images], You are our gods.
18 Listen, you deaf people! Look and see, you blind people!
Hear, you deaf, and look up, you blind, to see.
19 Who is blind like my servant? Who is deaf like my messenger that I send? Who is as blind as the people of the agreement? Who is as blind as the servant of the Lord?
And who is blind, but my servants? and deaf, but they that rule over them? yes, the servants of God have been made blind.
20 You've looked at many things but have not really seen; you've heard but never really listened.”
You have often seen, and have not taken heed; [your] ears have been opened, and you have not heard.
21 Because the Lord does what is right he wanted to show how important and wonderful his instructions were.
The Lord God has taken counsel that he might be justified, and might magnify [his] praise.
22 But this people ended up robbed and raided, all of them trapped in holes or hidden in prisons. They have been stolen like loot, with no one to save them from being someone's prize, no one to say “Give them back!”
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.
23 Who of you is going to listen to this, or pay attention later on?
Who [is there] amongst you that will give ear to these things? listen you to the things which are coming to pass.
24 Who let Jacob be taken as loot; who let Israel be taken by robbers? Wasn't it the Lord who we sinned against? The people weren't willing to follow his ways, and they refused to obey his law.
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.
25 So he poured out his furious anger on them, and the violence of war. Even though they were surrounded by flames, but they still didn't understand. The fire burned them up, but they still did not take the situation seriously.
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.
