Isaiah 42–43

Chapter 42

The Lord’s Chosen Servant

¹“Look at my servant, whom I strengthen.

He is my chosen one, who pleases me.

I have put my Spirit upon him.

He will bring justice to the nations.

²He will not shout

or raise his voice in public.

³He will not crush the weakest reed

or put out a flickering candle.

He will bring justice to all who have been wronged.

⁴He will not falter or lose heart

until justice prevails throughout the earth.

Even distant lands beyond the sea will wait for his instruction.”

⁵God, the Lord, created the heavens and stretched them out.

He created the earth and everything in it.

He gives breath to everyone,

life to everyone who walks the earth.

And it is he who says,

⁶“I, the Lord, have called you to demonstrate my righteousness.

I will take you by the hand and guard you,

and I will give you to my people, Israel,

as a symbol of my covenant with them.

And you will be a light to guide the nations.

⁷You will open the eyes of the blind.

You will free the captives from prison,

releasing those who sit in dark dungeons.

⁸“I am the Lord; that is my name!

I will not give my glory to anyone else,

nor share my praise with carved idols.

⁹Everything I prophesied has come true,

and now I will prophesy again.

I will tell you the future before it happens.”

A Song of Praise to the Lord

¹⁰Sing a new song to the Lord!

Sing his praises from the ends of the earth!

Sing, all you who sail the seas,

all you who live in distant coastlands.

¹¹Join in the chorus, you desert towns;

let the villages of Kedar rejoice!

Let the people of Sela sing for joy;

shout praises from the mountaintops!

¹²Let the whole world glorify the Lord;

let it sing his praise.

¹³The Lord will march forth like a mighty hero;

he will come out like a warrior, full of fury.

He will shout his battle cry

and crush all his enemies.

¹⁴He will say, “I have long been silent;

yes, I have restrained myself.

But now, like a woman in labor,

I will cry and groan and pant.

¹⁵I will level the mountains and hills

and blight all their greenery.

I will turn the rivers into dry land

and will dry up all the pools.

¹⁶I will lead blind Israel down a new path,

guiding them along an unfamiliar way.

I will brighten the darkness before them

and smooth out the road ahead of them.

Yes, I will indeed do these things;

I will not forsake them.

¹⁷But those who trust in idols,

who say, ‘You are our gods,’

will be turned away in shame.

Israel’s Failure to Listen and See

¹⁸“Listen, you who are deaf!

Look and see, you blind!

¹⁹Who is as blind as my own people, my servant?

Who is as deaf as my messenger?

Who is as blind as my chosen people,

the servant of the Lord?

²⁰You see and recognize what is right

but refuse to act on it.

You hear with your ears,

but you don’t really listen.”

²¹Because he is righteous,

the Lord has exalted his glorious law.

²²But his own people have been robbed and plundered,

enslaved, imprisoned, and trapped.

They are fair game for anyone

and have no one to protect them,

no one to take them back home.

²³Who will hear these lessons from the past

and see the ruin that awaits you in the future?

²⁴Who allowed Israel to be robbed and hurt?

It was the Lord, against whom we sinned,

for the people would not walk in his path,

nor would they obey his law.

²⁵Therefore, he poured out his fury on them

and destroyed them in battle.

They were enveloped in flames,

but they still refused to understand.

They were consumed by fire,

but they did not learn their lesson.

Chapter 43

The Savior of Israel

¹But now, O Jacob, listen to the Lord who created you.

O Israel, the one who formed you says,

“Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you.

I have called you by name; you are mine.

²When you go through deep waters,

I will be with you.

When you go through rivers of difficulty,

you will not drown.

When you walk through the fire of oppression,

you will not be burned up;

the flames will not consume you.

³For I am the Lord, your God,

the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

I gave Egypt as a ransom for your freedom;

I gave Ethiopia and Seba in your place.

⁴Others were given in exchange for you.

I traded their lives for yours

because you are precious to me.

You are honored, and I love you.

⁵“Do not be afraid, for I am with you.

I will gather you and your children from east and west.

⁶I will say to the north and south,

‘Bring my sons and daughters back to Israel

from the distant corners of the earth.

⁷Bring all who claim me as their God,

for I have made them for my glory.

It was I who created them.’ ”

⁸Bring out the people who have eyes but are blind,

who have ears but are deaf.

⁹Gather the nations together!

Assemble the peoples of the world!

Which of their idols has ever foretold such things?

Which can predict what will happen tomorrow?

Where are the witnesses of such predictions?

Who can verify that they spoke the truth?

¹⁰“But you are my witnesses, O Israel!” says the Lord.

“You are my servant.

You have been chosen to know me, believe in me,

and understand that I alone am God.

There is no other God—

there never has been, and there never will be.

¹¹I, yes I, am the Lord,

and there is no other Savior.

¹²First I predicted your rescue,

then I saved you and proclaimed it to the world.

No foreign god has ever done this.

You are witnesses that I am the only God,”

says the Lord.

¹³“From eternity to eternity I am God.

No one can snatch anyone out of my hand.

No one can undo what I have done.”

The Lord’s Promise of Victory

¹⁴This is what the Lord says—your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:

“For your sakes I will send an army against Babylon,

forcing the Babylonians to flee in those ships they are so proud of.

¹⁵I am the Lord, your Holy One,

Israel’s Creator and King.

¹⁶I am the Lord, who opened a way through the waters,

making a dry path through the sea.

¹⁷I called forth the mighty army of Egypt

with all its chariots and horses.

I drew them beneath the waves, and they drowned,

their lives snuffed out like a smoldering candlewick.

¹⁸“But forget all that—

it is nothing compared to what I am going to do.

¹⁹For I am about to do something new.

See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?

I will make a pathway through the wilderness.

I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.

²⁰The wild animals in the fields will thank me,

the jackals and owls, too,

for giving them water in the desert.

Yes, I will make rivers in the dry wasteland

so my chosen people can be refreshed.

²¹I have made Israel for myself,

and they will someday honor me before the whole world.

²²“But, dear family of Jacob, you refuse to ask for my help.

You have grown tired of me, O Israel!

²³You have not brought me sheep or goats for burnt offerings.

You have not honored me with sacrifices,

though I have not burdened and wearied you

with requests for grain offerings and frankincense.

²⁴You have not brought me fragrant calamus

or pleased me with the fat from sacrifices.

Instead, you have burdened me with your sins

and wearied me with your faults.

²⁵“I—yes, I alone—will blot out your sins for my own sake

and will never think of them again.

²⁶Let us review the situation together,

and you can present your case to prove your innocence.

²⁷From the very beginning, your first ancestor sinned against me;

all your leaders broke my laws.

²⁸That is why I have disgraced your priests;

I have decreed complete destruction for Jacob

and shame for Israel.