IsaiahChapter 42

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¹"Here is my Servant. I hold him up.
He is my Chosen One, and my soul delights in him.
I will put my Spirit on him.
He will bring justice to the nations. ²He will not shout or raise his voice.
He will not make his voice heard in the streets. ³He will not break a bruised reed.
He will not put out a wick that is barely burning.
He will faithfully bring justice. ⁴He will not grow weak or lose heart
until he has set up justice on the earth.
The islands will put their hope in his law." ⁵This is what God the LORD says.
He created the skies and stretched them out.
He spread out the earth and all that grows from it.
He gives breath to the people on it.
He gives life to those who walk on it. ⁶"I, the LORD, have called you for a right purpose.
I will take hold of your hand.
I will keep you safe.
I will make you a covenant for the people
and a light to the nations. ⁷You will open the eyes of the blind.
You will bring prisoners out of the dungeon.
You will bring those who sit in darkness out of the prison. ⁸I am the LORD. That is my name!
I will not give my glory to anyone else.
I will not give my praise to idols. ⁹Look, the things I said before have happened.
Now I tell you new things.
Before they start to happen,
I tell you about them." ¹⁰Sing a new song to the LORD!
Sing his praise from the ends of the earth.
Sing, you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it.
Sing, you islands, and all who live there. ¹¹Let the desert and its towns raise their voices.
Let the villages of Kedar shout.
Let the people of Sela sing for joy.
Let them shout from the mountaintops. ¹²Let them give glory to the LORD.
Let them tell his praise in the islands. ¹³The LORD marches out like a mighty hero.
He stirs up his zeal like a soldier.
He shouts. Yes, he roars.
He wins over his enemies. ¹⁴"For a long, long time I have kept silent.
I have stayed quiet and held myself back.
But now I will cry out like a woman giving birth.
I will gasp and pant all at once. ¹⁵I will ruin the mountains and hills.
I will dry up all their plants.
I will turn the rivers into dry land.
I will dry up the ponds. ¹⁶I will lead the blind on a road they did not know.
I will guide them on paths that are new to them.
I will turn the darkness into light in front of them.
I will make the rough places smooth.
These things I will do for them.
I will not forsake them. ¹⁷But some people trust in idols.
They say to metal images, 'You are our gods!'
They will be turned back in deep shame. ¹⁸Listen, you who are deaf!
Look, you who are blind, so you can see! ¹⁹Who is blind but my servant?
Who is as deaf as the messenger I send?
Who is as blind as the one in covenant with me?
Who is as blind as the servant of the LORD? ²⁰You have seen many things,
but you do not pay attention.
Your ears are open,
but you do not hear." ²¹Because the LORD is righteous,
he was pleased to make his law great and glorious. ²²But these people have been robbed and looted.
All of them are trapped in holes
or locked up in prisons.
They have been taken as loot,
and no one rescues them.
They have been carried off,
and no one says, "Send them back!" ²³Which of you will listen to this?
Who will pay attention and obey from now on? ²⁴Who handed Jacob over to be robbed?
Who gave Israel to the robbers?
Wasn't it the LORD, the one we have sinned against?
They did not want to live his way.
They would not obey his law. ²⁵So he poured out his burning anger on them.
He sent the violence of war on them.
It wrapped them in flames,
but they did not understand.
It burned them up,
but they did not take it to heart.