Isaiah 42–55

The Servant’s Mission

42“This ^dis My Servant; ^eI strengthen Him,

this is My Chosen One; ^fI delight in Him. ^g

I have put My Spirit on Him; ^h

He will bring justice ⁱto the nations. ^j

²He will not cry out or shout

or make His voice heard in the streets.

³He will not break a bruised reed,

and He will not put out a smoldering wick;

He will faithfully bring justice.

⁴He will not grow weak or be discouraged

until He has established justice on earth.

The islands will wait for His instruction.” ^k

⁵This is what God, Yahweh, says—

who created the heavens and stretched them out, ^l

who spread out the earth and what comes from it, ^m

who gives breath to the people on it

and life ⁿto those who walk on it ^o—

⁶“I, Yahweh, have called You

for a righteous purpose, ^pq

and I will hold You by Your hand. ^r

I will keep You and appoint You

to be a covenant for the people ^s

and a light to the nations, ^t

⁷in order to open blind eyes, ^u

to bring out prisoners from the dungeon, ^v

and those sitting in darkness from the prison house.

⁸I am Yahweh, that is My name;

I will not give My glory to another ^w

or My praise to idols.

⁹The past events have indeed happened.

Now I declare new events; ^x

I announce them to you before they occur.”

A Song of Praise

¹⁰Sing a new song to the Lord; ^y

sing His praise from the ends of the earth,

you who go down to the sea with all that fills it, ^z

you islands with your ^ainhabitants.

¹¹Let the desert and its cities shout,

the settlements where Kedar dwells cry aloud. ^b

Let the inhabitants of Sela sing for joy; ^c

let them cry out from the mountaintops.

¹²Let them give glory to the Lord

and declare His praise in the islands.

¹³The Lord advances like a warrior;

He stirs up His zeal like a soldier. ^d

He shouts, He roars aloud,

He prevails over His enemies.

¹⁴“I have kept silent from ages past;

I have been quiet and restrained Myself. ^e

But now, I will groan like a woman in labor, ^f

gasping breathlessly.

¹⁵I will lay waste mountains and hills

and dry up all their vegetation.

I will turn rivers into islands

and dry up marshes. ^g

¹⁶I will lead the blind by a way they did not know; ^h

I will guide them on paths they have not known.

I will turn darkness to light in front of them ⁱ

and rough places into level ground. ^j

This is what I will do for them,

and I will not forsake them. ^k

¹⁷They will be turned back and utterly ashamed—

those who trust in idols

and say to metal-plated images:

You are our gods! ^l

Israel’s Blindness and Deafness

¹⁸“Listen, you deaf!

Look, you blind, so that you may see. ^m

¹⁹Who is blind but My servant, ⁿ

or deaf like My messenger I am sending?

Who is blind like My dedicated one, ^o

or blind like the servant of the Lord?

²⁰Though seeing many things, ^pyou do not obey.

Though his ears are open, he does not listen.” ^q

²¹The Lord was pleased, because of His righteousness,

to magnify His instruction and make it glorious.

²²But this is a people plundered and looted,

all of them trapped in holes

or imprisoned in dungeons.

They have become plunder ^r

with no one to rescue them

and loot, with no one saying, “Give it back!”

²³Who among you will pay attention to this?

Let him listen and obey in the future.

²⁴Who gave Jacob to the robber, ^s

and Israel to the plunderers?

Was it not the Lord?

Have we not sinned against Him?

They were not willing to walk in His ways,

and they would not listen to His instruction.

²⁵So He poured out on Jacob His furious anger

and the power of war.

It surrounded him with fire, but he did not know it;

it burned him, but he paid no attention. ^tu

Restoration of Israel

43Now this is what the Lord says—

the One who created you, Jacob,

and the One who formed you, Israel ^v—

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; ^w

I have called you by your name; you are Mine. ^x

²I will be with you ^y

when you pass through the waters, ^z

and when you pass through the rivers,

they will not overwhelm you.

You will not be scorched

when you walk through the fire, ^a

and the flame will not burn you.

³For I Yahweh your God, ^b

the Holy One of Israel, and your Savior, ^c

give Egypt as a ransom for you,

Cush and Seba in your place.

⁴Because you are precious in My sight ^d

and honored, and I love you, ^e

I will give people in exchange for you

and nations instead of your life.

⁵Do not fear, for I am with you;

I will bring your descendants from the east, ^f

and gather you from the west. ^g

⁶I will say to the north: Give them up!

and to the south: Do not hold them back!

Bring My sons from far away, ^h

and My daughters from the ends of the earth ⁱ—

⁷everyone called by My name

and created for My glory.

I have formed him; indeed, I have made him.”

⁸Bring out a people who are blind, yet have eyes, ^j

and are deaf, yet have ears.

⁹All the nations are gathered together,

and the peoples are assembled. ^k

Who among them can declare this, ^l

and tell us the former things?

Let them present their witnesses

to vindicate themselves,

so that people may hear and say, “It is true.”

¹⁰“You are My witnesses” ^m—

this is the Lord’s declaration—

“and My servant whom I have chosen, ⁿ

so that you may know and believe Me

and understand that I am He. ^o

No god was formed before Me,

and there will be none after Me. ^p

¹¹I, I am Yahweh,

and there is no other Savior but Me. ^q

¹²I alone declared, saved, and proclaimed—

and not some foreign god ^ramong you.

So you are My witnesses”—

this is the Lord’s declaration—

“and ^sI am God. ^t

¹³Also, from today on I am He alone,

and none can deliver from My hand. ^u

I act, and who can reverse it?” ^v

God’s Deliverance of Rebellious Israel

¹⁴This is what the Lord, your Redeemer, ^wthe Holy One of Israel ^xsays:

Because of you, I will send to Babylon

and bring all of them as fugitives, ^y

even the Chaldeans ^zin the ships in which they rejoice. ^a

¹⁵I am Yahweh, your Holy One,

the Creator of Israel, your King.

¹⁶This is what the Lord says—

who makes a way in the sea,

and a path through surging waters, ^b

¹⁷who brings out the chariot and horse, ^c

the army and the mighty one together

(they lie down, they do not rise again;

they are extinguished, quenched like a wick ^d)—

¹⁸“Do not remember the past events,

pay no attention to things of old. ^e

¹⁹Look, I am about to do something new; ^f

even now it is coming. Do you not see it?

Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness, ^g

rivers ^hin the desert.

²⁰The animals of the field will honor Me,

jackals and ostriches,

because I provide water in the wilderness,

and rivers in the desert, ⁱ

to give drink to My chosen people.

²¹The people I formed for Myself

will declare My praise. ^j

²²“But Jacob, you have not called on Me,

because, Israel, you have become weary of Me. ^k

²³You have not brought Me your sheep for burnt offerings

or honored Me with your sacrifices. ^l

I have not burdened you with offerings

or wearied you with incense. ^m

²⁴You have not bought Me aromatic cane with silver,

or satisfied Me with the fat of your sacrifices.

But you have burdened Me with your sins;

you have wearied Me ⁿwith your iniquities. ^o

²⁵“It is I who sweep away your transgressions ^p

for My own sake ^q

and remember your sins no more. ^r

²⁶Take Me to court; let us argue our case together. ^s

State your case, so that you may be vindicated.

²⁷Your first father sinned, ^t

and your mediators have rebelled against Me. ^u

²⁸So I defiled the officers of the sanctuary,

and set Jacob apart for destruction ^v

and Israel for abuse.

Spiritual Blessing

44“And now listen, Jacob My servant,

Israel whom I have chosen. ^w

²This is the word of the Lord

your Maker who formed you from the womb;

He ^xwill help you:

Do not fear; Jacob is My servant;

I have chosen Jeshurun. ^yz

³For I will pour water on the thirsty land

and streams on the dry ground;

I will pour out My Spirit ^aon your descendants

and My blessing on your offspring.

⁴They will sprout among ^bthe grass

like poplars by flowing streams.

⁵This one will say, ‘I am the Lord’s’;

another will call himself by the name of Jacob;

still another will write on his hand, ‘The Lord’s,’

and name himself by the name of Israel.”

No God Other Than Yahweh

⁶This is what the Lord, the King of Israel and its Redeemer, ^cthe Lord of Hosts, says:

I am the first and I am the last. ^d

There is no God but Me. ^e

⁷Who, like Me, can announce the future?

Let him say so and make a case before Me, ^f

since I have established an ancient people.

Let these gods declare ^gthe coming things,

and what will take place.

⁸Do not be startled or afraid.

Have I not told you and declared it long ago?

You are my witnesses! ^h

Is there any God but Me? ⁱ

There is no other Rock; ^jI do not know any.

⁹All who make idols are nothing,

and what they treasure does not profit.

Their witnesses do not see or know anything,

so they will be put to shame. ^k

¹⁰Who makes a god or casts a metal image

for no profit? ^l

¹¹Look, all its worshipers will be put to shame,

and the craftsmen are humans.

They all will assemble and stand;

they all will be startled and put to shame.

¹²The ironworker labors over the coals,

shapes the idol with hammers,

and works it with his strong arm.

Also he grows hungry and his strength fails;

he doesn’t drink water and is faint.

¹³The woodworker stretches out a measuring line,

he outlines it with a stylus;

he shapes it with chisels

and outlines it with a compass.

He makes it according to a human likeness, ^m

like a beautiful person,

to dwell in a temple.

¹⁴He cuts down ⁿcedars for his use,

or he takes a cypress or an oak.

He lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest.

He plants a laurel, and the rain makes it grow.

¹⁵It serves as fuel for man.

He takes some of it and warms himself;

also he kindles a fire and bakes bread;

he even makes it into a god and worships it;

he makes an idol from it and bows down to it.

¹⁶He burns half of it in a fire,

and he roasts meat on that half.

He eats the roast and is satisfied.

He warms himself and says, “Ah!

I am warm, I see the blaze.”

¹⁷He makes a god or his idol with the rest of it.

He bows down to it and worships;

He prays to it, ^o“Save me, for you are my god.”

¹⁸Such people ^pdo not comprehend

and cannot understand,

for…