Isaiah 42
42
The Lord’s Chosen Servant
1“Here is my servant. I take good care of him.
I have chosen him. I am very pleased with him.
I will put my Spirit on him.
He will bring justice to the nations.
2He will not shout or cry out.
He will not raise his voice in the streets.
3He will not break a bent twig.
He will not put out a dimly burning flame.
He will be faithful and make everything right.
4He will not grow weak or lose hope.
He will not give up until he brings justice to the earth.
The islands will put their hope in his teaching.”
5God created the heavens and stretches them out.
The Lord spreads out the earth with everything that grows on it.
He gives breath to its people.
He gives life to those who walk on it.
He says to his servant,
6“I, the Lord, have chosen you to do what is right.
I will take hold of your hand.
I will keep you safe.
You will put into effect my covenant with the people of Israel.
And you will be a light for the Gentiles.
7You will open eyes that can’t see.
You will set prisoners free.
Those who sit in darkness will come out of their cells.
8“I am the Lord. That is my name!
I will not let any other god share my glory.
I will not let statues of gods share my praise.
9What I said would happen has taken place.
Now I announce new things to you.
Before they even begin to happen,
I announce them to you.”
A Song of Praise to the Lord
10Sing a new song to the Lord.
Sing praise to him from one end of the earth to the other.
Sing, you who sail out on the ocean.
Sing, all you creatures in it.
Sing, you islands.
Sing, all you who live there.
11Let the desert and its towns raise their voices.
Let those who live in the settlements of Kedar be glad.
Let the people of Sela sing for joy.
Let them shout from the tops of the mountains.
12Let them give glory to the Lord.
Let them praise him in the islands.
13The Lord will march out like a mighty warrior.
He will stir up his anger like a soldier getting ready to fight.
He will shout the battle cry.
And he will win the battle over his enemies.
14The Lord says, “For a long time I have kept silent.
I have been calm and quiet.
But now, like a woman having a baby,
I cry out. I gasp and pant.
15I will completely destroy the mountains and hills.
I will dry up everything that grows there.
I will turn rivers into dry land.
I will dry up the pools.
16Israel is blind.
So I will lead them along paths
they had not known before.
I will guide them on roads they are not familiar with.
I will turn the darkness into light as they travel.
I will make the rough places smooth.
Those are the things I will do.
I will not desert my people.
17Some people trust in statues of gods.
They say to them, ‘You are our gods.’
But they will be dishonored.
They will be put to shame.
Israel Can’t See or Hear
18“Israel, listen to me! You can hear,
but you do not understand.
Look to me! You can see,
but you do not know what you are seeing.
19The people of Israel serve me. But who is more blind than they are?
Who is more deaf than the messengers I send?
Who is more blind than the one who has promised to be faithful to me?
Who is more blind than the servant of the Lord?
20Israel, you have seen many things.
But you do not pay any attention to me.
Your ears are open.
But you do not listen to anything I say.”
21The Lord wanted his people to see
how great and glorious his law is.
He wanted to show them
that he always does what is right.
22Enemies have carried off everything they own.
All my people are trapped in pits
or hidden away in prisons.
They themselves have become like stolen goods.
No one can save them.
They have been carried off.
And there is no one who will say, “Send them back.”
23Family of Jacob, who among you will listen to what I’m saying?
People of Israel, which one of you will pay close attention in days to come?
24Who allowed you to be carried off like stolen goods?
Who handed you over to robbers?
The Lord did it!
We have sinned against him.
Israel, you wouldn’t follow his ways.
You didn’t obey his law.
25So he poured out his great anger on you.
He had many of you killed in battle.
You were surrounded by flames.
But you didn’t realize what was happening.
Many of you were destroyed.
But you didn’t learn anything from it.
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Isaiah 42: NIrV
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Isaiah 42
42
God’s Promise concerning His Servant
1“Behold, My #This is the first of the famous prophecies concerning the Servant of the Lord, the Messiah (Is 42:1-7; 49:1-9a; 50:4-9; 52:13-53:12).Servant, whom I #Or hold fast.uphold;
My Chosen One in whom My soul delights.
I have put My Spirit upon Him;
He will bring forth justice to the nations.
2He will not call out or shout aloud,
Nor make His voice heard in the street.
3A broken reed He will not break [off]
And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish [He will not harm those who are weak and suffering];
He will faithfully bring forth justice.
4He will not be disheartened or crushed [in spirit];
[He will persevere] until He has established justice on the earth;
And the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law.”
5This is what God the Lord says,
He who created the heavens and stretched them out,
Who spread out the earth and its produce,
Who gives breath to the people on it
And spirit to those who walk on it,
6“I am the Lord, I have called You (the Messiah) in righteousness [for a righteous purpose],
I will also take You by the hand and keep watch over You,
And I will appoint You as a covenant to the people [Israel],
As a light to the nations (Gentiles),
7To open the eyes of the blind,
To bring out prisoners from the dungeon
And those who sit in darkness from the prison.
8I am the Lord, that is My Name;
My glory I will not give to another,
Nor My praise to carved idols.
9Indeed, the former things have come to pass,
Now I declare new things;
Before they spring forth I proclaim them to you.”
10Sing to the Lord a new song,
Sing His praise from the end of the earth!
You who go down to the sea, and all that is in it,
You islands and coastlands, and those who inhabit them [sing His praise]!
11Let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voices,
The villages where Kedar lives.
Let the inhabitants of #Gr Petra (rock). Sela was probably the Edomite capital at this time. Carved into great walls of rose-colored rock it was later controlled by the Nabateans.Sela shout for joy,
Let them shout joyfully from the tops of the mountains.
12Let them give glory to the Lord
And declare His praise in the islands and coastlands.
13The Lord will go forth like a warrior,
He will stir up His zeal like a man of war;
He will shout out, yes, He will raise a war cry.
He will prevail [mightily] against His enemies.
The Blindness of the People
14“I [the Lord] have been silent for a long time,
I have been still and restrained Myself.
Now I will moan like a woman in labor,
I will both gasp and pant.
15I will lay waste the mountains and hills
And wither all their vegetation;
I will turn the rivers into coastlands
And dry up the ponds.
16I will lead the blind by a way they do not know;
I will guide them in paths that they do not know.
I will make darkness into light before them
And rugged places into plains.
These things I will do [for them],
And I will not leave them abandoned or undone.”
17Those who trust in carved idols will be turned back,
And utterly put to shame,
Who say to cast images,
“You are our gods.”
18Hear, you deaf!
And look, you blind, that you may see.
19Who is blind but My servant [Israel],
Or deaf like My messenger whom I send?
Who is blind like the one who is at peace with Me [in a covenant relationship],
Or so blind as the servant of the Lord?
20You have seen many things, but you do not observe them;
Your ears are open, but no one hears.
21The Lord was pleased for His righteousness’ sake
To make the law great and prove to be glorious.
22But this is a people despoiled and plundered;
All of them are trapped in holes,
Or are hidden away in prisons.
They have become a prey with no one to rescue them,
And a spoil, with no one to say, “Give them back!”
23Who among you will listen to this?
Who will listen and pay attention in the time to come?
24Who gave up Jacob [the kingdom of Judah] for spoil, and [the kingdom of] Israel to the plunderers?
Was it not the Lord, He against whom we [of Judah] have sinned,
And in whose ways they [of Israel] were unwilling to walk,
And whose law and teaching they did not obey?
25Therefore He poured out on Israel the heat of His anger
And the fierceness of battle;
And engulfed him in fire,
Yet he did not recognize [the lesson of repentance which the Assyrian conquest was intended to teach];
It burned him, but he did not take it to heart.
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