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Isaiah 42
New English Translation

The Lord Commissions His Special Servant

42 [a] “Here is my servant whom I support,
my chosen one in whom I take pleasure.
I have placed my Spirit on him;
he will make just decrees[b] for the nations.[c]
2 He will not cry out or shout;
he will not publicize himself in the streets.[d]
3 A crushed reed he will not break,
a dim wick he will not extinguish;[e]
he will faithfully make just decrees.[f]
4 He will not grow dim or be crushed[g]
before establishing justice on the earth;
the coastlands[h] will wait in anticipation for his decrees.”[i]
5 This is what the true God,[j] the Lord, says—
the one who created the sky and stretched it out,
the one who fashioned the earth and everything that lives on it,[k]
the one who gives breath to the people on it,
and life to those who live on it:[l]
6 “I, the Lord, officially commission you;[m]
I take hold of your hand.
I protect you[n] and make you a covenant mediator for people,[o]
and a light[p] to the nations,[q]
7 to open blind eyes,[r]
to release prisoners[s] from dungeons,
those who live in darkness from prisons.

The Lord Intervenes

8 “I am the Lord! That is my name!
I will not share my glory with anyone else,
or the praise due me with idols.
9 Look, my earlier predictive oracles have come to pass;[t]
now I announce new events.
Before they begin to occur,
I reveal them to you.”[u]
10 Sing to the Lord a brand new song!

Praise him[v] from the horizon of the earth,
you who go down to the sea, and everything that lives in it,[w]
you coastlands[x] and those who live there.
11 Let the wilderness and its cities shout out,
the towns where the nomads of Kedar live.
Let the residents of Sela shout joyfully;
let them shout loudly from the mountaintops.
12 Let them give the Lord the honor he deserves;[y]
let them praise his deeds in the coastlands.[z]
13 The Lord emerges like a hero,
like a warrior he inspires himself for battle;[aa]
he shouts, yes, he yells,
he shows his enemies his power.[ab]
14 “I have been inactive[ac] for a long time;
I kept quiet and held back.
Like a woman in labor I groan;
I pant and gasp.[ad]
15 I will make the trees on the mountains and hills wither up;[ae]
I will dry up all their vegetation.
I will turn streams into islands,[af]
and dry up pools of water.[ag]
16 I will lead the blind along an unfamiliar way;[ah]
I will guide them down paths they have never traveled.[ai]
I will turn the darkness in front of them into light,
and level out the rough ground.[aj]
This is what I will do for them.
I will not abandon them.
17 Those who trust in idols
will turn back and be utterly humiliated,[ak]
those who say to metal images, ‘You are our gods.’

The Lord Reasons with His People

18 “Listen, you deaf ones!
Take notice,[al] you blind ones!
19 My servant is truly blind,
my messenger is truly deaf.
My covenant partner,[am] the servant of the Lord, is truly blind.[an]
20 You see[ao] many things, but don’t comprehend;[ap]
their ears are open, but do not hear.”
21 The Lord wanted to exhibit his justice
by magnifying his law and displaying it.[aq]
22 But these people are looted and plundered;
all of them are trapped in pits[ar]
and held captive[as] in prisons.
They were carried away as loot with no one to rescue them;
they were carried away as plunder, and no one says, “Bring that back!”[at]
23 Who among you will pay attention to this?
Who will listen attentively in the future?[au]
24 Who handed Jacob over to the robber?
Who handed Israel over to the looters?[av]
Was it not the Lord, against whom we sinned?
They refused to follow his commands;
they disobeyed his law.[aw]
25 So he poured out his fierce anger on them,[ax]
along with the devastation[ay] of war.
Its flames encircled them,[az] but they did not realize it;[ba]
it burned against them, but they did not take it to heart.[bb]

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 42:1 sn Verses 1-7 contain the first of Isaiah’s “servant songs,” which describe the ministry of a special, ideal servant who accomplishes God’s purposes for Israel and the nations. This song depicts the servant as a just king who brings justice to the earth and relief for the oppressed. The other songs appear in 49:1-13; 50:4-11; and 52:13-53:12.
  2. Isaiah 42:1 tn Heb “he will bring out justice” (cf. ASV, NASB, NRSV).
  3. Isaiah 42:1 sn Like the ideal king portrayed in Isa 11:1-9, the servant is energized by the divine spirit and establishes justice on the earth.
  4. Isaiah 42:2 tn Heb “he will not cause his voice to be heard in the street.”
  5. Isaiah 42:3 sn The “crushed reed” and “dim wick” symbolize the weak and oppressed who are on the verge of extinction.
  6. Isaiah 42:3 tn Heb “faithfully he will bring out justice” (cf. NASB, NRSV).
  7. Isaiah 42:4 tn For rhetorical effect the terms used to describe the “crushed (רָצַץ, ratsats) reed” and “dim (כָּהָה, kahah) wick” in v. 3 are repeated here.
  8. Isaiah 42:4 tn Or “islands” (NIV); NLT “distant lands beyond the sea.”
  9. Isaiah 42:4 tn Or “his law” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NIV) or “his instruction” (NLT).
  10. Isaiah 42:5 tn Heb “the God.” The definite article here indicates distinctiveness or uniqueness.
  11. Isaiah 42:5 tn Heb “and its offspring” (so NASB); NIV “all that comes out of it.”
  12. Isaiah 42:5 tn Heb “and spirit [i.e., “breath”] to the ones walking in it” (NAB, NASB, and NRSV all similar).
  13. Isaiah 42:6 tn Heb “call you in righteousness.” The pronoun “you” is masculine singular, referring to the servant. See the note at 41:2.
  14. Isaiah 42:6 tn The translation assumes the verb is derived from the root נָצַר (natsar, “protect”). Some prefer to derive it from the root יָצַר (yatsar, “form”).
  15. Isaiah 42:6 tn Heb “a covenant of people.” A person cannot literally be a covenant; בְּרִית (berit) is probably metonymic here, indicating a covenant mediator. The precise identity of עָם (ʿam, “people”) is uncertain. In v. 5 עָם refers to mankind, and the following reference to “nations” also favors this. But in 49:8, where the phrase בְּרִית עָם occurs again, Israel seems to be in view.
  16. Isaiah 42:6 sn Light here symbolizes deliverance from bondage and oppression; note the parallelism in 49:6b and in 51:4-6.
  17. Isaiah 42:6 tn Or “the Gentiles” (so KJV, ASV, NIV); the same Hebrew word can be translated “nations” or “Gentiles” depending on the context.
  18. Isaiah 42:7 sn This does not refer to literal physical healing of the blind. As the next two lines suggest, this refers metonymically to freeing captives from their dark prisons where their eyes have grown unaccustomed to light.
  19. Isaiah 42:7 sn This does not refer to hardened, dangerous criminals, who would have been executed for their crimes in ancient Near Eastern society. This verse refers to political prisoners or victims of social injustice.
  20. Isaiah 42:9 tn Heb “the former things, look, they have come.”
  21. Isaiah 42:9 tn Heb “before they sprout up, I cause you to hear.” The pronoun “you” is plural, referring to the people of Israel. In this verse “the former things” are the Lord’s earlier predictive oracles which have come to pass, while “the new things” are predicted events that have not yet begun to take place. “The former things” are earlier events in Israel’s history which God announced beforehand, such as the Exodus (see 43:16-18). “The new things” are the predictions about the servant (42:1-7). and may also include Cyrus’ conquests (41:25-27).
  22. Isaiah 42:10 tn Heb “his praise.” The phrase stands parallel to “new song” in the previous line.
  23. Isaiah 42:10 tn Heb “and its fullness”; NASB, NIV “and all that is in it.”
  24. Isaiah 42:10 tn Or “islands” (NASB, NIV); NLT “distant coastlands.”
  25. Isaiah 42:12 tn Heb “Let them ascribe to the Lord glory.”
  26. Isaiah 42:12 tn Heb “and his praise in the coastlands [or “islands”] let them declare.”
  27. Isaiah 42:13 tn Heb “like a man of war he stirs up zeal” (NIV similar).
  28. Isaiah 42:13 tn Or perhaps, “he triumphs over his enemies” (cf. NIV); NLT “will crush all his enemies.”
  29. Isaiah 42:14 tn Heb “silent” (so NASB, NIV, TEV, NLT); CEV “have held my temper.”
  30. Isaiah 42:14 sn The imagery depicts the Lord as a warrior who is eager to fight and can no longer hold himself back from the attack.
  31. Isaiah 42:15 tn Heb “I will dry up the mountains and hills.” The “mountains and hills” stand by synecdoche for the trees that grow on them. Some prefer to derive the verb from a homonymic root and translate, “I will lay waste.”
  32. Isaiah 42:15 tc The Hebrew text reads, “I will turn streams into coastlands [or “islands”].” Scholars who believe that this reading makes little sense have proposed an emendation of אִיִּים (ʾiyyim, “islands”) to צִיּוֹת (tsiyyot, “dry places”; cf. NCV, NLT, TEV). However, since all the versions support the MT reading, there is insufficient grounds for an emendation here. Although the imagery of changing rivers into islands is somewhat strange, J. N. Oswalt describes this imagery against the backdrop of rivers of the Near East. The receding of these rivers at times occasioned the appearance of previously submerged islands (Isaiah [NICOT], 2:126).
  33. Isaiah 42:15 sn The imagery of this verse, which depicts the Lord bringing a curse of infertility to the earth, metaphorically describes how the Lord will destroy his enemies.
  34. Isaiah 42:16 tn Heb “a way they do not know” (so NASB); NRSV “a road they do not know.”
  35. Isaiah 42:16 tn Heb “in paths they do not know I will make them walk.”
  36. Isaiah 42:16 tn Heb “and the rough ground into a level place.”
  37. Isaiah 42:17 tn Heb “be ashamed with shame”; ASV, NASB “be utterly put to shame.”
  38. Isaiah 42:18 tn Heb “look to see”; NAB, NCV “look and see”; NRSV “look up and see.”
  39. Isaiah 42:19 tc The precise meaning of מְשֻׁלָּם (meshullam) in this context is uncertain. In later biblical Hebrew the form (which appears to be a Pual participle from the root שָׁלַם, shalam) occurs as a proper name, Meshullam. The Pual of שָׁלַם (“be complete”) is attested with the meaning “repaid, requited,” but that makes little sense here. BDB 1023 s.v. שָׁלַם relates the form to the denominative verb שָׁלַם (“be at peace”) and paraphrases “one in a covenant of peace” (J. N. Oswalt suggests “the covenanted one”; Isaiah [NICOT], 2:128, n. 59) Some emend the form to מֹשְׁלָם (moshelam, “their ruler”) or to מְשֻׁלָּחִי (meshullakhi, “my sent [or “commissioned”] one”), which fits nicely in the parallelism (note “my messenger” in the previous line). The translation above assumes an emendation to כְּמוֹ שֹׁלְמִי (kemo sholemi, “like my ally”). Isaiah uses כְּמוֹ in 30:22 and perhaps 51:5; for שֹׁלְמי (“my ally”) see Ps 7:5 HT (7:4 ET).
  40. Isaiah 42:19 tn Heb “Who is blind but my servant, and deaf like my messenger I send? Who is blind like my commissioned one, blind like the servant of the Lord?” The point of the rhetorical questions is that no one is as blind/deaf as this servant. In this context the Lord’s “servant” is exiled Israel (cf. 41:8-9), which is spiritually blind and deaf and has failed to fulfill God’s purpose for it. This servant stands in contrast to the ideal “Israel” of the servant songs.
  41. Isaiah 42:20 tn The consonantal text (Kethib) has a perfect, second person masculine singular; the marginal reading (Qere) has an infinitive absolute, which functions here as a finite verb.
  42. Isaiah 42:20 tn Heb “but you do not guard [i.e., retain in your memory]”; NIV “but have paid no attention.”
  43. Isaiah 42:21 tn Heb “The Lord was pleased for the sake of his righteousness [or “justice”], he was magnifying [the] law and was making [it] glorious.” The Lord contrasts his good intentions for the people with their present crisis (v. 22). To demonstrate his just character and attract the nations, the Lord wanted to showcase his law among and through Israel (Deut 4:5-8). But Israel disobeyed (v. 24) and failed to carry out their commission.
  44. Isaiah 42:22 tc The Hebrew text has בַּחוּרִים (bakhurim, “young men”), but the text should be emended to בְּהוֹרִים (behorim, “in holes”).
  45. Isaiah 42:22 tn Heb “and made to be hidden”; NAB, NASB, NIV, TEV “hidden away in prisons.”
  46. Isaiah 42:22 tn Heb “they became loot, and there was no one rescuing, plunder, and there was no one saying, ‘Bring back’.”
  47. Isaiah 42:23 tn The interrogative particle is understood in the second line by ellipsis (note the preceding line).
  48. Isaiah 42:24 tn Heb “Who gave to the robber Jacob, and Israel to the looters?” In the first line the consonantal text (Kethib) has מְשׁוֹסֶה (meshoseh), a Polel participle from שָׁסָה (shasah, “plunder”). The marginal reading (Qere) is מְשִׁיסָּה (meshissah), a noun meaning “plunder.” In this case one could translate “Who handed Jacob over as plunder?”
  49. Isaiah 42:24 tn Heb “they were not willing in his ways to walk, and they did not listen to his law.”
  50. Isaiah 42:25 tn The Hebrew third masculine singular pronoun, representing the nation, has been rendered as the third plural throughout this verse.
  51. Isaiah 42:25 tn Heb “strength” (so KJV, NASB); NAB “fury”; NASB “fierceness”; NIV “violence.”
  52. Isaiah 42:25 tn Heb “and it blazed against him all around.” The subject of the third feminine singular verb “blazed” is the divine חֵמָה (khemah, “anger”) mentioned in the previous line.
  53. Isaiah 42:25 sn It is not that he did not know about the war, but he did not attribute this to God’s wrath.
  54. Isaiah 42:25 tn Heb “but he did not set [it] upon [his] heart.” The Hebrew word “heart” also refers to the mind.
Close ISV

Isaiah 42
International Standard Version

The Servant of the Lord

42 “Here is my servant, whom I support,
    my chosen one, in whom I delight.[a]
I’ve placed my Spirit upon him;
    and[b] he’ll deliver his[c] justice throughout the world.[d]
2 He won’t shout,
    or raise his voice,
        or make it heard in the street.
3 A crushed reed he will not break,
    and a fading candle[e] he won’t snuff out.[f]
        He’ll bring forth[g] justice for the truth.
4 And[h] he won’t grow faint or be crushed
    until he establishes justice on the mainland,
        and the coastlands take ownership of[i] his Law.”

God Speaks about the Servant

5 This is what God says—
    the God[j] who created the heavens
        and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and its produce,
    who gives breath to the people on it
        and life[k] to those who walk in it:
6 “I’ve[l] called you in righteousness.
    I’ll take hold of your hand.
I’ll preserve you and appoint you
    as a covenant to the people,[m]
        as a light for the nations,
7 to open blind eyes
    and to bring out those who are bound[n] from their cells,
        and[o] those sitting in darkness from prison.
8 I, the Lord, am the one,
    and I won’t give my name and[p] glory to another,
        nor my praise to idols.
9 See, the former things have taken place,
    and I’m announcing the[q] new things—
before they spring into being

I’m telling you about them.”

Praise in Song to God

10 Sing to the Lord a new song,
    and[r] his praise from the ends of the earth,
you who sail down the sea and by everything in it,
    you coastlands and their inhabitants.
11 Let the desert cry out,[s]
    its towns and the[t] villages where Kedar lives;
and[u] let those who live in Sela sing for joy.
    Let them shout aloud[v] from the mountaintops.
12 Let them give glory to the Lord,
    and declare his praise in the islands.

13 The Lord marches out like a warrior;
    he stirs up his rage like a man of war;
he makes his anger heard;
    he shouts aloud;[w]
        he declares his mastery over his enemies:

14 “I have certainly[x] stayed silent for a long time;
    I’ve kept still and held myself back.
Now, like a woman giving birth, I’ll cry out.
    All of a sudden I’ll gasp and pant.
15 I’ll devastate the mountains and hills,
    and dry up all their vegetation;
I’ll turn rivers into islands,
    and dry up the ponds.
16 I’ll help the blind walk,
    even[y] on a road they do not know;
I’ll guide them
    in directions[z] they do not know.
I’ll turn the dark places[aa] into light in front of them,
    and the rough places into level ground.
These are the things I will do,
    and I won’t abandon them.
17 Those who trust in carved idols
    will turn back and[ab] be completely disappointed,[ac]
along with those[ad] who say to metal images,
    ‘You are our gods.’”

God Rebukes Israel

18 “Listen, you deaf people,
    and look up, you blind people, so you may see!
19 Who is blind except my servant,
    or deaf like my messenger I am sending?
Who is blind like the one committed to me,
    or blind like the Lord’s servant?
20 You’ve seen[ae] many things, but you pay no[af] attention.
    His ears are open,[ag] but he doesn’t listen.
21 The Lord was pleased, for the sake of his vindication,
    that he should magnify his Law and make it glorious.
22 But this is a people who have been robbed and plundered,
    all of them trapped in pits
        or hidden away in prisons.[ah]
They have become prey, with no one to rescue them;
    they have been made loot, with no one to say, ‘Send them back!’

23 “Who among you will listen,
    and[ai] pay attention,
        and listen for the time to come?”

God Punishes Israel

24 “Who handed Jacob over to looters,
    and Israel to robbers?
Was it not the Lord, against whom we have sinned?
    After all, they weren’t willing to walk in his ways,
        and they wouldn’t obey[aj] his instruction,
25 so he drenched him with[ak] the heat that is his anger,[al]
    the violence of war.
It enveloped him in flames,
    but still he had no insight.
It burned him up,
    but he didn’t take it to heart.”

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 42:1 Lit. whom my soul delights
  2. Isaiah 42:1 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX lack and
  3. Isaiah 42:1 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX lack his
  4. Isaiah 42:1 Lit. justice to the nations
  5. Isaiah 42:3 Lit. fading linen wick
  6. Isaiah 42:3 So 1QIsaa LXX; MT reads quench it
  7. Isaiah 42:3 I.e. will demonstrate
  8. Isaiah 42:4 So 1QIsaa; 4QIsah MT lack And
  9. Isaiah 42:4 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX read the islands wait for (cf. 4QIsah)
  10. Isaiah 42:5 So 1QIsaa; 1QIsaa corrector reads and; MT reads the Lord
  11. Isaiah 42:5 Lit. spirit
  12. Isaiah 42:6 So 1QIsaa; 4QIsah MT read I, the Lord, have; LXX reads I, the Lord God, have
  13. Isaiah 42:6 So 1QIsaa MT LXX; 4QIsah reads as an everlasting covenant
  14. Isaiah 42:7 So 1QIsaa LXX; 4QIsah MT read out prisoners
  15. Isaiah 42:7 So 1QIsaa; 4QIsah MT lack and
  16. Isaiah 42:8 So 1QIsaa; 4QIsah MT LXX read I am the Lord; that is my name. I won’t give my
  17. Isaiah 42:9 So 1QIsaa; 4QIsab 4QIsah MT LXX lack the
  18. Isaiah 42:10 So 1QIsaa; 4QIsah MT lack and
  19. Isaiah 42:11 So 1QIsaa 4QIsah LXX (sing.); MT (pl.)
  20. Isaiah 42:11 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX read and its towns
  21. Isaiah 42:11 So 1QIsaa; the Heb. lacks and
  22. Isaiah 42:11 So 1QIsaa LXX; MT reads them cry joyfully
  23. Isaiah 42:13 So 1QIsaa; MT reads He makes a war cry and shouts out his anger
  24. Isaiah 42:14 So 1QIsaa; the Heb. lacks certainly
  25. Isaiah 42:16 Or and; so 1QIsaa; the Heb. lacks even
  26. Isaiah 42:16 Lit. paths
  27. Isaiah 42:16 So 1QIsaa (misspelling places); MT LXX read darkness
  28. Isaiah 42:17 So 1QIsaa; the Heb. lacks and
  29. Isaiah 42:17 So 1QIsaa MT LXX; MTms lacks disappointed
  30. Isaiah 42:17 1QIsaa MT LXX lack along with those
  31. Isaiah 42:20 So 1QIsaa MT; MTqere reads To see (or He sees )
  32. Isaiah 42:20 So 1QIsaa MT LXX; MTmss read he pays no
  33. Isaiah 42:20 So 1QIsaa; MT reads to open; or are open
  34. Isaiah 42:22 So 1QIsaa MT LXX; 4QIsag reads prison
  35. Isaiah 42:23 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX lack and
  36. Isaiah 42:24 Or wouldn’t listen to
  37. Isaiah 42:25 Lit. he poured out on him
  38. Isaiah 42:25 So 1QIsaa LXX; 4QIsag MT read the heat, his anger
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