14 For a long time I have held my peace;
    I have kept still and restrained myself;
now I will cry out (A)like a woman in labor;
    I will gasp and pant.
15 (B)I will lay waste mountains and hills,
    and dry up all their vegetation;
I will turn the rivers into islands,[a]
    and dry up the pools.
16 (C)And I will lead the blind
    in a way that they do not know,
in paths that they have not known
    I will guide them.
I will turn the darkness before them into light,
    (D)the rough places into level ground.
These are the things I do,
    and I do not forsake them.
17 (E)They are turned back and utterly put to shame,
    who trust in carved idols,
who say to metal images,
    “You are our gods.”

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 42:15 Or into coastlands

14 “I have certainly[a] 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[b] on a road they do not know;
I’ll guide them
    in directions[c] they do not know.
I’ll turn the dark places[d] 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[e] be completely disappointed,[f]
along with those[g] who say to metal images,
    ‘You are our gods.’”

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 42:14 So 1QIsaa; the Heb. lacks certainly
  2. Isaiah 42:16 Or and; so 1QIsaa; the Heb. lacks even
  3. Isaiah 42:16 Lit. paths
  4. Isaiah 42:16 So 1QIsaa (misspelling places); MT LXX read darkness
  5. Isaiah 42:17 So 1QIsaa; the Heb. lacks and
  6. Isaiah 42:17 So 1QIsaa MT LXX; MTms lacks disappointed
  7. Isaiah 42:17 1QIsaa MT LXX lack along with those