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The Servant, a Light to the Nations

42 Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
    my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my spirit upon him;
    he will bring forth justice to the nations.(A)
He will not cry out or lift up his voice
    or make it heard in the street;
a bruised reed he will not break,
    and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;
    he will faithfully bring forth justice.(B)
He will not grow faint or be crushed
    until he has established justice in the earth,
    and the coastlands wait for his teaching.(C)

Thus says God, the Lord,
    who created the heavens and stretched them out,
    who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
who gives breath to the people upon it
    and spirit to those who walk in it:(D)
I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness;
    I have taken you by the hand and kept you;
I have given you as a covenant to the people,[a]
    a light to the nations,(E)
    to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
    from the prison those who sit in darkness.(F)
I am the Lord; that is my name;
    my glory I give to no other,
    nor my praise to idols.(G)
See, the former things have come to pass,
    and new things I now declare;
before they spring forth,
    I tell you of them.(H)

A Hymn of Praise

10 Sing to the Lord a new song,
    his praise from the end of the earth!
Let the sea roar[b] and all that fills it,
    the coastlands and their inhabitants.(I)
11 Let the desert and its towns lift up their voice,
    the villages that Kedar inhabits;
let the inhabitants of Sela shout for joy;
    let them shout from the tops of the mountains.
12 Let them give glory to the Lord
    and declare his praise in the coastlands.(J)
13 The Lord goes forth like a soldier;
    like a warrior he stirs up his fury;
he cries out; he shouts aloud;
    he shows himself mighty against his foes.(K)

14 For a long time I have held my peace;
    I have kept still and restrained myself;
now I will cry out like a woman in labor;
    I will gasp and pant.(L)
15 I will lay waste mountains and hills
    and dry up all their herbage;
I will turn the rivers into islands
    and dry up the pools.(M)
16 I will lead the blind
    by a road they do not know;
by paths they have not known
    I will guide them.
I will turn the darkness before them into light,
    the rough places into level ground.
These are the things I will do,
    and I will not forsake them.(N)
17 They shall be turned back and utterly put to shame—
    those who trust in carved images,
who say to cast images,
    “You are our gods.”(O)

18 Listen, you who are deaf,
    and you who are blind, look up and see!
19 Who is blind but my servant
    or deaf like my messenger whom I send?
Who is blind like my dedicated one
    or blind like the servant of the Lord?(P)
20 He sees many things, but he does[c] not observe them;
    his ears are open, but he does not hear.(Q)

Israel’s Disobedience

21 The Lord was pleased, for the sake of his righteousness,
    to magnify his teaching and make it glorious.(R)
22 But this is a people robbed and plundered;
    all of them are trapped in holes
    and hidden in prisons;
they have become a prey with no one to rescue,
    a spoil with no one to say, “Restore!”(S)
23 Who among you will give heed to this;
    who will attend and listen for the time to come?
24 Who gave up Jacob to the spoiler
    and Israel to the robbers?
Was it not the Lord, against whom they sinned,[d]
    in whose ways they would not walk,
    and whose law they would not obey?(T)
25 So he poured upon him the heat of his anger
    and the fury of war;
it set him on fire all around, but he did not understand;
    it burned him, but he did not take it to heart.(U)

Footnotes

  1. 42.6 Meaning of Heb uncertain
  2. 42.10 Cn: Heb Those who go down to the sea
  3. 42.20 Heb mss: MT You see many things but do
  4. 42.24 Gk Tg: Heb we sinned

42 “Here is my servant, whom I support,
my chosen one, in whom I take pleasure.
I have put my Spirit on him;
he will bring justice to the Goyim.
He will not cry or shout;
no one will hear his voice in the streets.
He will not snap off a broken reed
or snuff out a smoldering wick.
He will bring forth justice according to truth;
he will not weaken or be crushed
until he has established justice on the earth,
and the coastlands wait for his Torah.”

Thus says God, Adonai,
who created the heavens and spread them out,
who stretched out the earth and all that grows from it,
who gives breath to the people on it
and spirit to those who walk on it:
“I, Adonai, called you righteously,
I took hold of you by the hand,
I shaped you and made you a covenant for the people,
to be a light for the Goyim,
so that you can open blind eyes,
free the prisoners from confinement,
those living in darkness from the dungeon.
I am Adonai; that is my name.
I yield my glory to no one else,
nor my praise to any idol.
See how the former predictions come true;
and now new things do I declare —
before they sprout I tell you about them.”

10 Sing to Adonai a new song!
Let his praise be sung from the ends of the earth
by those sailing the sea and by everything in it,
by the coastlands and those living there.
11 Let the desert and its cities raise their voices,
the villages where Kedar lives;
let those living in Sela shout for joy;
let them cry out from the mountaintops!
12 Let them give glory to Adonai
and proclaim his praise in the coastlands.
13 Adonai will go out like a soldier,
like a soldier roused to the fury of battle;
he will shout, yes, he raises the battle cry;
as he triumphs over his foes.

14 “For a long time I have held my peace,
I have been silent, restrained myself.
Now I will shriek like a woman in labor,
panting and gasping for air.
15 I will devastate mountains and hills,
wither all their vegetation,
turn the rivers into islands
and dry up the lakes.
16 The blind I will lead on a road they don’t know,
on roads they don’t know I will lead them;
I will turn darkness to light before them,
and straighten their twisted paths.
These are things I will do without fail.
17 Those who trust in idols,
who say to statues, ‘You are our gods,’
will be repulsed in utter shame.
18 Listen, you deaf! Look, you blind! —
so that you will see!
19 Who is as blind as my servant,
or as deaf as the messenger I send?
Who is as blind as the one I rewarded,
as blind as the servant of Adonai?”

20 You see much but don’t pay attention;
you open your ears, but you don’t listen.
21 Adonai was pleased, for his righteousness’ sake,
to make the Torah great and glorious.
22 But this is a people pillaged and plundered,
all trapped in holes and sequestered in prisons.
They are there to be plundered, with no one to rescue them;
there to be pillaged, and no one says, “Return them!”
23 Which of you will listen to this?
Who will hear and give heed in the times to come?
24 Who gave Ya‘akov to be pillaged,
Isra’el to the plunderers?
Didn’t Adonai, against whom we have sinned,
in whose ways they refused to walk,
he whose Torah they did not obey?
25 This is why he poured on him his blazing anger
as well as the fury of battle —
it wrapped him in flames, yet he learned nothing;
it burned him, yet he did not take it to heart.

God’s Servant Will Set Everything Right

42 1-4 “Take a good look at my servant.
    I’m backing him to the hilt.
He’s the one I chose,
    and I couldn’t be more pleased with him.
I’ve bathed him with my Spirit, my life.
    He’ll set everything right among the nations.
He won’t call attention to what he does
    with loud speeches or gaudy parades.
He won’t brush aside the bruised and the hurt
    and he won’t disregard the small and insignificant,
    but he’ll steadily and firmly set things right.
He won’t tire out and quit. He won’t be stopped
    until he’s finished his work—to set things right on earth.
Far-flung ocean islands
    wait expectantly for his teaching.”

The God Who Makes Us Alive with His Own Life

5-9 God’s Message,
    the God who created the cosmos, stretched out the skies,
    laid out the earth and all that grows from it,
Who breathes life into earth’s people,
    makes them alive with his own life:
“I am God. I have called you to live right and well.
    I have taken responsibility for you, kept you safe.
I have set you among my people to bind them to me,
    and provided you as a lighthouse to the nations,
To make a start at bringing people into the open, into light:
    opening blind eyes,
    releasing prisoners from dungeons,
    emptying the dark prisons.
I am God. That’s my name.
    I don’t franchise my glory,
    don’t endorse the no-god idols.
Take note: The earlier predictions of judgment have been fulfilled.
    I’m announcing the new salvation work.
Before it bursts on the scene,
    I’m telling you all about it.”

10-16 Sing to God a brand-new song,
    sing his praises all over the world!
Let the sea and its fish give a round of applause,
    with all the far-flung islands joining in.
Let the desert and its camps raise a tune,
    calling the Kedar nomads to join in.
Let the villagers in Sela round up a choir
    and perform from the tops of the mountains.
Make God’s glory resound;
    echo his praises from coast to coast.
God steps out like he means business.
    You can see he’s primed for action.
He shouts, announcing his arrival;
    he takes charge and his enemies fall into line:
“I’ve been quiet long enough.
    I’ve held back, biting my tongue.
But now I’m letting loose, letting go,
    like a woman who’s having a baby—
Stripping the hills bare,
    withering the wildflowers,
Drying up the rivers,
    turning lakes into mudflats.
But I’ll take the hand of those who don’t know the way,
    who can’t see where they’re going.
I’ll be a personal guide to them,
    directing them through unknown country.
I’ll be right there to show them what roads to take,
    make sure they don’t fall into the ditch.
These are the things I’ll be doing for them—
    sticking with them, not leaving them for a minute.”

17 But those who invested in the no-gods
    are bankrupt—dead broke.

You’ve Seen a Lot, but Looked at Nothing

18-25 Pay attention! Are you deaf?
    Open your eyes! Are you blind?
You’re my servant, and you’re not looking!
    You’re my messenger, and you’re not listening!
The very people I depended upon, servants of God,
    blind as a bat—willfully blind!
You’ve seen a lot, but looked at nothing.
    You’ve heard everything, but listened to nothing.
God intended, out of the goodness of his heart,
    to be lavish in his revelation.
But this is a people battered and cowed,
    shut up in attics and closets,
Victims licking their wounds,
    feeling ignored, abandoned.
But is anyone out there listening?
    Is anyone paying attention to what’s coming?
Who do you think turned Jacob over to the thugs,
    let loose the robbers on Israel?
Wasn’t it God himself, this God against whom we’ve sinned—
    not doing what he commanded,
    not listening to what he said?
Isn’t it God’s anger that’s behind all this,
    God’s punishing power?
Their whole world collapsed but they still didn’t get it;
    their life is in ruins but they don’t take it to heart.