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.
[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.
2 He will not cry out nor shout, nor make his voice heard in the streets.
He will not [show his power by] shouting [DOU] or by talking very loudly.
3 A crushed reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench: he will faithfully execute justice.
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.
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 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.”
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:
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],
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, 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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.”
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.”
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 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!
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.
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!
12 Let them give glory to Yahweh and declare his praise in the coastlands.
Even people who live on distant islands should honor Yahweh and sing to praise him.
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.
[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.
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.
[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.
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 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.
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.
[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.
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.”
But those who trust in carved idols, and say to images, ‘You are our gods,’ will be completely humiliated/disgraced.”
18 Listen, you deaf; and look, you blind, that you may see.
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!
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?
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.
20 You see many things, but do not comprehend; ears are open, but no one hears.
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.”
21 It pleased Yahweh to praise his justice and to make his law glorious.
Because Yahweh is righteous, he has honored his glorious laws.
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!”
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.
23 Who among you will listen to this? Who will listen and hear in the future?
Who among you will listen carefully to these things? Who will pay attention from now on?
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 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.
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.
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].
