Isaiah 42

The Servant, a Light to the Nations

1 # Isa 2.4; 43.10; 53.11; Mt 3.16, 17; 12.18–20; 17.5 Here is 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 out or lift up his voice

or make it heard in the street;

3 # Ps 72.2; Isa 57.15 a bruised reed he will not break,

and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;

he will faithfully bring forth justice.

4 # vv 10, 12 ; Isa 40.28He will not grow faint or be crushed

until he has established justice in the earth,

and the coastlands wait for his teaching.

5 # Isa 44.24; Zech 12.1; Acts 17.25 Thus says God, the Lord,

who created the heavens and stretched them out,

who spread out the earth and what comes from it,

who gives breath to the people upon it

and spirit to those who walk in it:

6 # Isa 43.1; 49.6, 8; Lk 2.32; Acts 13.47 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,#42.6 Meaning of Heb uncertain

a light to the nations,

7 # Isa 35.5; 61.1; Lk 4.18; 2 Tim 2.26; Heb 2.14 to open the eyes that are blind,

to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,

from the prison those who sit in darkness.

8 # Isa 48.11 I am the Lord; that is my name;

my glory I give to no other,

nor my praise to idols.

9 # Isa 48.3, 6 See, the former things have come to pass,

and new things I now declare;

before they spring forth,

I tell you of them.

A Hymn of Praise

10 # Isa 33.3; 40.3 Sing to the Lord a new song,

his praise from the end of the earth!

Let the sea roar#42.10 Cn: Heb Those who go down to the sea and all that fills it,

the coastlands and their inhabitants.

11Let the desert and its towns lift up their voice,

the villages that Kedar inhabits;

let the inhabitants of Sela shout for joy;

let them shout from the tops of the mountains.

12 # v 4 ; Isa 24.15Let them give glory to the Lord

and declare his praise in the coastlands.

13 # Ex 15.3; Isa 9.7; 66.14–16; Hos 11.10 The Lord goes forth like a soldier;

like a warrior he stirs up his fury;

he cries out; he shouts aloud;

he shows himself mighty against his foes.

14 # Isa 57.11 For a long time I have held my peace;

I have kept still and restrained myself;

now I will cry out like a woman in labor;

I will gasp and pant.

15 # Isa 2.12–16; 44.27 I will lay waste mountains and hills

and dry up all their herbage;

I will turn the rivers into islands

and dry up the pools.

16 # Isa 29.18; 41.17; Lk 1.78, 79; 3.5 I will lead the blind

by a road they do not know;

by paths 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.

17 # Ps 97.7; Isa 1.29; 44.11; 45.16 They shall be turned back and utterly put to shame—

those who trust in carved images,

who say to cast images,

“You are our gods.”

18Listen, you who are deaf,

and you who are blind, look up and see!

19 # Isa 43.8; Ezek 12.2 Who is blind but my servant

or deaf like my messenger whom I send?

Who is blind like my dedicated one

or blind like the servant of the Lord?

20 # Jer 6.10 He sees many things, but he does#42.20 Heb mss: MT You see many things but do not observe them;

his ears are open, but he does not hear.

Israel’s Disobedience

21 # Isa 58.13 The Lord was pleased, for the sake of his righteousness,

to magnify his teaching and make it glorious.

22 # Isa 10.6; 24.18, 22 But this is a people robbed and plundered;

all of them are trapped in holes

and hidden in prisons;

they have become a prey with no one to rescue,

a spoil with no one to say, “Restore!”

23Who among you will give heed to this;

who will attend and listen for the time to come?

24 # Isa 30.15; 48.18 Who gave up Jacob to the spoiler

and Israel to the robbers?

Was it not the Lord, against whom they sinned,#42.24 Gk Tg: Heb we sinned

in whose ways they would not walk,

and whose law they would not obey?

25 # 2 Kings 25.9; Isa 5.25; Hos 7.9 So he poured upon him the heat of his anger

and the fury of war;

it set him on fire all around, but he did not understand;

it burned him, but he did not take it to heart.

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Isaiah 42

The LORD's Servant

1 # Mt 3.17; 17.5; Mk 1.11; Lk 3.22; 9.35 # Mt 12.18–21 The LORD says,

“Here is my servant, whom I strengthen —

the one I have chosen, with whom I am pleased.

I have filled him with my Spirit,

and he will bring justice to every nation.

2He will not shout or raise his voice

or make loud speeches in the streets.

3He will not break off a bent reed

or put out a flickering lamp.

He will bring lasting justice to all.

4He will not lose hope or courage;

he will establish justice on the earth.

Distant lands eagerly wait for his teaching.”

5 # Acts 17.24–25 God created the heavens and stretched them out;

he fashioned the earth and all that lives there;

he gave life and breath to all its people.

And now the LORD God says to his servant,

6 # Is 49.6; Lk 2.32; Acts 13.47; 26.23 “I, the LORD, have called you and given you power

to see that justice is done on earth.

Through you I will make a covenant with all peoples;

through you I will bring light to the nations.

7You will open the eyes of the blind

and set free those who sit in dark prisons.

8“I alone am the LORD your God.

No other god may share my glory;

I will not let idols share my praise.

9The things I predicted have now come true.

Now I will tell you of new things

even before they begin to happen.”

A Song of Praise

10Sing a new song to the LORD;

sing his praise, all the world!

Praise him, you that sail the sea;

praise him, all creatures of the sea!

Sing, distant lands and all who live there!

11Let the desert and its towns praise God;

let the people of Kedar praise him!

Let those who live in the city of Sela

shout for joy from the tops of the mountains!

12Let those who live in distant lands

give praise and glory to the LORD!

13The LORD goes out to fight like a warrior;

he is ready and eager for battle.

He gives a war cry, a battle shout;

he shows his power against his enemies.

God Promises to Help his People

14God says,

“For a long time I kept silent;

I did not answer my people.

But now the time to act has come;

I cry out like a woman in labour.

15I will destroy the hills and mountains

and dry up the grass and trees.

I will turn the river valleys into deserts#42.15 Probable text deserts; Hebrew coastlands.

and dry up the pools of water.

16“I will lead my blind people

by roads they have never travelled.

I will turn their darkness into light

and make rough country smooth before them.

These are my promises,

and I will keep them without fail.

17All who trust in idols,

who call images their gods,

will be humiliated and disgraced.”

Israel's Failure to Learn

18The LORD says,

“Listen, you deaf people!

Look closely, you that are blind!

19Is anyone more blind than my servant,

more deaf than the messenger I send?

20Israel, you have seen so much,

but what has it meant to you?

You have ears to hear with,

but what have you really heard?”

21The LORD is a God who is eager to save,

so he exalted his laws and teachings,

and he wanted his people to honour them.

22But now his people have been plundered;

they are locked up in dungeons

and hidden away in prisons.

They were robbed and plundered,

with no one to come to their rescue.

23Will any of you listen to this?

From now on will you listen with care?

24Who gave Israel up to the looters?

It was the LORD himself, against whom we sinned!

We would not live as he wanted us to live

or obey the teachings he gave us.

25So he made us feel the force of his anger

and suffer the violence of war.

Like fire his anger burned throughout Israel,

but we never knew what was happening;

we learnt from it nothing at all.

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