Isaiah 42
42
The Lord’s Special Servant
1“Here is my servant,
the one I support.
He is the one I have chosen,
and I am very pleased with him.
I have filled him with my Spirit,
and he will bring justice to the nations.
2He will not cry out or shout
or try to make himself heard in the streets.
3He will not break even a crushed reed.#42:3 reed A plant that grows near water.
He will not put out even the weakest flame.
He will bring true justice.
4He will not grow weak or give up
until he has brought justice to the world.
And people in faraway places will hope to receive his teachings.”
The Lord Is Ruler and Maker of the World
5The Lord, the true God, said these things. (He created the sky and spread it out over the earth. He formed the earth and everything it produced. He breathes life into all the people on earth. He gives a spirit to everyone who walks on the earth.)
6“I, the Lord, was right to call you.
I will hold your hand and protect you.
You will be the sign of my agreement with the people.
You will be a light for the other nations.
7You will make the blind able to see.
You will free those who are held as captives.
You will lead those who live in darkness out of their prison.
8“I am YAHWEH.
That is my name.
I will not give my glory to another.
I will not let statues take the praise that should be mine.
9In the past, I told you what would happen,
and it happened!
Now I am telling you something new,
and I am telling you now, before it happens.”
A Song of Praise to the Lord
10Sing a new song#42:10 new song Whenever God did a new and wonderful thing for his people, they would write a new song about it. to the Lord;
praise him everywhere on earth—
all you who sail on the seas,
everything in the sea,
and all you people in faraway places!
11Deserts and cities, villages of Kedar,
praise the Lord!
People living in Sela, sing for joy!
Sing from the top of your mountain.
12Give glory to the Lord.
Praise him, all you people in faraway lands!
13The Lord will go out like a strong soldier.
Like a man going into battle, he will be full of excitement.
He will shout with a loud cry,
and he will defeat his enemies.
God Is Very Patient
14“For a long time I have said nothing.
I have controlled myself and kept quiet.
But now I will cry out like a woman giving birth.
My breathing is getting faster and louder.
15I will destroy the hills and mountains.
I will dry up all the plants that grow there.
I will change rivers to dry land
and dry up pools of water.
16Then I will lead the blind along a path they never knew
to places where they have never been before.
I will change darkness into light for them.
I will make the rough ground smooth.
I will do these things for them;
I will not abandon my people.
17But some of them have left me.
They say to their gold statues, ‘You are my gods.’
They trust their false gods,
but they will be disappointed and shamed.
Israel Refused to Listen to God
18“Deaf people, listen to me!
Blind people, look and see!
19In all the world, no one is more blind than my servant.#42:19 my servant Here, this probably means the people of Israel.
No one is more deaf than my messenger.
No one is more blind than my chosen people,
the servant of the Lord.
20My people see what they should do,
but they do not obey me.
They can hear with their ears,
but they refuse to listen to me.”
21The Lord wants them to do what is right.
He wants them to honor his wonderful teachings.#42:21 Or “The Lord will make his teachings very wonderful. He will do this because he is good.”
22But look at his people.
Others have defeated them and have stolen from them.
The young men are afraid.
They are locked in prisons.
People have taken advantage of them,
and there is no one to protect them.
Others take their money,
and there is no one to say, “Give it back!”
23Will any of you pay attention to this warning? Will you ever learn to listen? 24Who let Jacob be defeated? Who let others take what belonged to Israel? The Lord allowed them to do this. We sinned against him, so he let people take away our wealth. The people did not want to live the way he wanted. They refused to listen to his teaching. 25So he poured out his anger on them and brought wars against them. It was as if there were fires all around them, but they didn’t know what was happening. It was as if they were burning, but they didn’t try to understand.
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
Isaiah 42
42
The Mission of Yahweh’s Servant
1Look! here is my servant; I hold him,
my chosen one, in whom my soul delights.
I have put#Literally “given” my spirit on him;
he will bring justice forth to the nations.
2He will not cry out and lift up
and make his voice heard in the street.
3He will not break a broken reed,
and he not will extinguish a dim wick.
He will bring justice forth in#Or “to” faithfulness.
4He will not grow faint,
and he will not be broken
until he has established justice in the earth.
And the coastlands wait for his teaching.
5Thus says the God, Yahweh,
who created the heavens
and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and its offspring,
who gives breath to the people upon it
and spirit to those who walk in it.
6“I am Yahweh; I have called you in righteousness,
and I have grasped your hand and watched over you;
and I have given you as a covenant of the people,
as a light of the nations,
7to open the blind eyes,
to bring the prisoner out from the dungeon,
those who sit in darkness from the house of imprisonment.
8I am Yahweh; that is my name,
and I do not give my glory to another,
nor#Or “and” my praise to the idols.
9Look! the former things have come,
and I declare new things.
I announce#Literally “cause to hear” them to you before they sprout up.”
A Song of Praise to Yahweh
10Sing a new song to Yahweh;
praise him from the end of the earth,
you#Or “those” who go down to the sea and that which 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 sing for joy;
let them shout loudly from the top#Literally “head” of the mountains.
12Let them give#Or “establish” glory to Yahweh
and declare his praise in the coastlands.
13Yahweh goes forth like a mighty warrior;
he stirs up zeal like a man of war.
He raises the war cry, indeed he raises the battle shout;
he prevails against his foes.
14I have been silent for a long time;
I have kept silent;
I have restrained myself like one giving birth;
I will moan, pant, and gasp together.
15I will cause mountains and hills to dry up,
and I will cause all their herbage to wither;
and I will make rivers like islands,
and I will cause pools to dry up.
16And I will lead the blind by a road they do not know;
I will cause them to tread on paths they have not known.
I will make darkness in their presence#Literally “before their face” into light
and rough places into level ground.
These are the things I will do,
and I will not forsake them.
17They shall turn back;
they shall be greatly ashamed,#Literally “ashamed with shame”
those who trust in an image,
who say to a cast image, “You are our gods.”
Blind and Deaf Israel
18Deaf people, listen!
And blind people, look to see!
19Who is blind but my servant
or#Or “and” deaf like my messenger whom I sent?
Who is blind like the one who is repaid
or#Or “and” blind like the servant of Yahweh?
20You see many things, but#Or “and” you do not observe.
His ears are open, but#Or “and” he does not hear.
21Yahweh was willing for the sake of his righteousness;
he showed his teaching to be great and proved it to be glorious.
22But#Or “And” this is a people plundered and looted; all of them are trapped in holes,
and they are kept hidden in houses of imprisonment.
They have become like plunder, and there is no one who saves;
like booty, and there is no one who says, “Restore!”
23Who among you will heed this,
will listen attentively and listen, for the time to come?#Literally “later”
24Who gave Jacob to a plunderer#The reading tradition (Qere) has “as plunder”
and Israel to those who plunder?
Was it not Yahweh, against whom#Or “this” we have sinned?
And they were not willing to walk in his ways,
and they would not obey#Literally “hear” his law.
25So#Or “and” he poured the wrath of his anger upon him
and the strength of war.
And it set him afire all around, but#Or “and” he did not understand;#Or “did not know”
and it burned him, but#Or “and” he did not take it to heart.
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