Isaiah 42
1 [Yahweh says, “I want you people to know about] my servant, whom I encourage. I have chosen him, and I am pleased with him. I have given him my Spirit, and he will make certain that all the people-groups do what is right/just.
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 will not [show his power by] shouting [DOU] or by talking very loudly.
He shall not cry aloud, nor lift up his voice, Nor cause it to be heard in the street.
3 He will not get rid of [anyone who is weak like] [MET] a smashed reed, and he will not [end the life of anyone who is helpless like] [MET] someone would extinguish a dimly burning wick [of an oil lamp]. He will faithfully/continually make sure that judges decide cases justly.
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 will not become exhausted or discouraged all during the time that he is causing things to be done justly throughout the earth. Even [people living on the islands in] [MTY] the oceans will confidently wait for [him to teach them] his laws.”
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 Yahweh our God created the sky and spread it out. He also created the earth and everything on it. He gives breath to all the people on the earth; he causes them to live [DOU]. [And he is the one who says to his special servant],
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, Yahweh, have chosen you to show people that I always act righteously/fairly. I will grasp your hand and protect you, and I will present you to [my Israeli] people to be the one who will put into effect my agreement with them. [You will be like] a light to the [other] 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 You will enable blind [IDM] people to see, you will free those who are in prison (OR, who are bound [by the guilt of their sins]) [MET] and release those who are in dark dungeons.
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 Yahweh; that is my name. I will not allow anyone else to receive the honor that only I deserve. And I will not allow idols to be praised like only I should be praised.
I am Jehovah, that is my name; And my glory will I not give to another, Nor my praise to graven images.
9 Everything that I have prophesied has happened, and now I will tell about other things that will happen. I will tell you things that will happen before they happen.”
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 Yahweh! Sing to praise him throughout the world! All you people who sail across the oceans, and all you creatures that live in the oceans, and all you people who live on islands far away, sing!
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 You people who live in towns in the desert, sing loudly! You people who live in the Kedar [area in the north of Arabia], you rejoice also! You people in Sela [city in Edom], you also should sing joyfully; shout [to praise him] from the tops of your 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 Even people who live on distant islands should honor Yahweh and sing to praise him.
Let them give glory to Jehovah, And proclaim his praise in distant lands!
13 [It will be as though] Yahweh will march out like [SIM] a mighty soldier; he will show that he is very angry. He will shout a battle-cry, and [then] he will defeat all 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 [He will say], “I have remained silent [DOU] for a long time; I have restrained myself [from doing what I need to do]. But now, like [SIM] a woman who is giving birth to a baby, I will cry out and gasp and pant.
“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 will level off the hills and mountains, and I will cause all the plants and trees to dry up. I will cause the rivers to become small streams, and little islands will appear in them, and I will cause all the pools to become dry.
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 [My people who have been taken to Babylonia are like] [MET] blind people, [but] I will lead them along a road on which they have not walked before, on a road that they have not seen before. They have felt [very helpless, as though] they were walking in the darkness, but I will take away that darkness and I will make smooth the road that is in front of them. Those are the things that I will do for them; I will not abandon 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 But those who trust in carved idols, and say to images, ‘You are our gods,’ will be completely humiliated/disgraced.”
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 [Israeli people who have acted toward God like] deaf [people], listen [to what Yahweh says]! “You [who have been like] [MET] blind [people], look!
Hear, O ye deaf! And look, ye blind, and see!
19 No people are [RHQ] as blind as my people, who [should have been] serving me. No people are [RHQ] as much like [MET] deaf people as [the Israelis, who should have been] my messengers. No people are [RHQ] as much like [MET] blind people as those whom I chose to serve me.
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 You see and know what are the right things to do, but you do not do them. You hear [what I say to you], but you do not pay attention.”
Thou seest many things, but regardest them not; Thou hast thine ears open, but hearest not!
21 Because Yahweh is righteous, he has honored his glorious laws.
It pleased Jehovah for his goodness' sake To give him a law, great and glorious;
22 But [the armies of Babylon have destroyed Jerusalem] and have completely (plundered/taken away) [DOU] all the valuable things, and they have captured Yahweh’s people and taken them away and put them in prison. They have been captured easily, because there was no one to protect them; there was no one to say that they should be allowed to return home.
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 will listen carefully to these things? Who will pay attention from now on?
Who is there among you that will give ear to this, That will listen and attend for the time to come?
24 Who allowed the valuable possessions of the people of Israel to be stolen [RHQ, DOU]? It was Yahweh, because he is he one against whom we had sinned; we did not conduct our lives like he wanted us to, and we did not obey his laws.
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 Therefore, he was extremely angry with us, and he caused our soldiers to be destroyed in battles. [It was as though] [MET] he lit a fire around us, but we did not understand [what he was trying to tell us]. [His being angry with us was like] a fire that would burn us up, but we did not pay attention [IDM].
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.
