Isaiah 42
42
The Servant of the Lord
1Here is my servant#Servant: three other passages have been popularly called “servant of the Lord” poems: 49:1–7; 50:4–11; 52:13–53:12. Whether the servant is an individual or a collectivity is not clear (e.g., contrast 49:3 with 49:5). More important is the description of the mission of the servant. In the early Church and throughout Christian tradition, these poems have been applied to Christ; cf. Mt 12:18–21. whom I uphold,
my chosen one with whom I am pleased.
Upon him I have put my spirit;
he shall bring forth justice to the nations.#Is 45:6; 49:6.
2He will not cry out, nor shout,
nor make his voice heard in the street.
3A bruised reed#Bruised reed… : images to express the gentle manner of the servant’s mission. he will not break,
and a dimly burning wick he will not quench.
He will faithfully bring forth justice.
4He will not grow dim or be bruised
until he establishes justice on the earth;
the coastlands#Coastlands: for Israel, the world to the west: the islands and coastal nations of the Mediterranean. will wait for his teaching.
5Thus says God, the Lord,
who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and its produce,
Who gives breath to its people
and spirit to those who walk on it:
6I, the Lord, have called you for justice,
I have grasped you by the hand;
I formed you, and set you
as a covenant for the people,
a light for the nations,#Is 45:13.
7To open the eyes of the blind,
to bring out prisoners from confinement,
and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.
8I am the Lord, Lord is my name;
my glory I give to no other,
nor my praise to idols.
9See, the earlier things have come to pass,
new ones I now declare;
Before they spring forth
I announce them to you.
The Lord’s Purpose for Israel
10Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise from the ends of the earth:
Let the sea and what fills it resound,
the coastlands, and those who dwell in them.
11Let the wilderness and its cities cry out,
the villages where Kedar#Kedar: cf. note on 21:16. Sela: Petra, the capital of Edom. dwells;
Let the inhabitants of Sela exult,
and shout from the top of the mountains.
12Let them give glory to the Lord,
and utter his praise in the coastlands.
13The Lord goes forth like a warrior,
like a man of war he stirs up his fury;
He shouts out his battle cry,
against his enemies he shows his might:#Ex 15:3.
14For a long time I have kept silent,
I have said nothing, holding myself back;
Now I cry out like a woman in labor,
gasping and panting.
15#Active once more, God will remove the obstacles that hinder the exiles’ return, and will lead them by new roads to Jerusalem; cf. 40:3–4. I will lay waste mountains and hills,
all their undergrowth I will dry up;
I will turn the rivers into marshes,
and the marshes I will dry up.#Ex 9:25; 10:15; 14:21; Ps 105:33–35.
16I will lead the blind on a way they do not know;
by paths they do not know I will guide them.
I will turn darkness into light before them,
and make crooked ways straight.
These are my promises:
I made them, I will not forsake them.#Ex 13:21.
17They shall be turned back in utter shame
who trust in idols;
Who say to molten images,
“You are our gods.”
18You deaf ones, listen,#The Lord rebukes his people for their failures, but their role and their mission endure: they remain his servant, his messenger to the nations.
you blind ones, look and see!
19Who is blind but my servant,
or deaf like the messenger I send?
Who is blind like the one I restore,
blind like the servant of the Lord?
20You see many things but do not observe;
ears open, but do not hear.
21It was the Lord’s will for the sake of his justice
to make his teaching great and glorious.
22This is a people#A people: Israel in exile. plundered and despoiled,
all of them trapped in holes,
hidden away in prisons.
They are taken as plunder, with no one to rescue them,
as spoil, with no one to say, “Give back!”
23Who among you will give ear to this,
listen and pay attention from now on?
24Who was it that gave Jacob to be despoiled,
Israel to the plunderers?#Plunderers: the Assyrians and Babylonians. We…they: the switch from first- to third-person speech, though puzzling, does not obscure the fact that “the people” is meant.
Was it not the Lord, against whom we have sinned?
In his ways they refused to walk,
his teaching they would not heed.
25So he poured out wrath upon them,
his anger, and the fury of battle;
It blazed all around them, yet they did not realize,
it burned them, but they did not take it to heart.
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Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc
Isaiah 42
42
1 #
Mt 12.18-21. Behold 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 or lift up his voice,
or make it heard in the street;
3a bruised reed he will not break,
and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice.
4He will not fail#42.4 Or burn dimly or be discouraged#42.4 Or bruised
till he has established justice in the earth;
and the coastlands wait for his law.
5 #
Acts 17.24-25. Thus says God, the Lord,
who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread forth the earth and what comes from it,
who gives breath to the people upon it
and spirit to those who walk in it:
6 #
Is 49.6; Lk 2.32; Acts 13.47; 26.23. “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,
a light to the nations,
7 #
Acts 26.18. to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
from the prison those who sit in darkness.
8I am the Lord, that is my name;
my glory I give to no other,
nor my praise to graven images.
9Behold, the former things have come to pass,
and new things I now declare;
before they spring forth
I tell you of them.”
10Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise from the end of the earth!
Let the sea roar#42.10 Cn Compare Ps 96.11; 98.7: Heb Those who go down to the sea and all that fills it,
the coastlands and their inhabitants.
11Let the desert and its cities lift up their voice,
the villages that Kedar inhabits;
let the inhabitants of Sela sing for joy,
let them shout from the top of the mountains.
12Let them give glory to the Lord,
and declare his praise in the coastlands.
13The Lord goes forth like a mighty man,
like a man of war he stirs up his fury;
he cries out, he shouts aloud,
he shows himself mighty against his foes.
14For a long time I have held my peace,
I have kept still and restrained myself;
now I will cry out like a woman in travail,
I will gasp and pant.
15I will lay waste mountains and hills,
and dry up all their herbage;
I will turn the rivers into islands,
and dry up the pools.
16And I will lead the blind
in a way that they know not,
in paths that 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.
17They shall be turned back and utterly put to shame,
who trust in graven images,
who say to molten images,
“You are our gods.”
18Hear, you deaf;
and look, you blind, that you may see!
19Who is blind but my servant,
or deaf as my messenger whom I send?
Who is blind as my dedicated one,
or blind as the servant of the Lord?
20He sees#42.20 Heb you see many things, but does not observe them;
his ears are open, but he does not hear.
21The Lord was pleased, for his righteousness' sake,
to magnify his law and make it glorious.
22But this is a people robbed and plundered,
they are all of them trapped in holes
and hidden in prisons;
they have become a prey with none to rescue,
a spoil with none to say, “Restore!”
23Who among you will give ear to this,
will attend and listen for the time to come?
24Who gave up Jacob to the spoiler,
and Israel to the robbers?
Was it not the Lord, against whom we have sinned,
in whose ways they would not walk,
and whose law they would not obey?
25So he poured upon him the heat of his anger
and the might of battle;
it set him on fire round about, but he did not understand;
it burned him, but he did not take it to heart.
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