Isaiah 42–43

42^aBehold ^bcmy servant, whom I uphold;

^cMine elect, in whom ^dmy soul delighteth;

^eI have put my spirit upon him:

He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.

²He shall not cry, nor lift up,

Nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.

³A ^fbruised reed shall he not break,

And the ^||smoking flax shall he not ^†quench:

He shall bring forth judgment unto truth.

⁴He shall not fail nor be ^†discouraged,

Till he have set judgment in the earth:

^gAnd the isles shall wait for his law.

⁵Thus saith God the Lord,

He that created the heavens, and ^histretched them out;

^hkHe that spread forth the earth, and ^lthat which cometh out of it;

^imHe that giveth breath unto the people upon it,

And ⁿspirit to them that walk therein:

⁶I the Lord have called thee in righteousness,

And ^owill hold thine hand, and will keep thee,

And ^pgive thee for a covenant of the people, ^qfor a light of the Gentiles;

^7rTo open the blind eyes,

To ^sbring out the prisoners from the prison,

And ^tthem that sit in darkness out of the prison house.

⁸I am the Lord: that is my name:

^uAnd my glory will I not give to ^vanother,

Neither my praise to graven images.

⁹Behold, ^wthe former things are come to pass,

And ^xnew things do I declare:

Before they spring forth I tell you of them.

^10ySing unto the Lord a new song,

And his praise from the end of the earth,

^zYe that go down to the sea, and ^†all that is therein;

^aThe isles, and the inhabitants thereof.

^11bLet the wilderness and the cities thereof ^clift up their voice,

The villages that ^dKedar doth inhabit:

Let the inhabitants of the rock sing,

Let them shout from the top of the mountains.

¹²Let them ^egive glory unto the Lord,

And ^eedeclare his praise in ^athe islands.

¹³The Lord shall go forth ^fas a mighty man,

He shall stir up jealousy like ^ga man of war:

He shall cry, yea, ^hroar;

He shall ^||prevail against his enemies.

¹⁴I have long time holden my peace;

I have been still, and ⁱrefrained myself:

Now will I cry ^klike a travailing woman;

I will destroy and ^†devour at once.

¹⁵I will make waste mountains and hills,

And dry up all their herbs;

And I will make the rivers ^aislands,

And I will dry up the pools.

¹⁶And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not;

I will lead them in paths that they have not known:

I will make darkness light before them,

And crooked things ^†straight.

These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.

¹⁷They shall be ^lturned back, ^mthey shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in graven images,

That say to the molten images, Ye are our gods.

¹⁸ⁿHear, ye deaf;

And ^olook, ye blind, that ye may see.

^19pWho is blind, but ^qmy servant?

Or deaf, as my messenger that I sent?

Who is blind as he that is perfect,

And blind as ^qthe Lord’s servant?

^20rSeeing many things, ^sbut thou observest not;

^tOpening the ears, but he heareth not.

²¹The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness’ sake;

He ^uwill magnify the law, and make ^||it honourable.

²²But this is a people robbed and spoiled;

^||They are all of them snared in holes,

And they are hid in prison houses:

They are ^vfor a prey, and none delivereth;

^v†For ^wa spoil, and none saith, Restore.

²³Who among you will give ear to this?

Who will hearken and hear ^†for the time to come?

²⁴Who gave Jacob for ^wa spoil, and Israel to the robbers?

Did not the Lord, he against whom we have sinned?

For they would not walk in his ways,

Neither were they obedient unto his law.

^25xTherefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger, and the strength of battle:

And ^yit hath set him on fire round about, ^zyet he knew not;

And it burned him, yet he ^alaid it not to heart.

43^*But now thus saith the Lord ^athat created thee, O Jacob,

^bAnd he ^athat formed thee, O Israel,

^fpFear not: ^cfor I have redeemed thee,

^dI have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.

^2eWhen thou passest through the waters, ^fI will be with thee;

And ^gthrough the rivers, they shall not overflow thee:

^ehWhen thou ⁱwalkest through the fire, ^hthou shalt not be ⁱburned;

Neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

³For I am the Lord thy God,

The Holy One of Israel, ^jthy Saviour:

^kI gave ^lEgypt ^mfor thy ransom,

^lEthiopia and ⁿSeba for thee.

⁴Since ^othou wast precious in my sight,

Thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee:

^mTherefore will I give men for thee,

And people for thy ^||life.

^5pFear not: for I am with thee:

I will bring thy seed ^qfrom the east,

And ^qgather thee from the west;

⁶I will say to ^qthe north, Give up;

And to the south, Keep not back:

Bring ^rmy sons from far,

And ^rmy daughters from the ends of the earth;

⁷Even every one ^sthat is called by my name:

For ^asI have created him for my glory,

^aI have formed him; yea, ^uI have made him.

^8vBring forth the blind people that have eyes,

And the deaf that have ears.

⁹Let all the nations be gathered together,

And let the people be assembled:

^wWho among them can declare this,

And shew us former things?

Let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be justified:

Or let them hear, and say, It is truth.

^10xYe are my witnesses, saith the Lord,

And ^ymy servant whom I have chosen:

That ye may know and believe me,

And understand that I am he:

^zBefore me there was ^||no God formed,

Neither shall there be after me.

^11aI, even I, am the Lord;

^aAnd ^bbeside me there is no saviour.

¹²I have declared, and have saved, and I have shewed,

When there was no ^cstrange god among you:

Therefore ^dye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, that ^eI am God.

¹³Yea, ^efbefore the day was I am he;

And there is none that can deliver out of my hand:

I will work, and who shall ^†glet it?

¹⁴Thus saith the Lord, ^hyour redeemer, the Holy One of Israel;

For your sake I have sent to Babylon,

And have brought down all their ^†inobles,

And the ^kChaldeans, whose cry is in the ships.

¹⁵I am the Lord, your Holy One,

The creator of Israel, your King.

¹⁶Thus saith the Lord, ^lwhich maketh a way in the sea,

And a path in the mighty waters;

^17mWhich bringeth forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power;

They shall lie down together, they shall not rise:

They are extinct, ⁿthey are quenched as tow.

^18oRemember ye not the former things,

Neither consider the things of old.

¹⁹Behold, I will do ^pa new thing;

Now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it?

^qI will even make a way in the wilderness,

And ^rrivers in ^sthe desert.

²⁰The beast of the field shall honour me,

^tThe dragons and the ^||†owls:

Because ^rI give waters in the wilderness,

And rivers in ^sthe desert,

^rTo give drink to my people, my chosen.

^21uThis people have I formed for myself;

^vThey shall shew forth ^wmy praise.

²²But thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob;

But ^xthou hast been weary of me, O Israel.

^23yThou hast not brought me the ^†small cattle of thy burnt offerings;

Neither hast thou ^zhonoured me with thy sacrifices.

I have not caused thee to serve with an offering,

Nor ^awearied thee with ^bincense.

²⁴Thou hast bought me no ^bsweet cane with money,

Neither hast thou ^†filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices:

But thou hast made me to serve with thy sins,

Thou hast ^acwearied me with thine iniquities.

²⁵I, even I, am he that ^dblotteth out thy transgressions ^efor mine own sake,

^fAnd will not remember thy sins.

²⁶Put me in remembrance: let us plead together:

Declare thou, that thou mayest be justified.

²⁷Thy first father hath sinned,

And thy ^†teachers have transgressed against me.

²⁸Therefore ^gI have profaned the ^||princes of the sanctuary,

And have given Jacob ^hito the curse,

And Israel to ^hkreproaches.