Isaiah 42
New American Standard Bible
God’s Promise concerning His Servant
42 “(A)Behold, My (B)Servant, whom I [a]uphold;
My (C)chosen one in whom My (D)soul delights.
I have put My (E)Spirit upon Him;
He will bring forth (F)justice to the [b]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 (G)justice.
4 He will not be (H)disheartened or crushed
Until He has established justice on the earth;
And the (I)coastlands will wait expectantly for His [c]law.”
5 This is what God the Lord says,
Who (J)created the heavens and (K)stretched them out,
Who spread out the (L)earth and its [d]offspring,
Who (M)gives breath to the people on it
And spirit to those who walk in it:
6 “I am the Lord, I have (N)called You in righteousness,
I will also (O)hold You by the hand and (P)watch over You,
And I will appoint You as a (Q)covenant to the people,
As a (R)light to the nations,
7 To (S)open blind eyes,
To (T)bring out prisoners from the dungeon
And those who dwell in darkness from the prison.
8 (U)I am the Lord, that is (V)My name;
I will not give My (W)glory to another,
Nor My praise to idols.
9 Behold, the (X)former things have come to pass,
Now I declare (Y)new things;
Before they sprout I proclaim them to you.”
10 Sing to the Lord a (Z)new song,
Sing His praise from the (AA)end of the earth!
(AB)You who go down to the sea, and (AC)all that is in it;
You (AD)islands, and those who live on them.
11 Let the (AE)wilderness and its cities raise their voices,
The settlements which (AF)Kedar inhabits.
Let the inhabitants of (AG)Sela sing aloud,
Let them shout for joy from the tops of the (AH)mountains.
12 Let them (AI)give glory to the Lord
And declare His praise in the (AJ)coastlands.
13 (AK)The Lord will go out like a warrior,
He will stir His (AL)zeal like a man of war.
He will shout, indeed, He will raise a war cry.
He will (AM)prevail against His enemies.
The Blindness of the People
14 “(AN)I 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 (AO)lay waste the mountains and hills
And wither all their vegetation;
I will (AP)turn the rivers into coastlands
And dry up the ponds.
16 I will (AQ)lead those who are blind by a way they have not known,
In paths they have not known I will guide them.
I will (AR)turn darkness into light before them
And (AS)uneven land into plains.
These are the things I will do,
And I will (AT)not leave them undone.”
17 They will be turned back and be (AU)utterly put to shame,
Who trust in [e]idols,
Who say to cast metal images,
“You are our gods.”
18 (AV)Hear, you who are deaf!
And look, you who are blind, so that you may see.
19 Who is blind but My (AW)servant,
Or so deaf as My (AX)messenger whom I send?
Who is so blind as one who is [f](AY)at peace with Me,
Or so blind as the servant of the Lord?
20 (AZ)You 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 (BA)great and glorious.
22 But this is a people plundered and pillaged;
All of them are (BB)trapped in [g]caves,
Or are (BC)hidden 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 (BD)were not willing to walk,
And whose Law they did not (BE)obey?
25 So He poured out on him the heat of His anger
And the (BF)fierceness of battle;
And it set him aflame all around,
Yet he did not recognize it;
And it burned him, but he [h](BG)paid no attention.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 42:1 Or hold fast
- Isaiah 42:1 Or Gentiles
- Isaiah 42:4 Or instruction
- Isaiah 42:5 Or vegetation
- Isaiah 42:17 Or carved images
- Isaiah 42:19 Or the devoted one
- Isaiah 42:22 Or holes
- Isaiah 42:25 Lit did not lay it to heart
Isaiah 42
Common English Bible
God’s servant described
42 But here is my servant, the one I uphold;
my chosen, who brings me delight.
I’ve put my spirit upon him;
he will bring justice to the nations.
2 He won’t cry out or shout aloud
or make his voice heard in public.
3 He won’t break a bruised reed;
he won’t extinguish a faint wick,
but he will surely bring justice.
4 He won’t be extinguished or broken
until he has established justice in the land.
The coastlands await his teaching.
5 God the Lord says—
the one who created the heavens,
the one who stretched them out,
the one who spread out the earth and its offspring,
the one who gave breath to its people
and life to those who walk on it—
6 I, the Lord, have called you for a good reason.
I will grasp your hand and guard you,
and give you as a covenant to the people,
as a light to the nations,
7 to open blind eyes, to lead the prisoners from prison,
and those who sit in darkness from the dungeon.
8 I am the Lord;
that is my name;
I don’t hand out my glory to others
or my praise to idols.
9 The things announced in the past—look—they’ve already happened,
but I’m declaring new things.
Before they even appear,
I tell you about them.
Warrior and mother
10 Sing to the Lord a new song!
Sing his praise from the ends of the earth!
You who sail the sea and all that fills it,
the coastlands and their residents.
11 Let the desert and its towns shout aloud,
the villages that Kedar inhabits.
Let the cliff dwellers sing;
from the top of the mountains let them shout.
12 Let them give the Lord glory
and declare God’s praise in the coastlands.
13 The Lord will go out like a soldier;
like a warrior God will stir up rage.
God will shout, will roar;
over enemies he will prevail.
14 I’ve kept still for a very long time.
I’ve been silent and restrained myself.
Like a woman in labor I will moan;
I will pant, I will gasp.
15 I will wither mountains and valleys,
and I will dry up all their vegetation.
I will turn rivers into deserts,[a]
and I will dry up pools.
16 I will make the blind walk a road they don’t know,
and I will guide them in paths they don’t know.
But I will make darkness before them into light
and rough places into level ground.
These things I will do;
I won’t abandon them.
Blindness and deafness
17 Turned backward, utterly shamed
are those who trust in idols,
who say to a cast image,
“You are our god!”
18 Hear, deaf ones,
and blind ones, look and see!
19 Who is blind if not my servant
and deaf like my messenger whom I send?
Who is blind like the restored one,[b]
blind like the servant of the Lord?
20 You have seen many things, but don’t keep watch.
With ears open, you don’t hear.[c]
21 The Lord desired for the sake of his righteousness
to expand and glorify the Instruction.
22 But this is a people plundered and looted,
everyone trapped in holes and hidden in dungeons.
They have become plunder with no one to rescue,
loot with no one to say, “Give it back.”
23 Which of you will listen to this,
will pay attention and respond from now on?
24 Who gave Jacob to the looter,
and Israel to the plunderers?
Wasn’t it the Lord,
the one we sinned against?
They were not willing to walk in God’s ways,
and wouldn’t listen to his teaching.
25 So God poured out on Jacob the heat of his anger
and the fury of battle.
It scorched him, and he didn’t know it;
it burned him, but he didn’t give it much thought.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 42:15 Or islands
- Isaiah 42:19 Heb Meshullam, possibly a proper name
- Isaiah 42:20 Or he does not hear
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
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