Isaiah 42
42
The Lord’s Special Servant
1“Here is my servant, the one I support.
He is the one I chose, and I am pleased with him.
I will put my Spirit in him.
And he will bring justice to all nations.
2He will not cry out or yell.
He will not speak loudly in the streets.
3He will not break a crushed blade of grass.
He will not put out even a weak flame.
He will bring justice and find what is true.
4He will not lose hope or give up
until he brings justice to the world.
And people far away will trust his teachings.”
5God, the Lord, said these things.
He created the skies and stretched them out.
He spread out the earth and everything on it.
He gives life to all people on earth.
He gives life to everyone who walks on the earth.
6The Lord says, “I called you to do right.
And I will hold your hand.
I will protect you.
You will be the sign of my agreement with the people.
You will be a light to shine for all people.
7You will help the blind to see.
You will free those who are in prison.
You will lead those who live in darkness out of their prison.
8“I am the Lord. That is my name.
I will not give my glory to another.
I will not let idols take the praise that should be mine.
9The things I said would happen have happened.
And now I tell you about new things.
Before those things happen,
I tell you about them.”
A Song of Praise to the Lord
10Sing a new song to the Lord.
Sing his praise everywhere on the earth.
Praise him, you people who sail on the seas and you animals who live in them.
Praise him, you people living in faraway places.
11The deserts and their cities should praise him.
The settlements of Kedar should praise him.
The people living in Sela should sing for joy.
They should sing from the mountaintops.
12They should give glory to the Lord.
People in faraway lands should praise him.
13The Lord will march out like a strong soldier.
He will be excited like a man ready to fight a war.
He will shout out the battle cry.
And he will defeat his enemies.
14The Lord says, “For a long time I have said nothing.
I have been quiet and held myself back.
But now I will cry out.
I will strain like a woman giving birth to a child.
15I will destroy the hills and mountains.
I will dry up all the plants that grow there.
I will make the rivers become dry land.
I will dry up the pools of water.
16Then I will lead the blind along a way they never knew.
I will guide them along paths they have not known.
I will make the darkness become light for them.
And I will make the rough ground smooth.
These are the things I will do.
I will not leave my people.
17But some people trust in idols.
They say to their statues,
‘You are our gods.’
Those people will be rejected in disgrace.
Israel Refused to Listen to God
18“You who are deaf, hear me.
You who are blind, look and see.
19No one is more blind than my servant Israel.
The messenger I send is the most deaf.
No one is more blind than the person I own.
No one is more blind than the servant of the Lord.
20Israel, you have seen much, but you have not obeyed.
You have heard, but you refuse to listen.”
21The Lord made his teachings wonderful.
He did this because he is good.
22These people have been defeated and robbed.
They are trapped in pits.
They are locked up in prison.
Like robbers, enemies have taken them away.
There is no one to save them.
Enemies carried them off.
And no one said, “Bring them back.”
23Will any of you listen to this?
Will you listen carefully in the future?
24Who let the people of Jacob be carried off?
Who let robbers take Israel away?
The Lord allowed this to happen
because we sinned against him.
We did not live the way the Lord wanted us to live.
We did not obey his teaching.
25So the Lord became very angry with us.
He brought terrible wars against us.
It was as if the people of Israel had fire all around them.
But they didn’t know what was happening.
It was as if they were burning.
But they didn’t pay any attention.
Currently Selected:
Isaiah 42: ICB
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Isaiah 42
42
1 #
Mt 12.18-21. Behold my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my Spirit upon him,
he will bring forth justice to the nations.
2He will not cry or lift up his voice,
or make it heard in the street;
3a bruised reed he will not break,
and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice.
4He will not fail#42.4 Or burn dimly or be discouraged#42.4 Or bruised
till he has established justice in the earth;
and the coastlands wait for his law.
5 #
Acts 17.24-25. Thus says God, the Lord,
who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread forth the earth and what comes from it,
who gives breath to the people upon it
and spirit to those who walk in it:
6 #
Is 49.6; Lk 2.32; Acts 13.47; 26.23. “I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness,
I have taken you by the hand and kept you;
I have given you as a covenant to the people,
a light to the nations,
7 #
Acts 26.18. to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
from the prison those who sit in darkness.
8I am the Lord, that is my name;
my glory I give to no other,
nor my praise to graven images.
9Behold, the former things have come to pass,
and new things I now declare;
before they spring forth
I tell you of them.”
10Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise from the end of the earth!
Let the sea roar#42.10 Cn Compare Ps 96.11; 98.7: Heb Those who go down to the sea and all that fills it,
the coastlands and their inhabitants.
11Let the desert and its cities lift up their voice,
the villages that Kedar inhabits;
let the inhabitants of Sela sing for joy,
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 goes forth like a mighty man,
like a man of war he stirs up his fury;
he cries out, he shouts aloud,
he shows himself mighty against his foes.
14For a long time I have held my peace,
I have kept still and restrained myself;
now I will cry out like a woman in travail,
I will gasp and pant.
15I will lay waste mountains and hills,
and dry up all their herbage;
I will turn the rivers into islands,
and dry up the pools.
16And I will lead the blind
in a way that they know not,
in paths that they have not known
I will guide them.
I will turn the darkness before them into light,
the rough places into level ground.
These are the things I will do,
and I will not forsake them.
17They shall be turned back and utterly put to shame,
who trust in graven images,
who say to molten images,
“You are our gods.”
18Hear, you deaf;
and look, you blind, that you may see!
19Who is blind but my servant,
or deaf as my messenger whom I send?
Who is blind as my dedicated one,
or blind as the servant of the Lord?
20He sees#42.20 Heb you see many things, but does not observe them;
his ears are open, but he does not hear.
21The Lord was pleased, for his righteousness' sake,
to magnify his law and make it glorious.
22But this is a people robbed and plundered,
they are all of them trapped in holes
and hidden in prisons;
they have become a prey with none to rescue,
a spoil with none to say, “Restore!”
23Who among you will give ear to this,
will attend and listen for the time to come?
24Who gave up Jacob to the spoiler,
and Israel to the robbers?
Was it not the Lord, against whom we have sinned,
in whose ways they would not walk,
and whose law they would not obey?
25So he poured upon him the heat of his anger
and the might of battle;
it set him on fire round about, but he did not understand;
it burned him, but he did not take it to heart.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America