Isaiah 42
1 Behold, my servant, whom I uphold; my chosen one, in him I take delight. I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring justice to the nations.
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.
2 He will not cry out nor shout, nor make his voice heard in the streets.
He does not cry, nor lift up, Nor cause His voice to be heard in the street.
3 A crushed reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench: he will faithfully execute justice.
A bruised reed He does not break, And faded flax He does not quench, He brings forth judgment to truth.
4 He will not grow faint nor be discouraged until he has established justice on the earth; and the coastlands wait for his law.
He does not become weak nor bruised, Until He sets judgment in the earth, And islands wait with hope for His law.
5 This is what God Yahweh says— the one who created the heavens and stretched them out, the one who made the earth and all that it produces, the one who gives breath to the people on it and life to those who live on it:
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.
6 “I, Yahweh, have called you in righteousness and will hold your hand. I will keep you and set you as a covenant for the people, as a light for the Gentiles,
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.
7 to open the eyes of the blind, to release the prisoners from the dungeon, and from the house of confinement those who sit in darkness.
To open the eyes of the blind, To bring forth the bound one from prison, Those sitting in darkness from the house of restraint.
8 I am Yahweh, that is my name; and my glory I will not share with another nor my praise with carved idols.
I [am] YHWH, this [is] My Name, And I do not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to carved images.
9 See, the previous things came to pass, now I am about to declare new events. Before they begin to occur I will tell you about them.”
The former things, behold, have come, And I am declaring new things, Before they spring up I cause you to hear.
10 Sing to Yahweh a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth; you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it, the coastlands, and those who live there.
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.
11 Let the desert and the cities cry out, the villages where Kedar lives, shout for joy! Let the inhabitants of Sela sing; let them shout from the mountaintops.
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.
12 Let them give glory to Yahweh and declare his praise in the coastlands.
They ascribe to YHWH glory, And they declare His praise in the islands.
13 Yahweh will go out as a warrior; as a man of war he will stir up his zeal. He will shout, yes, he will roar his battle cries; he will show his enemies his power.
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.
14 I have kept quiet for a long time; I have been still and restrained myself; now I will cry out like a woman in labor; I will gasp and pant.
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.
15 I will lay waste mountains and hills and dry up all their vegetation; and I will turn the rivers into islands and will dry up the marshes.
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.
16 I will bring the blind by a way that they do not know; in paths that they do not know I will lead them. I will turn the darkness into light before them, and make the crooked places straight. These things I will do, and I will not abandon them.
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.
17 They will be turned back, they will be completely put to shame, those who trust in carved figures, who say to cast metal figures, “You are our gods.”
Removed backward—utterly ashamed, Are those trusting in a carved image, Those saying to a molten image, “You [are] our gods.”
18 Listen, you deaf; and look, you blind, that you may see.
You deaf, hear; and you blind, look to see.
19 Who is blind but my servant? Or deaf like my messenger I send? Who is as blind as my covenant partner, or blind as Yahweh's servant?
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?
20 You see many things, but do not comprehend; ears are open, but no one hears.
Seeing many things, and you do not observe, Opening ears, and he does not hear.
21 It pleased Yahweh to praise his justice and to make his law glorious.
YHWH has delight for the sake of His righteousness, He magnifies law, and makes honorable.
22 But this is a people robbed and plundered; they are all trapped in pits, held captive in prisons; they have become a plunder with no one to rescue them, and no one says, “Bring them back!”
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.”
23 Who among you will listen to this? Who will listen and hear in the future?
Who among you gives ear [to] this? Attends, and hears afterward?
24 Who gave Jacob over to the robber, and Israel to the looters? Was it not Yahweh, against whom we have sinned, in whose ways they refused to walk, and whose law they refused to obey?
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.
25 Therefore he poured out on them his fierce anger and the violence of war, Its flames encircled them, yet they did not understand; it consumed them, but they did not take it to heart.
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!
