Isaiah 42

Chapter 42

God’s Promise concerning His Servant

¹“^aBehold, My ^bServant, whom I ¹uphold;

My ^cchosen one in whom My ^dsoul delights.

I have put My ^eSpirit upon Him;

He will bring forth ^fjustice to the ²nations.

²“He will not cry out or raise His voice,

Nor make His voice heard in the street.

³“A bruised reed He will not break

And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish;

He will faithfully bring forth ^ajustice.

⁴“He will not be ^adisheartened or crushed

Until He has established justice in the earth;

And the ^bcoastlands will wait expectantly for His ¹law.”

⁵Thus says God the Lord,

Who ^acreated the heavens and ^bstretched them out,

Who spread out the ^cearth and its ¹offspring,

Who ^dgives breath to the people on it

And spirit to those who walk in it,

⁶“I am the Lord, I have ^acalled You in righteousness,

I will also ^bhold You by the hand and ^cwatch over You,

And I will appoint You as a ^dcovenant to the people,

As a ^elight to the nations,

⁷To ^aopen blind eyes,

To ^bbring out prisoners from the dungeon

And those who dwell in darkness from the prison.

⁸“^aI am the Lord, that is ^bMy name;

I will not give My ^cglory to another,

Nor My praise to ¹graven images.

⁹“Behold, the ^aformer things have come to pass,

Now I declare ^bnew things;

Before they spring forth I proclaim them to you.”

¹⁰Sing to the Lord a ^anew song,

Sing His praise from the ^bend of the earth!

^cYou who go down to the sea, and ^dall that is in it.

You ^eislands, and those who dwell on them.

¹¹Let the ^awilderness and its cities lift up their voices,

The settlements where ^bKedar inhabits.

Let the inhabitants of ^cSela sing aloud,

Let them shout for joy from the tops of the ^dmountains.

¹²Let them ^agive glory to the Lord

And declare His praise in the ^bcoastlands.

^13aThe Lord will go forth like a warrior,

He will arouse His ^bzeal like a man of war.

He will utter a shout, yes, He will raise a war cry.

He will ^cprevail against His enemies.

The Blindness of the People

¹⁴“^aI have kept silent for a long time,

I have kept still and restrained Myself.

Now like a woman in labor I will groan,

I will both gasp and pant.

¹⁵“I will ^alay waste the mountains and hills

And wither all their vegetation;

I will ^bmake the rivers into coastlands

And dry up the ponds.

¹⁶“I will ^alead the blind by a way they do not know,

In paths they do not know I will guide them.

I will ^bmake darkness into light before them

And ^crugged places into plains.

These are the things I will do,

And I will ^dnot leave them undone.”

¹⁷They will be turned back and be ^autterly put to shame,

Who trust in ¹idols,

Who say to molten images,

“You are our gods.”

^18aHear, you deaf!

And look, you blind, that you may see.

¹⁹Who is blind but My ^aservant,

Or so deaf as My ^bmessenger whom I send?

Who is so blind as he that is ^1cat peace with Me,

Or so blind as the servant of the Lord?

^20aYou have seen many things, but you do not observe them;

Your ears are open, but none hears.

²¹The Lord was pleased for His righteousness’ sake

To make the law ^agreat and glorious.

²²But this is a people plundered and despoiled;

All of them are ^atrapped in ¹caves,

Or are ^bhidden away in prisons;

They have become a prey with none to deliver them,

And a spoil, with none to say, “Give them back!”

²³Who among you will give ear to this?

Who will give heed and listen hereafter?

²⁴Who gave Jacob up for spoil, and Israel to plunderers?

Was it not the Lord, against whom we have sinned,

And in whose ways they ^awere not willing to walk,

And whose law they did not ^bobey?

²⁵So He poured out on him the heat of His anger

And the ^afierceness of battle;

And it set him aflame all around,

Yet he did not recognize it;

And it burned him, but he ^1bpaid no attention.