Isaiah 42
42
God’s servant described
1But here is my servant, the one I uphold;
my chosen, who brings me delight.
I’ve put my spirit upon him;
he will bring justice to the nations.
2He won’t cry out or shout aloud
or make his voice heard in public.
3He won’t break a bruised reed;
he won’t extinguish a faint wick,
but he will surely bring justice.
4He won’t be extinguished or broken
until he has established justice in the land.
The coastlands await his teaching.
5God the LORD says—
the one who created the heavens,
the one who stretched them out,
the one who spread out the earth and its offspring,
the one who gave breath to its people
and life to those who walk on it—
6I, the LORD, have called you for a good reason.
I will grasp your hand and guard you,
and give you as a covenant to the people,
as a light to the nations,
7to open blind eyes, to lead the prisoners from prison,
and those who sit in darkness from the dungeon.
8I am the LORD;
that is my name;
I don’t hand out my glory to others
or my praise to idols.
9The things announced in the past—look—they’ve already happened,
but I’m declaring new things.
Before they even appear,
I tell you about them.
Warrior and mother
10Sing to the LORD a new song!
Sing his praise from the ends of the earth!
You who sail the sea and all that fills it,
the coastlands and their residents.
11Let the desert and its towns shout aloud,
the villages that Kedar inhabits.
Let the cliff dwellers sing;
from the top of the mountains let them shout.
12Let them give the LORD glory
and declare God’s praise in the coastlands.
13The LORD will go out like a soldier;
like a warrior God will stir up rage.
God will shout, will roar;
over enemies he will prevail.
14I’ve kept still for a very long time.
I’ve been silent and restrained myself.
Like a woman in labor I will moan;
I will pant, I will gasp.
15I will wither mountains and valleys,
and I will dry up all their vegetation.
I will turn rivers into deserts,#42.15 Or islands
and I will dry up pools.
16I will make the blind walk a road they don’t know,
and I will guide them in paths they don’t know.
But I will make darkness before them into light
and rough places into level ground.
These things I will do;
I won’t abandon them.
Blindness and deafness
17Turned backward, utterly shamed
are those who trust in idols,
who say to a cast image,
“You are our god!”
18Hear, deaf ones,
and blind ones, look and see!
19Who is blind if not my servant
and deaf like my messenger whom I send?
Who is blind like the restored one,#42.19 Heb Meshullam, possibly a proper name
blind like the servant of the LORD?
20You have seen many things, but don’t keep watch.
With ears open, you don’t hear.#42.20 Or he does not hear
21The LORD desired for the sake of his righteousness
to expand and glorify the Instruction.
22But this is a people plundered and looted,
everyone trapped in holes and hidden in dungeons.
They have become plunder with no one to rescue,
loot with no one to say, “Give it back.”
23Which of you will listen to this,
will pay attention and respond from now on?
24Who gave Jacob to the looter,
and Israel to the plunderers?
Wasn’t it the LORD,
the one we sinned against?
They were not willing to walk in God’s ways,
and wouldn’t listen to his teaching.
25So God poured out on Jacob the heat of his anger
and the fury of battle.
It scorched him, and he didn’t know it;
it burned him, but he didn’t give it much thought.
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Isaiah 42: CEB
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2011 Common English Bible. 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
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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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.