Isaiah 42
42
The Servant’s Mission
1“This#Mt 12:18–21 is my servant;#Is 49:3–7; 50:10 I strengthen him,
this is my chosen one;#Is 41:8–9; Lk 9:35; 23:35; 1Pt 2:4,6 I delight in him.#Mt 3:17; 17:5; Mk 1:11; Lk 3:22; 2Pt 1:17
I have put my Spirit on him;#Nm 11:16–17; 1Sm 16:13; Ps 33:6; 139:7; Is 11:2; 40:7; 59:21; Lk 4:18–21
he will bring justice#42:1 DSS read his justice to the nations.#Is 2:4; 51:4–5
2He will not cry out or shout
or make his voice heard in the streets.
3He will not break a bruised reed,
and he will not put out a smoldering wick;
he will faithfully bring justice.
4He will not grow weak or be discouraged
until he has established justice on earth.
The coasts and islands will wait for his instruction.”#Is 11:11; 24:15; 42:10,12; 49:1; 51:5; 60:9; 66:19
5This is what God, the Lord, says —
who created the heavens and stretched them out,#Ps 104:2; Is 40:22
who spread out the earth and what comes from it,#Ps 136:6; Is 34:1
who gives breath to the people on it
and spirit to those who walk on it#Jb 12:10; 33:4; Is 57:16; Dn 5:23; Ac 17:25 —
6“I am the Lord. I have called you
for a righteous purpose,#42:6 Or you by my righteousness; lit you in righteousness#Is 5:7,16; 9:7; 11:4–5; 32:1; 41:2; 45:8,13; 51:5–8; 56:1; 60:21; Jr 23:5–6
and I will hold you by your hand.#Is 41:10,13
I will watch over you, and I will appoint you
to be a covenant for the people#Is 49:8
and a light to the nations,#Is 49:6
7in order to open blind eyes,#Ac 26:17–18
to bring out prisoners from the dungeon,#Is 35:5; 49:9; 61:1; Heb 2:14–15
and those sitting in darkness from the prison house.
8I am the Lord. That is my name,
and I will not give my glory to another#Ex 20:3–5; Is 48:11
or my praise to idols.
9The past events have indeed happened.
Now I declare new events;#Is 43:19; 48:3,6; Rv 21:4
I announce them to you before they occur.”
A Song of Praise
10Sing a new song to the Lord;#Ps 33:3; 96:1; 98:1; 144:9
sing his praise from the ends of the earth,
you who go down to the sea with all that fills it,#Ps 96:11; 98:7
you coasts and islands with your#42:10 Lit their inhabitants.
11Let the desert and its cities shout,
the settlements where Kedar dwells cry aloud.#Is 21:16; 60:7
Let the inhabitants of Sela sing for joy;#Is 16:1
let them cry out from the mountaintops.
12Let them give glory to the Lord
and declare his praise in the coasts and islands.
13The Lord advances like a warrior;
he stirs up his zeal like a soldier.#Is 9:7; 26:11; 37:32; 59:17
He shouts, he roars aloud,
he prevails over his enemies.
14“I have kept silent from ages past;
I have been quiet and restrained myself.#Ps 50:21; Is 57:11; 62:1; 64:12; 65:6
But now, I will groan like a woman in labor,#Is 13:8
gasping breathlessly.
15I will lay waste mountains and hills
and dry up all their vegetation.
I will turn rivers into islands
and dry up marshes.#Is 44:27; 50:2; Nah 1:4–6
16I will lead the blind by a way they did not know;#Is 29:18; 30:21; 32:3; Jr 31:8–9; Lk 1:78–79
I will guide them on paths they have not known.
I will turn darkness to light in front of them#Eph 5:8
and rough places into level ground.#Is 40:4; Lk 3:5
This is what I will do for them,
and I will not abandon them.#Jos 1:5; Ps 94:14; Is 41:17; Heb 13:5
17They will be turned back and utterly ashamed —
those who trust in an idol
and say to a cast image,
‘You are our gods! ’ #Ps 97:7; Is 1:29; 44:9,11; 45:16
Israel’s Blindness and Deafness
18“Listen, you deaf!
Look, you blind, so that you may see.#Is 35:5
19Who is blind but my servant,#Is 41:8–9; 43:10; 44:1–2,21; 45:4; 48:20; 49:3; 54:17; Ezk 28:25; 37:25; Lk 1:54
or deaf like my messenger I am sending?
Who is blind like my dedicated one,#42:19 Hb obscure
or blind like the servant of the Lord?
20Though seeing many things,#42:20 Alt Hb tradition reads You see many things; you pay no attention.
Though his ears are open, he does not listen.”#Rm 2:21–23
21Because of his righteousness, the Lord was pleased
to magnify his instruction and make it glorious.
22But this is a people plundered and looted,
all of them trapped in holes
or imprisoned in dungeons.
They have become plunder#Dt 1:39; Jr 2:14; Ezk 34:8; 36:4
with no one to rescue them
and loot, with no one saying, “Give it back!”
23Who among you will hear this?
Let him listen and obey in the future.
24Who gave Jacob to the robber,#42:24 Lit to loot
and Israel to the plunderers?
Was it not the Lord?
Have we not sinned against him?
They were not willing to walk in his ways,
and they would not listen to his instruction.
25So he poured out his furious anger
and the power of war on Jacob.
It surrounded him with fire, but he did not know it;
it burned him, but he didn’t take it to heart.#Is 29:13; 47:7; 57:1; Jr 12:11; Hs 7:9
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Isaiah 42: CSB
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© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Isaiah 42
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.#42:4 Greek version reads And his name will be the hope of all the world. Compare Matt 12:21.”
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.
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Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
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