Isaiah 42
42
The Lord’s Chosen Servant
1 # Cited Matt. 12:18-20 Behold #ch. 41:8; 43:10; 52:13; 53:11; [ver. 19; Ezek. 34:24; Zech. 3:8; Acts 3:26; 4:27; Phil. 2:7] my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, #Matt. 3:17 in whom my soul delights;
# ch. 11:2; 61:1 I have put my Spirit upon him;
# [ch. 2:4] he will bring forth justice to the nations.
2He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice,
or make it heard in the street;
3 # [ch. 57:15] a bruised reed he will not break,
and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;
#
Ps. 9:8
he will faithfully bring forth justice.
4He will not grow faint or be discouraged#42:4 Or bruised
till he has established justice in the earth;
and #ch. 60:9; Gen. 10:5; [ch. 2:3; Matt. 12:21]the coastlands wait for his law.
5Thus says God, the Lord,
who created the heavens #ch. 44:24; 45:12 and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
#
Acts 17:25
who gives breath to the people on it
and spirit to those who walk in it:
6“I am the Lord; #ch. 41:9 I have called you#42:6 The Hebrew for you is singular; four times in this verse in righteousness;
I will take you by the hand and keep you;
I will give you #ch. 49:6, 8 as a covenant for the people,
#
Luke 2:32
a light for the nations,
7 # ch. 35:5; 49:9; 61:1; Heb. 2:14, 15 to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
#
Luke 1:79
from the prison those who sit in darkness.
8I am the Lord; that is my name;
# ch. 48:11 my glory I give to no other,
nor my praise to carved idols.
9Behold, the former things have come to pass,
# [ch. 43:19] and new things I now declare;
before they spring forth
I tell you of them.”
Sing to the Lord a New Song
10 # See Ps. 33:3 Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise from the end of the earth,
#
Ps. 107:23 you who go down to the sea, and all that fills it,
# [See ver. 4 above] the coastlands and their inhabitants.
11Let the desert and its cities lift up their voice,
the villages that #See ch. 21:16 Kedar inhabits;
let the habitants of #ch. 16:1Sela sing for joy,
let them shout from the top of the mountains.
12Let them give glory to the Lord,
and declare his praise in #[See ver. 4 above]the coastlands.
13 # ch. 40:10 The Lord goes out like a mighty man,
like a man of war #[ch. 9:7; 59:17] he stirs up his zeal;
he cries out, #Ps. 78:65he 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 #See ch. 13:8like a woman in labor;
I will gasp and pant.
15 # ch. 50:2 I will lay waste mountains and hills,
and dry up all their vegetation;
I will turn the rivers into islands,#42:15 Or into coastlands
and dry up the pools.
16 # ch. 35:5, 8 And I will lead the blind
in a way that they do not know,
in paths that they have not known
I will guide them.
I will turn the darkness before them into light,
# ch. 40:4 the rough places into level ground.
These are the things I do,
and I do not forsake them.
17 # ch. 1:29; 44:11; 45:16; Ps. 97:7 They are turned back and utterly put to shame,
who trust in carved idols,
who say to metal images,
“You are our gods.”
Israel’s Failure to Hear and See
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,#42:19 Or as the one at peace with me
or blind as the servant of the Lord?
20 # See Rom. 2:21-23 He sees many things, but does not observe them;
# [Jer. 6:10] 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 plundered and looted;
they are all of them trapped in holes
# ch. 14:17 and hidden in prisons;
they have become plunder with none to rescue,
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 looter,
and Israel to the plunderers?
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 on him the heat of his anger
and the might of battle;
it set him on fire all around, #[ch. 47:11; Hos. 7:9] but he did not understand;
it burned him up, #ch. 57:1, 11but he did not take it to heart.
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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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