Isaiah 42
42
The Servant of the Lord
1“Behold! #Is. 43:10; 49:3, 6; Matt. 12:18; (Phil. 2:7)My Servant whom I uphold,
My Elect One in whom My soul #Matt. 3:17; 17:5; Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22; Eph. 1:6delights!
#(Is. 11:2); Matt. 3:16; (Luke 4:18, 19, 21); John 3:34I have put My Spirit upon Him;
He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.
2He will not cry out, nor raise His voice,
Nor cause His voice to be heard in the street.
3A bruised reed He will not break,
And smoking flax He will not quench;
He will bring forth justice for truth.
4He will not fail nor be discouraged,
Till He has established justice in the earth;
#(Gen. 49:10)And the coastlands shall wait for His law.”
5Thus says God the Lord,
#Is. 44:24; Zech. 12:1Who created the heavens and stretched them out,
Who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it,
#Job 12:10; 33:4; Is. 57:16; Dan. 5:23; Acts 17:25Who gives breath to the people on it,
And spirit to those who walk on it:
6“I,#Is. 43:1 the Lord, have called You in righteousness,
And will hold Your hand;
I will keep You #Is. 49:8and give You as a covenant to the people,
As #Is. 49:6; Luke 2:32; (Acts 10:45; 13:47; Gal. 3:14)a light to the Gentiles,
7#Is. 35:5To open blind eyes,
To #Is. 61:1; Luke 4:18; (2 Tim. 2:26; Heb. 2:14)bring out prisoners from the prison,
Those who sit in #Is. 9:2darkness from the prison house.
8I am the Lord, that is My name;
And My #Ex. 20:3–5; Is. 48:11glory I will not give to another,
Nor My praise to carved images.
9Behold, the former things have come to pass,
And new things I declare;
Before they spring forth I tell you of them.”
Praise to the Lord
10#Ps. 33:3; 40:3; 98:1Sing to the Lord a new song,
And His praise from the ends of the earth,
#Ps. 107:23You who go down to the sea, and all that is in it,
You coastlands and you inhabitants of them!
11Let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voice,
The villages that Kedar inhabits.
Let the inhabitants of Sela sing,
Let them shout from the top of the mountains.
12Let them give glory to the Lord,
And declare His praise in the coastlands.
13The Lord shall go forth like a mighty man;
He shall stir up His zeal like a man of war.
He shall cry out, #Is. 31:4yes, shout aloud;
He shall prevail against His enemies.
Promise of the Lord’s Help
14“I have held My peace a long time,
I have been still and restrained Myself.
Now I will cry like a woman in labor,
I will pant and gasp at once.
15I will lay waste the mountains and hills,
And dry up all their vegetation;
I will make the rivers coastlands,
And I will dry up the pools.
16I will bring the blind by a way they did not know;
I will lead them in paths they have not known.
I will make darkness light before them,
And crooked places straight.
These things I will do for them,
And not forsake them.
17They shall be #Ps. 97:7; Is. 1:29; 44:11; 45:16turned back,
They shall be greatly ashamed,
Who trust in carved images,
Who say to the molded images,
‘You are our gods.’
18“Hear, you deaf;
And look, you blind, that you may see.
19#Is. 43:8; Ezek. 12:2; (John 9:39, 41)Who is blind but My servant,
Or deaf as My messenger whom I send?
Who is blind as he who is perfect,
And blind as the Lord’s servant?
20Seeing many things, #Rom. 2:21but you do not observe;
Opening the ears, but he does not hear.”
Israel’s Obstinate Disobedience
21The Lord is well pleased for His righteousness’ sake;
He will exalt the law and make it honorable.
22But this is a people robbed and plundered;
All of them are snared in holes,
And they are hidden in prison houses;
They are for prey, and no one delivers;
For plunder, and no one says, “Restore!”
23Who among you will give ear to this?
Who will listen and hear for the time to come?
24Who gave Jacob for plunder, and Israel to the robbers?
Was it not the Lord,
He against whom we have sinned?
#Is. 65:2For they would not walk in His ways,
Nor were they obedient to His law.
25Therefore He has poured on him the fury of His anger
And the strength of battle;
#2 Kin. 25:9It has set him on fire all around,
#Is. 1:3; 5:13; Hos. 7:9Yet he did not know;
And it burned him,
Yet he did not take it to #Is. 29:13heart.
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Isaiah 42: NKJV
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Isaiah 42
42
The Lord's Servant
1 #
Mt 3.17; 17.5; Mk 1.11; Lk 3.22; 9.35. #Mt 12.18-21. Here is my servant!
I have made him strong.
He is my chosen one;
I am pleased with him.
I have given him my Spirit,
and he will bring justice
to the nations.
2He won't shout or yell
or call out in the streets.
3He won't break off a bent reed
or put out a dying flame,
but he will make sure
that justice is done.
4He won't quit or give up
until he brings justice
everywhere on earth,
and people in foreign nations
long for his teaching.
5 #
Ac 17.24,25. I am the Lord God.
I created the heavens
like an open tent above.
I made the earth and everything
that grows on it.
I am the source of life
for all who live on this earth,
so listen to what I say.
6 #
Is 49.6; Lk 2.32; Ac 13.47; 26.23. I chose you to bring justice,
and I am here at your side.
I selected you and sent you#42.6 I selected … you: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
to bring light
and my promise of hope
to the nations.
7You will give sight
to the blind;
you will set prisoners free
from dark dungeons.
8My name is the Lord!
I won't let idols or humans
share my glory and praise.
9Everything has happened
just as I said it would;
now I will announce
what will happen next.
Sing Praises to the Lord
10Tell the whole world to sing
a new song to the Lord!
Tell those who sail the ocean
and those who live far away
to join in the praise.
11Tell the tribes of the desert
and everyone in the mountains#42.11 desert … mountains: The Hebrew text includes the place names of Kedar in the desert and Sela in the mountains.
to celebrate and sing.
12Let them announce
his praises everywhere.
13The Lord is marching out
like an angry soldier,
shouting with all his might
while attacking his enemies.
The Lord Will Help His People
14For a long time, I, the Lord,
have held my temper;
now I will cry out and groan
like a woman giving birth.
15I will destroy the mountains
and what grows on them;
I will dry up rivers and ponds.
16I will lead the blind on roads
they have never known;
I will guide them on paths
they have never traveled.
Their road is dark and rough,
but I will give light
to keep them from stumbling.
This is my solemn promise.
17Everyone who worships idols
as though they were gods
will be terribly ashamed.
God's People Won't Obey
18You people are deaf and blind,
but the Lord commands you
to listen and to see.
19No one is as blind or deaf
as his messenger,
his chosen servant,
20who sees and hears so much,
but pays no attention.
21The Lord always does right,
and so he wanted his Law
to be greatly praised.#42.21 greatly praised: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 21.
22But his people were trapped
and imprisoned in holes
with no one to rescue them.
All they owned had been taken,
and no one was willing
to give it back.
23Why won't his people
ever learn to listen?
24Israel sinned and refused
to obey the Lord
or follow his instructions.
So the Lord let us be robbed
of everything we owned.
25He was furious with us
and punished our nation
with the fires of war.
Still we paid no attention.
We didn't even care
when we were surrounded
and scorched by flames.
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.