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.

Behold my servant, whom I uphold, My chosen, in whom my soul delighteth, I have put my spirit upon him; He shall cause law to go forth to the nations.

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

He shall not cry aloud, nor lift up his voice, Nor cause it to be heard in the street.

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

The bruised reed shall he not break, And the glimmering flax shall he not quench; He shall send forth law according 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 not fail, nor become weary, Until he shall have established justice in the earth. And distant nations shall wait for his law.

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 saith God Jehovah, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread forth the earth, and that which springeth forth from it, Who gave breath to the people upon it, And spirit to them that walk thereon:

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, Jehovah, have called thee for salvation; I will hold thee by the hand; I will defend thee, and make thee a covenant to the people, A light to the nations;

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 blind eyes, To bring out the prisoners from the prison, And them that sit in darkness out of 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 Jehovah, that is my name; And my glory will I not give to another, Nor my praise 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.

The former things, behold! they are come to pass, And new things do I now declare; Before they spring forth, I make them 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 to Jehovah a new song; His praise to the ends of the earth; Ye that go down upon the sea, and all that fill it; Ye distant coasts, and ye that dwell therein!

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.

Let the desert cry aloud, and the cities thereof; The villages, that Kedar inhabiteth; Let the inhabitants of the rock sing; Let them shout from the top of the mountains!

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

Let them give glory to Jehovah, And proclaim his praise in distant lands!

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.

Jehovah shall march forth like a hero; Like a mighty warrior shall he rouse his indignation, He shall cry aloud; he shall shout the war-cry, And show himself mighty 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 long held my peace; I have been still and refrained myself; But now will I cry like a woman in travail; I will destroy and swallow up 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 lay waste mountains and hills, And dry up all their herbs. I will make the river solid land, And dry up the pools of water.

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.

Then will I lead the blind in a way which they know not, And in unknown paths will I guide them; I will make darkness light before them, And crooked paths straight; These things will I do for them, and 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.”

Then shall they be turned back, and be put to shame, Who trust in graven images; Who say to molten images, “Ye are our gods!”

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

Hear, O ye deaf! And look, ye blind, and 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?

Who is blind, if not my servant? And who so deaf as my messenger, whom I send? Who so blind as the friend of God, So blind as the servant of Jehovah?

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

Thou seest many things, but regardest them not; Thou hast thine ears open, but hearest not!

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

It pleased Jehovah for his goodness' sake To give him a law, great and glorious;

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 yet it is a robbed and plundered people; They are all of them bound in prisons, And hid in dungeons; They have become a spoil, and none delivereth; A prey, and none saith, “Restore!”

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

Who is there among you that will give ear to this, That will listen and attend for the time to come?

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.

Who gave Jacob to be a spoil, And Israel to plunderers? Was it not Jehovah, against whom we sinned, In whose ways we would not walk, And whose laws we would not obey?

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!

Therefore hath he poured out upon Israel the fury of his wrath, and the violence of war; It kindled a flame around about him, yet he did not regard it; It set him on fire, yet he laid it not to heart.