Isaiah 42:1–53:12
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.
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.”
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.”
Israel’s Failure to Hear and See
18 Hear, you deaf,
and look, you blind, that you may see!
19 Who is blind but my servant,
or deaf as my messenger whom I send?
Who is blind as my dedicated one,4
or blind as the servant of the Lord?
20 hHe sees many things, but does not observe them;
ihis ears are open, but he does not hear.
21 The Lord was pleased, for his righteousness’ sake,
to magnify his law and make it glorious.
22 But this is a people plundered and looted;
they are all of them trapped in holes
jand hidden in prisons;
they have become plunder with none to rescue,
spoil with none to say, “Restore!”
23 Who among you will give ear to this,
will attend and listen for the time to come?
24 Who gave up Jacob to the looter,
and Israel to the plunderers?
Was it not the Lord, against whom we have sinned,
in whose ways they would not walk,
and whose law they would not obey?
25 So he poured on him the heat of his anger
and the might of battle;
it set him on fire all around, kbut he did not understand;
it burned him up, lbut he did not take it to heart.
43 But now thus says the Lord,
mhe who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
n“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
oI have called you by name, you are mine.
2 pWhen you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
pwhen you walk through fire qyou shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
3 For rI am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
sI give Egypt as your ransom,
Cush and tSeba in exchange for you.
4 Because you are precious in my eyes,
and honored, and I love you,
I give men in return for you,
peoples in exchange for your life.
5 uFear not, for I am with you;
vI will bring your offspring from the east,
and from the west I will gather you.
6 I will say to the north, Give up,
and to the south, Do not withhold;
bring wmy sons from afar
and wmy daughters from the end of the earth,
7 everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made.”
8 Bring out xthe people who are blind, yet have eyes,
who are deaf, yet have ears!
9 yAll the nations gather together,
and the peoples assemble.
Who among them can declare this,
and show us the former things?
Let them bring their witnesses to prove them right,
and let them hear and say, It is true.
10 z“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord,
“and amy servant whom I have chosen,
that you may know and believe me
and understand that I am he.
bBefore me no god was formed,
nor shall there be any after me.
11 cI, I am the Lord,
and besides me there is no savior.
12 I declared and saved and proclaimed,
when there was no strange god among you;
and zyou are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and I am God.
13 Also dhenceforth I am he;
there is none who can deliver from my hand;
I work, and who can turn it back?”
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
e“For your sake I send to Babylon
and fbring them all down as fugitives,
geven the Chaldeans, in the ships in which they rejoice.
15 I am the Lord, your Holy One,
the Creator of Israel, your King.”
hwho makes a way in the sea,
a path in the mighty waters,
17 who ibrings forth chariot and horse,
army and warrior;
they lie down, they cannot rise,
jthey are extinguished, kquenched like a wick:
18 l“Remember not the former things,
nor consider the things of old.
19 mBehold, I am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
nI will make a way in the wilderness
oand rivers in the desert.
20 The wild beasts will honor me,
pthe jackals and the ostriches,
qfor I give water in the wilderness,
rivers in the desert,
to give drink to my chosen people,
21 the people whom I formed for myself
rthat they might declare my praise.
22 “Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob;
but syou have been weary of me, O Israel!
23 tYou have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings,
or honored me with your sacrifices.
I have not burdened you with offerings,
sor wearied you with frankincense.
24 You have not bought me sweet cane with money,
or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices.
But you have burdened me with your sins;
you have wearied me with your iniquities.
uwho blots out vyour transgressions for my own sake,
and I will not remember your sins.
26 Put me in remembrance; wlet us argue together;
set forth your case, that you may be proved right.
27 xYour first father sinned,
and yyour mediators transgressed against me.
28 Therefore zI will profane the princes of the sanctuary,
and adeliver Jacob to utter destruction
and Israel to reviling.
44 “But now hear, bO Jacob my servant,
Israel whom I have chosen!
2 Thus says the Lord who made you,
cwho formed you from the womb and will help you:
dFear not, O Jacob my servant,
eJeshurun whom I have chosen.
3 fFor I will pour water on the thirsty land,
and streams on the dry ground;
I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring,
and my blessing on your descendants.
4 They shall spring up among the grass
glike willows by flowing streams.
5 hThis one will say, ‘I am the Lord’s,’
another will call on the name of Jacob,
and another will write on his hand, ‘The Lord’s,’
and name himself by the name of Israel.”
6 Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel
and ihis Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:
j“I am the first and I am the last;
besides me there is no god.
7 kWho is like me? Let him proclaim it.1
Let him declare and set it before me,
since I appointed an ancient people.
Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen.
have I not told you from of old and declared it?
lAnd you are my witnesses!
mIs there a God besides me?
There is no nRock; I know not any.”
9 oAll who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame. 10 pWho fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing? 11 qBehold, all his companions shall be put to shame, and the craftsmen are only human. Let them all assemble, let them stand forth. They shall be terrified; they shall be put to shame together.
12 pThe ironsmith takes a cutting tool and works it over the coals. He fashions it with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He becomes hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water and is faint. 13 The carpenter stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil.2 He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. rHe shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. 14 sHe cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. 15 Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. 16 Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, “Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!” 17 And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. tHe prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!”
18 They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand. 19 No one considers, nor is there knowledge or …