Isaiah 42-43
New King James Version
The Servant of the Lord
42 “Behold! (A)My Servant whom I uphold,
My [a]Elect One in whom My soul (B)delights!
(C)I have put My Spirit upon Him;
He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.
2 He will not cry out, nor raise His voice,
Nor cause His voice to be heard in the street.
3 A bruised reed He will not break,
And [b]smoking flax He will not [c]quench;
He will bring forth justice for truth.
4 He will not fail nor be discouraged,
Till He has established justice in the earth;
(D)And the coastlands shall wait for His law.”
5 Thus says God the Lord,
(E)Who created the heavens and stretched them out,
Who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it,
(F)Who gives breath to the people on it,
And spirit to those who walk on it:
6 “I,(G) the Lord, have called You in righteousness,
And will hold Your hand;
I will keep You (H)and give You as a covenant to the people,
As (I)a light to the Gentiles,
7 (J)To open blind eyes,
To (K)bring out prisoners from the prison,
Those who sit in (L)darkness from the prison house.
8 I am the Lord, that is My name;
And My (M)glory I will not give to another,
Nor My praise to carved images.
9 Behold, the former things have come to pass,
And new things I declare;
Before they spring forth I tell you of them.”
Praise to the Lord
10 (N)Sing to the Lord a new song,
And His praise from the ends of the earth,
(O)You who go down to the sea, and [d]all that is in it,
You coastlands and you inhabitants of them!
11 Let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voice,
The villages that Kedar inhabits.
Let the inhabitants of Sela sing,
Let them shout from the top of the mountains.
12 Let them give glory to the Lord,
And declare His praise in the coastlands.
13 The Lord shall go forth like a mighty man;
He shall stir up His zeal like a man of war.
He shall cry out, (P)yes, shout aloud;
He shall prevail against His enemies.
Promise of the Lord’s Help
14 “I have held My peace a long time,
I have been still and restrained Myself.
Now I will cry like a woman in [e]labor,
I will pant and gasp at once.
15 I will lay waste the mountains and hills,
And dry up all their vegetation;
I will make the rivers coastlands,
And I will dry up the pools.
16 I will bring the blind by a way they did not know;
I will lead them in paths they have not known.
I will make darkness light before them,
And crooked places straight.
These things I will do for them,
And not forsake them.
17 They shall be (Q)turned back,
They shall be greatly ashamed,
Who trust in carved images,
Who say to the molded images,
‘You are our gods.’
18 “Hear, you deaf;
And look, you blind, that you may see.
19 (R)Who is blind but My servant,
Or deaf as My messenger whom I send?
Who is blind as he who is perfect,
And blind as the Lord’s servant?
20 Seeing many things, (S)but you do not observe;
Opening the ears, but he does not hear.”
Israel’s Obstinate Disobedience
21 The Lord is well pleased for His righteousness’ sake;
He will exalt the law and make it honorable.
22 But this is a people robbed and plundered;
All of them are [f]snared in holes,
And they are hidden in prison houses;
They are for prey, and no one delivers;
For plunder, and no one says, “Restore!”
23 Who among you will give ear to this?
Who will listen and hear for the time to come?
24 Who gave Jacob for plunder, and Israel to the robbers?
Was it not the Lord,
He against whom we have sinned?
(T)For they would not walk in His ways,
Nor were they obedient to His law.
25 Therefore He has poured on him the fury of His anger
And the strength of battle;
(U)It has set him on fire all around,
(V)Yet he did not know;
And it burned him,
Yet he did not take it to (W)heart.
The Redeemer of Israel
43 But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob,
And He who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, (X)for I have redeemed you;
(Y)I have called you by your name;
You are Mine.
2 (Z)When you pass through the waters, (AA)I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.
When you (AB)walk through the fire, you shall not be burned,
Nor shall the flame scorch you.
3 For I am the Lord your God,
The Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
(AC)I gave Egypt for your ransom,
Ethiopia and Seba in your place.
4 Since you were precious in My sight,
You have been honored,
And I have (AD)loved you;
Therefore I will give men for you,
And people for your life.
5 (AE)Fear not, for I am with you;
I will bring your descendants from the east,
And (AF)gather you from the west;
6 I will say to the (AG)north, ‘Give them up!’
And to the south, ‘Do not keep them back!’
Bring My sons from afar,
And My daughters from the ends of the earth—
7 Everyone who is (AH)called by My name,
Whom (AI)I have created for My glory;
I have formed him, yes, I have made him.”
8 (AJ)Bring out the blind people who have eyes,
And the (AK)deaf who have ears.
9 Let all the nations be gathered together,
And let the people be assembled.
(AL)Who among them can declare this,
And show us former things?
Let them bring out their witnesses, that they may be justified;
Or let them hear and say, “It is truth.”
10 “You(AM) are My witnesses,” says the Lord,
(AN)“And My servant whom I have chosen,
That you may know and (AO)believe Me,
And understand that I am He.
Before Me there was no God formed,
Nor shall there be after Me.
11 I, even I, (AP)am the Lord,
And besides Me there is no savior.
12 I have declared and saved,
I have proclaimed,
And there was no (AQ)foreign god among you;
(AR)Therefore you are My witnesses,”
Says the Lord, “that I am God.
13 (AS)Indeed before the day was, I am He;
And there is no one who can deliver out of My hand;
I work, and who will (AT)reverse it?”
14 Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer,
The Holy One of Israel:
“For your sake I will send to Babylon,
And bring them all down as fugitives—
The Chaldeans, who rejoice in their ships.
15 I am the Lord, your Holy One,
The Creator of Israel, your (AU)King.”
16 Thus says the Lord, who (AV)makes a way in the sea
And a (AW)path through the mighty waters,
17 Who (AX)brings forth the chariot and horse,
The army and the power
(They shall lie down together, they shall not rise;
They are extinguished, they are quenched like a wick):
18 “Do(AY) not remember the former things,
Nor consider the things of old.
19 Behold, I will do a (AZ)new thing,
Now it shall spring forth;
Shall you not know it?
(BA)I will even make a road in the wilderness
And rivers in the desert.
20 The beast of the field will honor Me,
The jackals and the ostriches,
Because (BB)I give waters in the wilderness
And rivers in the desert,
To give drink to My people, My chosen.
21 (BC)This people I have formed for Myself;
They shall declare My (BD)praise.
Pleading with Unfaithful Israel
22 “But you have not called upon Me, O Jacob;
And you (BE)have been weary of Me, O Israel.
23 (BF)You have not brought Me the sheep for your burnt offerings,
Nor have you honored Me with your sacrifices.
I have not caused you to serve with grain offerings,
Nor wearied you with incense.
24 You have bought Me no sweet cane with money,
Nor have you satisfied Me with the fat of your sacrifices;
But you have burdened Me with your sins,
You have (BG)wearied Me with your iniquities.
25 “I, even I, am He who (BH)blots out your transgressions (BI)for My own sake;
(BJ)And I will not remember your sins.
26 Put Me in remembrance;
Let us contend together;
State your case, that you may be [g]acquitted.
27 Your first father sinned,
And your [h]mediators have transgressed against Me.
28 Therefore I will profane the princes of the sanctuary;
(BK)I will give Jacob to the curse,
And Israel to reproaches.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 42:1 Chosen
- Isaiah 42:3 dimly burning
- Isaiah 42:3 extinguish
- Isaiah 42:10 Lit. its fullness
- Isaiah 42:14 childbirth
- Isaiah 42:22 Or trapped in caves
- Isaiah 43:26 justified
- Isaiah 43:27 interpreters
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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