Isaiah 42

1 Behold, My servant, I take hold on Him, My Chosen One—My soul has accepted, I have put My Spirit on Him, He brings forth judgment to nations.

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 does not cry, nor lift up, Nor cause His voice to be heard in the street.

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

3 A bruised reed He does not break, And faded flax He does not quench, He brings forth judgment to truth.

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

4 He does not become weak nor bruised, Until He sets judgment in the earth, And islands wait with hope for His law.

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 Thus said God, YHWH, Creating the heavens, and stretching them out, Spreading out the earth and its productions, Giving breath to the people on it, And spirit to those walking in it.

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, YHWH, called you in righteousness, And I lay hold on your hand, and keep you, And I give you for a covenant of a people, And a light of 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 To open the eyes of the blind, To bring forth the bound one from prison, Those sitting in darkness from the house of restraint.

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] YHWH, this [is] My Name, And I do not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to carved images.

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

9 The former things, behold, have come, And I am declaring new things, Before they spring up I cause you to hear.

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 YHWH, His praise from the end of the earth, You who are going down to the sea, and its fullness, Islands, and their inhabitants.

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 The wilderness and its cities lift up [their voice], Kedar inhabits the villages, The inhabitants of Sela sing, They cry from the top of mountains.

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 They ascribe to YHWH glory, And they declare His praise in the islands.

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

13 YHWH goes forth as a mighty one. He stirs up zeal as a man of war, He cries, indeed, He shrieks, He shows Himself mighty against 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 have kept silent from of old, I keep silent, I refrain Myself, I cry out as a travailing woman, I desolate and swallow up together.

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 make desolate mountains and hills, And I dry up all their herbs, And I have made rivers become islands, And I dry up ponds.

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 And I have caused the blind to go, In a way they have not known, I cause them to tread in paths they have not known, I make a dark place become light before them, And unleveled places become a plain, These [are] the things I have done to them, And I have not forsaken them.

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 Removed backward—utterly ashamed, Are those trusting in a carved image, Those saying to a molten image, “You [are] our gods.”

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 You deaf, hear; and you blind, look to see.

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

19 Who [is] blind but My servant? And deaf as My messenger I send? Who [is] blind as he who is at peace, Indeed, blind, as the servant of YHWH?

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 Seeing many things, and you do not observe, Opening ears, and he does not hear.

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

21 YHWH has delight for the sake of His righteousness, He magnifies law, and makes honorable.

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

22 And this [is] a people seized and spoiled, Snared in holes—all of them, And they were hidden in houses of restraint, They have been for a prey, And there is no deliverer, A spoil, and none is saying, “Restore.”

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 among you gives ear [to] this? Attends, and hears afterward?

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

24 Who has given Jacob for a spoil, And Israel to the spoilers? Is it not YHWH—He against whom we sinned? Indeed, they have not been willing to walk in His ways, Nor have they listened to 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 And He pours fury on him, His anger, and the strength of battle, And it sets him on fire all around, And he has not known, And it burns against him, and he does not lay it to heart!

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.