Isaiah 41:21-43:13

American Standard Version

²¹ Produce your cause, saith Jehovah; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob. ²² Let them bring forth, and declare unto us what shall happen: declare ye the former things, what they are, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or show us things to come. ²³ Declare the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may ^[a]be dismayed, and behold it together. ²⁴ Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work is of nought; an abomination is he that chooseth you.

²⁵ I have raised up one from the north, and he is come; from the rising of the sun one that calleth upon my name: and he shall come upon ^[b]rulers as upon mortar, and as the potter treadeth clay. ²⁶ Who hath declared it from the beginning, that we may know? and beforetime, that we may say, He is right? yea, there is none that declareth, yea, there is none that showeth, yea, there is none that heareth your words. ²⁷ I am the first that saith unto Zion, Behold, behold them; and I will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings. ²⁸ And when I look, there is no man: even among them there is no counsellor, that, when I ask of them, can answer a word. ^29 [c]Behold, all of them, their works are vanity and nought; their molten images are wind and confusion.

42 Behold, my servant, whom I uphold; my chosen, in whom my soul delighteth: I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the ^[d]Gentiles. ² He will not cry, nor lift up his voice, nor cause it to be heard in the street. ³ A bruised reed will he not break, and a dimly burning wick will he not quench: he will bring forth justice in truth. ⁴ He will not ^[e]fail nor be ^[f]discouraged, till he have set justice in the earth; and the isles shall wait for his law.

⁵ Thus saith God Jehovah, he that created the heavens, and stretched them forth; he that spread abroad the earth and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein: ⁶ I, Jehovah, have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thy hand, and will ^[g]keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; ⁷ to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison-house. ⁸ I am Jehovah, that is my name; and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise unto graven images. ⁹ Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.

¹⁰ Sing unto Jehovah a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth; ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein, the isles, and the inhabitants thereof. ¹¹ Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit; let the inhabitants of Sela sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains. ¹² Let them give glory unto Jehovah, and declare his praise in the islands. ¹³ Jehovah will go forth as a mighty man; he will stir up his zeal like a man of war: he will cry, yea, he will shout aloud; he will do mightily against his enemies.

¹⁴ I have long time holden my peace; I have been still, and refrained myself: now will I cry out like a travailing woman; I will ^[h]gasp and pant together. ¹⁵ I will lay waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs; and I will make the rivers islands, and will dry up the pools. ¹⁶ And I will bring the blind by a way that they know not; in paths that they know not will I lead them; I will make darkness light before them, and crooked places straight. These things will I do, ^[i]and I will not forsake them. ¹⁷ They shall be turned back, they shall be utterly put to shame, that trust in graven images, that say unto molten images, Ye are our gods.

¹⁸ Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see. ¹⁹ Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I send? who is blind as he that is ^[j]at peace with me, and blind as Jehovah’s servant? ²⁰ Thou seest many things, but thou observest not; his ears are open, but he heareth not. ²¹ It pleased Jehovah, for his righteousness’ sake, to ^[k]magnify the law, and make it honorable. ²² But this is a people robbed and plundered; they are all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison-houses: they are for a prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil, and none saith, Restore.

²³ Who is there among you that will give ear to this? that will hearken and hear for the time to come? ²⁴ Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers? did not Jehovah? he against whom we have sinned, and in whose ways they would not walk, neither were they obedient unto his ^[l]law. ²⁵ Therefore he poured upon him the fierceness of his anger, and the strength of battle; and it set him on fire round about, yet he knew not; and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart.

43 But now thus saith Jehovah that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed thee; I have called thee by thy name, thou art mine. ² When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. ³ For I am Jehovah thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour; I have given Egypt as thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in thy stead. ⁴ Since thou hast been precious in my sight, ^[m]and honorable, and I have loved thee; therefore will I give men in thy stead, and peoples instead of thy life. ⁵ Fear not; for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west; ⁶ I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back; bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the end of the earth; ⁷ every one that is called by my name, and whom I have created for my glory, whom I have formed, yea, whom I have made.

⁸ Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears. ^9 [n]Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the peoples be assembled: who among them can declare this, and show us former things? let them bring their witnesses, that they may be justified; ^[o]or let them hear, and say, It is truth. ¹⁰ Ye are my witnesses, saith Jehovah, and my servant whom I have chosen; that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. ¹¹ I, even I, am Jehovah; and besides me there is no saviour. ¹² I have declared, and I have saved, and I have showed; and there was no strange god among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith Jehovah, and I am God. ¹³ Yea, ^[p]since the day was I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who can hinder it?