Isaiæ 42
1 Ecce servus meus, suscipiam eum; electus meus, complacuit sibi in illo anima mea: dedi spiritum meum super eum: judicium gentibus proferet.
[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 Non clamabit, neque accipiet personam, nec audietur vox ejus foris.
He will not [show his power by] shouting [DOU] or by talking very loudly.
3 Calamum quassatum non conteret, et linum fumigans non extinguet: in veritate educet judicium.
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 Non erit tristis, neque turbulentus, donec ponat in terra judicium; et legem ejus insulæ exspectabunt.
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 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:
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 Ego Dominus vocavi te in justitia, et apprehendi manum tuam, et servavi te: et dedi te in fœdus populi, in lucem gentium,
“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 ut aperires oculos cæcorum, et educeres de conclusione vinctum, de domo carceris sedentes in tenebris.
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 Ego Dominus, hoc est nomen meum; gloriam meam alteri non dabo, et laudem meam sculptilibus.
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 Quæ prima fuerunt, ecce venerunt; nova quoque ego annuntio: antequam oriantur, audita vobis faciam.
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 Cantate Domino canticum novum, laus ejus ab extremis terræ, qui descenditis in mare, et plenitudo ejus; insulæ, et habitatores earum.
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 Sublevetur desertum et civitates ejus. In domibus habitabit Cedar: laudate, habitatores petræ; de vertice montium clamabunt.
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 Ponent Domino gloriam, et laudem ejus in insulis nuntiabunt.
Even people who live on distant islands should honor Yahweh and sing to praise him.
13 Dominus sicut fortis egredietur, sicut vir præliator suscitabit zelum; vociferabitur, et clamabit: super inimicos suos confortabitur.
[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 Tacui semper, silui, patiens fui: sicut parturiens loquar; dissipabo, et absorbebo simul.
[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 Desertos faciam montes et colles, et omne gramen eorum exsiccabo; et ponam flumina in insulas, et stagna arefaciam.
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 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.
[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 Conversi sunt retrorsum, confundantur confusione, qui confidunt in sculptili; qui dicunt conflatili: Vos dii nostri.
But those who trust in carved idols, and say to images, ‘You are our gods,’ will be completely humiliated/disgraced.”
18 Surdi, audite, et cæci, intuemini ad videndum.
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 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?
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 Qui vides multa, nonne custodies? qui apertas habes aures, nonne audies?
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 Et Dominus voluit ut sanctificaret eum, et magnificaret legem, et extolleret.
Because Yahweh is righteous, he has honored his glorious laws.
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 [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 Quis est in vobis qui audiat hoc, attendat, et auscultet futura?
Who among you will listen carefully to these things? Who will pay attention from now on?
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 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 Et effudit super eum indignationem furoris sui, et forte bellum; et combussit eum in circuitu, et non cognovit; et succendit eum, et non intellexit.
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].
