Isaiæ 42
1 Ecce servus meus, suscipiam eum; electus meus, complacuit sibi in illo anima mea: dedi spiritum meum super eum: judicium gentibus proferet.
“Here is My Servant, whom I uphold, My Chosen One, in whom My soul delights. I will put My Spirit on Him, and He will bring justice to the nations.
2 Non clamabit, neque accipiet personam, nec audietur vox ejus foris.
He will not cry out or raise His voice, nor make His voice heard in the streets.
3 Calamum quassatum non conteret, et linum fumigans non extinguet: in veritate educet judicium.
A bruised reed He will not break and a smoldering wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice.
4 Non erit tristis, neque turbulentus, donec ponat in terra judicium; et legem ejus insulæ exspectabunt.
He will not grow weak or discouraged before He has established justice on the earth. In His law the islands will put their hope.”
5 Hæc dicit Dominus Deus, creans cælos, et extendens eos; firmans terram, et quæ germinant ex ea; dans flatum populo qui est super eam, et spiritum calcantibus eam:
This is what God the LORD says— He who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and its offspring, who gives breath to the people on it and life to those who walk in it:
6 Ego Dominus vocavi te in justitia, et apprehendi manum tuam, et servavi te: et dedi te in fœdus populi, in lucem gentium,
“I, the LORD, have called you for a righteous purpose, and I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and appoint you to be a covenant for the people and a light to the nations,
7 ut aperires oculos cæcorum, et educeres de conclusione vinctum, de domo carceris sedentes in tenebris.
to open the eyes of the blind, to bring prisoners out of the dungeon and those sitting in darkness out from the prison house.
8 Ego Dominus, hoc est nomen meum; gloriam meam alteri non dabo, et laudem meam sculptilibus.
I am the LORD; that is My name! I will not yield My glory to another or My praise to idols.
9 Quæ prima fuerunt, ecce venerunt; nova quoque ego annuntio: antequam oriantur, audita vobis faciam.
Behold, the former things have happened, and now I declare new things. Before they spring forth I proclaim them to you.”
10 Cantate Domino canticum novum, laus ejus ab extremis terræ, qui descenditis in mare, et plenitudo ejus; insulæ, et habitatores earum.
Sing to the LORD a new song— His praise from the ends of the earth— you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it, you islands, and all who dwell in them.
11 Sublevetur desertum et civitates ejus. In domibus habitabit Cedar: laudate, habitatores petræ; de vertice montium clamabunt.
Let the desert and its cities raise their voices; let the villages of Kedar cry aloud. Let the people of Sela sing for joy; let them cry out from the mountaintops.
12 Ponent Domino gloriam, et laudem ejus in insulis nuntiabunt.
Let them give glory to the LORD and declare His praise in the islands.
13 Dominus sicut fortis egredietur, sicut vir præliator suscitabit zelum; vociferabitur, et clamabit: super inimicos suos confortabitur.
The LORD goes forth like a mighty one; He stirs up His zeal like a warrior. He shouts; yes, He roars in triumph over His enemies:
14 Tacui semper, silui, patiens fui: sicut parturiens loquar; dissipabo, et absorbebo simul.
“I have kept silent from ages past; I have remained quiet and restrained. But now I will groan like a woman in labor; I will at once gasp and pant.
15 Desertos faciam montes et colles, et omne gramen eorum exsiccabo; et ponam flumina in insulas, et stagna arefaciam.
I will lay waste the mountains and hills and dry up all their vegetation. I will turn the rivers into dry land and drain the marshes.
16 Et ducam cæcos in viam quam nesciunt, et in semitis quas ignoraverunt ambulare eos faciam; ponam tenebras coram eis in lucem, et prava in recta; hæc verba feci eis, et non dereliqui eos.
I will lead the blind by a way they did not know; I will guide them on unfamiliar paths. I will turn darkness into light before them and rough places into level ground. These things I will do for them, and I will not forsake them.
17 Conversi sunt retrorsum, confundantur confusione, qui confidunt in sculptili; qui dicunt conflatili: Vos dii nostri.
But those who trust in idols and say to molten images, ‘You are our gods!’ will be turned back in utter shame.
18 Surdi, audite, et cæci, intuemini ad videndum.
Listen, you deaf ones; look, you blind ones, that you may see!
19 Quis cæcus, nisi servus meus; et surdus, nisi ad quem nuntios meos misi? quis cæcus, nisi qui venundatus est? et quis cæcus, nisi servus Domini?
Who is blind but My servant, or deaf like the messenger I am sending? Who is blind like My covenant partner, or blind like the servant of the LORD?
20 Qui vides multa, nonne custodies? qui apertas habes aures, nonne audies?
Though seeing many things, you do not keep watch. Though your ears are open, you do not hear.”
21 Et Dominus voluit ut sanctificaret eum, et magnificaret legem, et extolleret.
The LORD was pleased, for the sake of His righteousness, to magnify His law and make it glorious.
22 Ipse autem populus direptus, et vastatus; laqueus juvenum omnes, et in domibus carcerum absconditi sunt; facti sunt in rapinam, nec est qui eruat; in direptionem, nec est qui dicat: Redde.
But this is a people plundered and looted, all trapped in caves or imprisoned in dungeons. They have become plunder with no one to rescue them, and loot with no one to say, “Send them back!”
23 Quis est in vobis qui audiat hoc, attendat, et auscultet futura?
Who among you will pay attention to this? Who will listen and obey hereafter?
24 Quis dedit in direptionem Jacob, et Israël vastantibus? nonne Dominus ipse, cui peccavimus? Et noluerunt in viis ejus ambulare, et non audierunt legem ejus.
Who gave Jacob up for spoil, and Israel to the plunderers? Was it not the LORD, against whom we have sinned? They were unwilling to walk in His ways, and they would not obey His law.
25 Et effudit super eum indignationem furoris sui, et forte bellum; et combussit eum in circuitu, et non cognovit; et succendit eum, et non intellexit.
So He poured out on them His furious anger and the fierceness of battle. It enveloped them in flames, but they did not understand; it consumed them, but they did not take it to heart.
