Isaiah 42:1-12

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.
²He won’t cry out or shout aloud
    or make his voice heard in public.
³He won’t break a bruised reed;
    he won’t extinguish a faint wick,
    but he will surely bring justice.
⁴He won’t be extinguished or broken
    until he has established justice in the land.
The coastlands await his teaching.

⁵God 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—
⁶I, 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.
⁸I am the Lord;
    that is my name;
    I don’t hand out my glory to others
        or my praise to idols.
⁹The 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

¹⁰Sing 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.
¹¹Let 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.
¹²Let them give the Lord glory
    and declare God’s praise in the coastlands.