Isaiah 41:21–42:17

The Futility of Idols

21  Set forth your case, says the Lord;

bring your proofs, says the King of Jacob.

22  Let them bring them, and ttell us

what is to happen.

Tell us the former things, what they are,

that we may consider them,

that we may know their outcome;

or declare to us the things to come.

23  tTell us what is to come hereafter,

that we may know that you are gods;

udo good, or do harm,

that we may be dismayed and terrified.2

24  Behold, vyou are nothing,

and your work is less than nothing;

an abomination is he who chooses you.

25  wI stirred up one from the north, and he has come,

xfrom the rising of the sun, yand he shall call upon my name;

he shall trample on rulers as on mortar,

as the potter treads clay.

26  zWho declared it from the beginning, that we might know,

and beforehand, that we might say, “He is right”?

There was none who declared it, none who proclaimed,

none who heard your words.

27  aI was the first to say3 to Zion, “Behold, here they are!”

and bI give to Jerusalem a herald of good news.

28  cBut when I look, there is no one;

among these there is no counselor

who, when I ask, gives an answer.

29  dBehold, they are all a delusion;

their works are nothing;

their metal images are empty wind.

The Lord’s Chosen Servant

42 eBehold fmy servant, whom I uphold,

my chosen, gin whom my soul delights;

hI have put my Spirit upon him;

ihe will bring forth justice to the nations.

2  He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice,

or make it heard in the street;

3  ja bruised reed he will not break,

and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;

khe will faithfully bring forth justice.

4  He will not grow faint or be discouraged1

till he has established justice in the earth;

and lthe coastlands wait for his law.

5  Thus says God, the Lord,

who created the heavens mand stretched them out,

who spread out the earth and what comes from it,

nwho gives breath to the people on it

and spirit to those who walk in it:

6  “I am the Lord; oI have called you2 in righteousness;

I will take you by the hand and keep you;

I will give you pas a covenant for the people,

qa light for the nations,

7  rto open the eyes that are blind,

to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,

sfrom the prison those who sit in darkness.

8  I am the Lord; that is my name;

tmy glory I give to no other,

nor my praise to carved idols.

9  Behold, the former things have come to pass,

uand new things I now declare;

before they spring forth

I tell you of them.”

Sing to the Lord a New Song

10  vSing to the Lord a new song,

his praise from the end of the earth,

wyou who go down to the sea, and all that fills it,

lthe coastlands and their inhabitants.

11  Let the desert and its cities lift up their voice,

the villages that xKedar inhabits;

let the habitants of ySela sing for joy,

let them shout from the top of the mountains.

12  Let them give glory to the Lord,

and declare his praise in lthe coastlands.

13  zThe Lord goes out like a mighty man,

like a man of war ahe stirs up his zeal;

he cries out, bhe shouts aloud,

he shows himself mighty against his foes.

14  For a long time I have held my peace;

I have kept still and restrained myself;

now I will cry out clike a woman in labor;

I will gasp and pant.

15  dI will lay waste mountains and hills,

and dry up all their vegetation;

I will turn the rivers into islands,3

and dry up the pools.

16  eAnd I will lead the blind

in a way that they do not know,

in paths that they have not known

I will guide them.

I will turn the darkness before them into light,

fthe rough places into level ground.

These are the things I do,

and I do not forsake them.

17  gThey are turned back and utterly put to shame,

who trust in carved idols,

who say to metal images,

“You are our gods.”