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.
Lo! my Servant, I will uphold him, My chosen, well-pleased is my soul, —I have put my spirit upon him, Justice—to the nations, will he bring forth:
2 He will not [show his power by] shouting [DOU] or by talking very loudly.
He will not cry out nor will he speak loud, —Nor cause to be heard, in the street, his voice:
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.
Cane that is crushed, will he not break, And wick that is fading, will he not quench, —Faithfully, will he bring forth justice:
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 will not fade, nor will he be crushed, Until he establish, in the earth, justice, And for his instruction, Coastlands, wait.
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 himself—Yahweh, —Creator of the heavens that stretched them forth, Out-spreader of earth, and the products thereof, —Giver of breath to the people thereon, And of spirit to them who walk therein,
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—Yahweh, have called thee in righteousness, And will firmly grasp thy hand, —And will keep thee And give thee—As the covenant of a people, As the light of 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 eyes that are blind, —To bring forth Out of the dungeon the captive Out of the prison, the dwellers in darkness.
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 Yahweh, that, is my Name, And, my glory, to another, will I not give, Nor my praise to 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.”
Things told in advance, lo! they have come to pass, —And new things, am I telling, Ere yet they spring forth, I let, you, hear them.
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 Yahweh, a song that is new, His praise, from the end of the earth, —Ye that go down to the sea, and the fulness thereof, The Coastlands and ye who 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 wilderness shout, and the cities thereof, The villages wherein dwelleth Kedar, —Let the inhabitants of the crag, raise shouts of triumph, From the top of the mountains, let them cry aloud:
12 Even people who live on distant islands should honor Yahweh and sing to praise him.
Let them render unto Yahweh, glory, —And, his praise, in the Coastlands let them tell.
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.
Yahweh, as a hero, goeth forth, As a man of war, he stirreth up jealousy, —He giveth a cry, yea he raiseth a war-cry, Over his foes, he showeth his strength.
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 held my peace from age-past times, I kept still, I restrained myself, —As a travailing woman, I pant, I breathe hard and gasp, all 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 all their vegetation, will I wither, —And I will make rivers to be shores, And lakes, will I dry up:
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.
Thus will I lead the blind, by a way they know not, In paths they know not, will I guide them, —I will make the place that was dark before them to be, light. And crooked ways, to be, straight, These things, have I done unto them, And have not forsaken them.
17 But those who trust in carved idols, and say to images, ‘You are our gods,’ will be completely humiliated/disgraced.”
They have drawn back They turn very pale Who have been trusting in a graven image, —Who have been saying to a molten image, 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!
Ye deaf hear! And ye blind look around that ye may 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? Or deaf, like, my messenger whom I send? Who is, blind, like an intimate friend? Or blind like the Servant of Yahweh?
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.”
Seeing many things, yet thou heedest not, Opening the ears yet he heareth not,
21 Because Yahweh is righteous, he has honored his glorious laws.
Yahweh, is well-pleased for his own righteousness’ sake, He magnifieth instruction and maketh it majestic.
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.
But, that, is a people preyed upon and plundered, Snared in holes, all of them, And, in houses of restraint, concealed, —They have become a prey, and there is none to deliver, —A booty, and there is none to say—Restore!
23 Who among you will listen carefully to these things? Who will pay attention from now on?
Who among you, will give ear to this, —Let him hearken and hear, for an aftertime?
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, as a booty, Jacob. And, Israel, to them who were ready to take prey? Was it not, Yahweh? He against whom we have sinned, And they were not willing, in his ways, to walk, Neither hearkened they to his instruction?
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].
So he hath poured out, upon him, the glow of his anger, and the strength of battle; And it hath set him aflame round about, yet he knoweth it not, And it hath kindled upon him yet he layeth it not to heart.
