Isaiah 42

God’s Promise concerning His Servant

1 “ ^aBehold, My ^bServant, whom I ▼

▼Or hold fast

uphold;
My ^dchosen one in whom My ^esoul delights.
I have put My ^fSpirit upon Him;
He will bring forth ^gjustice to the ▼

▼Or Gentiles

nations.
2 “He will not cry out nor raise His voice,
Nor make His voice heard in the street.
3 “A bent reed He will not break off
And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish;
He will faithfully bring forth ⁱjustice.
4 “He will not be ^jdisheartened or crushed
Until He has established justice on the earth;
And the ^kcoastlands will wait expectantly for His ▼

▼Or instruction

law.”
5 This is what God the Lord says,

Who ^mcreated the heavens and ⁿstretched them out,
Who spread out the ^oearth and its ▼

▼Or vegetation

offspring,
Who ^qgives breath to the people on it
And spirit to those who walk in it:
6 “I am the Lord, I have ^rcalled You in righteousness,
I will also ^shold You by the hand and ^twatch over You,
And I will appoint You as a ^ucovenant to the people,
As a ^vlight to the nations,
7 To ^wopen blind eyes,
To ^xbring out prisoners from the dungeon
And those who dwell in darkness from the prison.
8 “ ^yI am the Lord, that is ^zMy name;
I will not give My ^aaglory to another,
Nor My praise to idols.
9 “Behold, the ^abformer things have come to pass,
Now I declare ^acnew things;
Before they sprout I proclaim them to you.”

10 Sing to the Lord a ^adnew song,
Sing His praise from the ^aeend of the earth!
^afYou who go down to the sea, and ^agall that is in it;
You ^ahislands, and those who live on them.
11 Let the ^aiwilderness and its cities raise their voices,
The settlements which ^ajKedar inhabits.
Let the inhabitants of ^akSela sing aloud,
Let them shout for joy from the tops of the ^almountains.
12 Let them ^amgive glory to the Lord
And declare His praise in the ^ancoastlands.
13 ^aoThe Lord will go out like a warrior,
He will stir His ^apzeal like a man of war.
He will shout, indeed, He will raise a war cry.
He will ^aqprevail against His enemies.

The Blindness of the People

14 “ ^arI have kept silent for a long time,
I have kept still and restrained Myself.
Now like a woman in labor I will groan,
I will both gasp and pant.
15 “I will ^aslay waste the mountains and hills
And wither all their vegetation;
I will ^atturn the rivers into coastlands
And dry up the ponds.
16 “I will ^aulead those who are blind by a way they have not known,
In paths they have not known I will guide them.
I will ^avturn darkness into light before them
And ^awuneven land into plains.
These are the things I will do,
And I will ^axnot leave them undone.”
17 They will be turned back and be ^ayutterly put to shame,
Who trust in ▼

▼Or carved images

idols,
Who say to cast metal images,
“You are our gods.”

18 ^baHear, you who are deaf!
And look, you who are blind, so that you may see.
19 Who is blind but My ^bbservant,
Or so deaf as My ^bcmessenger whom I send?
Who is so blind as one who is ▼

▼Or the devoted one

, ^beat peace with Me,
Or so blind as the servant of the Lord?
20 ^bfYou have seen many things, but you do not retain them;
Your ears are open, but no one hears.
21 The Lord was pleased for His righteousness’ sake
To make the Law ^bggreat and glorious.
22 But this is a people plundered and pillaged;
All of them are ^bhtrapped in ▼

▼Or holes

caves,
Or are ^bjhidden away in prisons;
They have become plunder, with no one to save them,
And spoils with no one to say, “Give them back!”

23 Who among you will listen to this?
Who will pay attention and listen in the time to come?
24 Who gave Jacob up for spoils, and Israel to plunderers?
Was it not the Lord, against whom we have sinned,
And in whose ways they ^bkwere not willing to walk,
And whose Law they did not ^blobey?
25 So He poured out on him the heat of His anger
And the ^bmfierceness of battle;
And it set him aflame all around,
Yet he did not recognize it;
And it burned him, but he ▼

▼Lit did not lay it to heart

, ^bopaid no attention.