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.
| הן עבדי אתמך בו בחירי רצתה נפשי נתתי רוחי עליו משפט לגוים יוציא׃ |
2 He will not [show his power by] shouting [DOU] or by talking very loudly.
| לא יצעק ולא ישא ולא ישמיע בחוץ קולו׃ |
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.
| קנה רצוץ לא ישבור ופשתה כהה לא יכבנה לאמת יוציא משפט׃ |
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.”
| לא יכהה ולא ירוץ עד ישים בארץ משפט ולתורתו איים ייחילו׃ |
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],
| כה אמר האל יהוה בורא השמים ונוטיהם רקע הארץ וצאצאיה נתן נשמה לעם עליה ורוח להלכים בה׃ |
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.
| אני יהוה קראתיך בצדק ואחזק בידך ואצרך ואתנך לברית עם לאור גוים׃ |
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.
| לפקח עינים עורות להוציא ממסגר אסיר מבית כלא ישבי חשך׃ |
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.
| אני יהוה הוא שמי וכבודי לאחר לא אתן ותהלתי לפסילים׃ |
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.”
| הראשנות הנה באו וחדשות אני מגיד בטרם תצמחנה אשמיע אתכם׃ |
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!
| שירו ליהוה שיר חדש תהלתו מקצה הארץ יורדי הים ומלאו איים וישביהם׃ |
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!
| ישאו מדבר ועריו חצרים תשב קדר ירנו ישבי סלע מראש הרים יצוחו׃ |
12 Even people who live on distant islands should honor Yahweh and sing to praise him.
| ישימו ליהוה כבוד ותהלתו באיים יגידו׃ |
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.
| יהוה כגבור יצא כאיש מלחמות יעיר קנאה יריע אף יצריח על איביו יתגבר׃ |
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.
| החשיתי מעולם אחריש אתאפק כיולדה אפעה אשם ואשאף יחד׃ |
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.
| אחריב הרים וגבעות וכל עשבם אוביש ושמתי נהרות לאיים ואגמים אוביש׃ |
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.
| והולכתי עורים בדרך לא ידעו בנתיבות לא ידעו אדריכם אשים מחשך לפניהם לאור ומעקשים למישור אלה הדברים עשיתם ולא עזבתים׃ |
17 But those who trust in carved idols, and say to images, ‘You are our gods,’ will be completely humiliated/disgraced.”
| נסגו אחור יבשו בשת הבטחים בפסל האמרים למסכה אתם אלהינו׃ |
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!
| החרשים שמעו והעורים הביטו לראות׃ |
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.
| מי עור כי אם עבדי וחרש כמלאכי אשלח מי עור כמשלם ועור כעבד יהוה׃ |
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.”
| ראית רבות ולא תשמר פקוח אזנים ולא ישמע׃ |
21 Because Yahweh is righteous, he has honored his glorious laws.
| יהוה חפץ למען צדקו יגדיל תורה ויאדיר׃ |
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.
| והוא עם בזוז ושסוי הפח בחורים כלם ובבתי כלאים החבאו היו לבז ואין מציל משסה ואין אמר השב׃ |
23 Who among you will listen carefully to these things? Who will pay attention from now on?
| מי בכם יאזין זאת יקשב וישמע לאחור׃ |
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.
| מי נתן למשוסה יעקב וישראל לבזזים הלוא יהוה זו חטאנו לו ולא אבו בדרכיו הלוך ולא שמעו בתורתו׃ |
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].
| וישפך עליו חמה אפו ועזוז מלחמה ותלהטהו מסביב ולא ידע ותבער בו ולא ישים על לב׃ |
