Isaiah 42:1–25
42 “Here is my servant,l whom I uphold,
my chosen onem in whom I delight;n
I will put my Spirito on him,
and he will bring justicep to the nations.q
2 He will not shout or cry out,r
or raise his voice in the streets.
3 A bruised reeds he will not break,t
and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.u
In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;v
4 he will not falter or be discouraged
till he establishes justicew on earth.
In his teachingx the islandsy will put their hope.”z
5 This is what God the Lord says—
the Creator of the heavens,a who stretches them out,
who spreads out the earthb with all that springs from it,c
who gives breathd to its people,
and life to those who walk on it:
6 “I, the Lord, have callede you in righteousness;f
I will take hold of your hand.g
I will keeph you and will make you
to be a covenanti for the people
and a lightj for the Gentiles,k
7 to open eyes that are blind,l
to freem captives from prisonn
and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.o
8 “I am the Lord;p that is my name!q
I will not yield my glory to anotherr
or my praise to idols.s
9 See, the former thingst have taken place,
and new things I declare;
before they spring into being
I announceu them to you.”
10 Singv to the Lord a new song,w
his praisex from the ends of the earth,y
you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it,z
you islands,a and all who live in them.
11 Let the wildernessb and its towns raise their voices;
let the settlements where Kedarc lives rejoice.
Let the people of Selad sing for joy;
let them shout from the mountaintops.e
12 Let them give gloryf to the Lord
and proclaim his praiseg in the islands.h
13 The Lord will march out like a champion,i
like a warriorj he will stir up his zeal;k
with a shoutl he will raise the battle cry
and will triumph over his enemies.m
14 “For a long time I have kept silent,n
I have been quiet and held myself back.o
But now, like a woman in childbirth,
I cry out, I gasp and pant.p
15 I will lay wasteq the mountainsr and hills
and dry up all their vegetation;
I will turn rivers into islands
and dry ups the pools.
16 I will leadt the blindu by ways they have not known,
along unfamiliar paths I will guide them;
I will turn the darkness into lightv before them
and make the rough places smooth.w
These are the things I will do;
I will not forsakex them.
17 But those who trust in idols,
who say to images, ‘You are our gods,’y
will be turned back in utter shame.z
18 “Hear, you deaf;a
look, you blind, and see!
19 Who is blindb but my servant,c
and deaf like the messengerd I send?
Who is blind like the one in covenante with me,
blind like the servant of the Lord?
20 You have seen many things, but you pay no attention;
your ears are open, but you do not listen.”f
for the sakeg of his righteousness
to make his lawh great and glorious.
22 But this is a people plunderedi and looted,
all of them trapped in pitsj
or hidden away in prisons.k
They have become plunder,
with no one to rescue them;l
they have been made loot,
with no one to say, “Send them back.”
23 Which of you will listen to this
or pay close attentionm in time to come?
24 Who handed Jacob over to become loot,
and Israel to the plunderers?n
Was it not the Lord,o
against whom we have sinned?
For they would not followp his ways;
they did not obey his law.q
25 So he poured out on them his burning anger,r
the violence of war.
It enveloped them in flames,s yet they did not understand;t
it consumed them, but they did not take it to heart.u