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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Isaiah 42: CEV
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Isaiah 42
42
Here Is My Servant
(Matthew 12:15–21)
1“Here is My Servant, whom I uphold,
My Chosen One, in whom My soul delights.
I will put My Spirit on Him,
and He will bring justice to the nations.
2He will not cry out or raise His voice,
nor make His voice heard in the streets.
3A bruised reed He will not break
and a smoldering wick He will not extinguish;
He will faithfully bring forth justice.
4He will not grow weak or discouraged #42:4 Or bruised
before He has established justice on the earth.
In His law the islands will put their hope.”#42:4 Or In His teaching the coastlands will put their hope; LXX In His name the nations will put their hope; cited in Matthew 12:18–21
5This is what God the Lord says—
He who created the heavens
and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and its offspring,
who gives breath to the people on it
and life to those who walk in it:
6“I, the Lord, have called you
for a righteous purpose,
and I will take hold of your hand.
I will keep you and appoint you
to be a covenant for the people
and a light to the nations,
7to open the eyes of the blind,
to bring prisoners out of the dungeon
and those sitting in darkness
out from the prison house.
8I am the Lord;
that is My name!
I will not yield My glory to another
or My praise to idols.
9Behold, the former things have happened,
and now I declare new things.
Before they spring forth
I proclaim them to you.”
A New Song of Praise
(Psalms 98:1–9; Psalms 149:1–9)
10Sing to the Lord a new song—
His praise from the ends of the earth—
you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it,
you islands,#42:10 Or coastlands; also in verse 12 and all who dwell in them.
11Let the desert and its cities raise their voices;
let the villages of Kedar cry aloud.
Let the people of Sela sing for joy;
let them cry out from the mountaintops.
12Let them give glory to the Lord
and declare His praise in the islands.
13The Lord goes forth like a mighty one;
He stirs up His zeal like a warrior.
He shouts; yes, He roars
in triumph over His enemies:
14“I have kept silent from ages past;
I have remained quiet and restrained.
But now I will groan like a woman in labor;
I will at once gasp and pant.
15I will lay waste the mountains and hills
and dry up all their vegetation.
I will turn the rivers into dry land #42:15 Or coastlands or islands
and drain the marshes.
16I will lead the blind by a way they did not know;
I will guide them on unfamiliar paths.
I will turn darkness into light before them
and rough places into level ground.
These things I will do for them,
and I will not forsake them.
17But those who trust in idols
and say to molten images, ‘You are our gods!’
will be turned back in utter shame.
Israel Is Deaf and Blind
18Listen, you deaf ones;
look, you blind ones, that you may see!
19Who is blind but My servant,
or deaf like the messenger I am sending?
Who is blind like My covenant partner,
or blind like the servant of the Lord?
20Though seeing many things, you do not keep watch.
Though your ears are open, you do not hear.”
21The Lord was pleased, for the sake of His righteousness,
to magnify His law and make it glorious.
22But this is a people plundered and looted,
all trapped in caves or imprisoned in dungeons.
They have become plunder with no one to rescue them,
and loot with no one to say, “Send them back!”
23Who among you will pay attention to this?
Who will listen and obey hereafter?
24Who gave Jacob up for spoil,
and Israel to the plunderers?
Was it not the Lord,
against whom we have sinned?
They were unwilling to walk in His ways,
and they would not obey His law.
25So He poured out on them His furious anger
and the fierceness of battle.
It enveloped them in flames,
but they did not understand;
it consumed them,
but they did not take it to heart.
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