Isaiah 42
42
The Lord’s Chosen Servant
1 # Cited Matt. 12:18-20 Behold #ch. 41:8; 43:10; 52:13; 53:11; [ver. 19; Ezek. 34:24; Zech. 3:8; Acts 3:26; 4:27; Phil. 2:7] my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, #Matt. 3:17 in whom my soul delights;
# ch. 11:2; 61:1 I have put my Spirit upon him;
# [ch. 2:4] he will bring forth justice to the nations.
2He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice,
or make it heard in the street;
3 # [ch. 57:15] a bruised reed he will not break,
and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;
#
Ps. 9:8
he will faithfully bring forth justice.
4He will not grow faint or be discouraged#42:4 Or bruised
till he has established justice in the earth;
and #ch. 60:9; Gen. 10:5; [ch. 2:3; Matt. 12:21]the coastlands wait for his law.
5Thus says God, the Lord,
who created the heavens #ch. 44:24; 45:12 and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
#
Acts 17:25
who gives breath to the people on it
and spirit to those who walk in it:
6“I am the Lord; #ch. 41:9 I have called you#42:6 The Hebrew for you is singular; four times in this verse in righteousness;
I will take you by the hand and keep you;
I will give you #ch. 49:6, 8 as a covenant for the people,
#
Luke 2:32
a light for the nations,
7 # ch. 35:5; 49:9; 61:1; Heb. 2:14, 15 to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
#
Luke 1:79
from the prison those who sit in darkness.
8I am the Lord; that is my name;
# ch. 48:11 my glory I give to no other,
nor my praise to carved idols.
9Behold, the former things have come to pass,
# [ch. 43:19] and new things I now declare;
before they spring forth
I tell you of them.”
Sing to the Lord a New Song
10 # See Ps. 33:3 Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise from the end of the earth,
#
Ps. 107:23 you who go down to the sea, and all that fills it,
# [See ver. 4 above] the coastlands and their inhabitants.
11Let the desert and its cities lift up their voice,
the villages that #See ch. 21:16 Kedar inhabits;
let the habitants of #ch. 16:1Sela sing for joy,
let them shout from the top of the mountains.
12Let them give glory to the Lord,
and declare his praise in #[See ver. 4 above]the coastlands.
13 # ch. 40:10 The Lord goes out like a mighty man,
like a man of war #[ch. 9:7; 59:17] he stirs up his zeal;
he cries out, #Ps. 78:65he shouts aloud,
he shows himself mighty against his foes.
14For a long time I have held my peace;
I have kept still and restrained myself;
now I will cry out #See ch. 13:8like a woman in labor;
I will gasp and pant.
15 # ch. 50:2 I will lay waste mountains and hills,
and dry up all their vegetation;
I will turn the rivers into islands,#42:15 Or into coastlands
and dry up the pools.
16 # ch. 35:5, 8 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,
# ch. 40:4 the rough places into level ground.
These are the things I do,
and I do not forsake them.
17 # ch. 1:29; 44:11; 45:16; Ps. 97:7 They are turned back and utterly put to shame,
who trust in carved idols,
who say to metal images,
“You are our gods.”
Israel’s Failure to Hear and See
18Hear, you deaf,
and look, you blind, that you may see!
19Who is blind but my servant,
or deaf as my messenger whom I send?
Who is blind as my dedicated one,#42:19 Or as the one at peace with me
or blind as the servant of the Lord?
20 # See Rom. 2:21-23 He sees many things, but does not observe them;
# [Jer. 6:10] his ears are open, but he does not hear.
21The Lord was pleased, for his righteousness’ sake,
to magnify his law and make it glorious.
22But this is a people plundered and looted;
they are all of them trapped in holes
# ch. 14:17 and hidden in prisons;
they have become plunder with none to rescue,
spoil with none to say, “Restore!”
23Who among you will give ear to this,
will attend and listen for the time to come?
24Who gave up Jacob to the looter,
and Israel to the plunderers?
Was it not the Lord, against whom we have sinned,
in whose ways they would not walk,
and whose law they would not obey?
25So he poured on him the heat of his anger
and the might of battle;
it set him on fire all around, #[ch. 47:11; Hos. 7:9] but he did not understand;
it burned him up, #ch. 57:1, 11but he did not take it to heart.
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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Isaiah 42
42
1Behold my servant whom I uphold, mine elect in whom my soul delighteth! I will put my Spirit upon him; he shall bring forth judgment to the nations. 2He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. 3A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment according to truth. 4He shall not faint nor be in haste, till he have set justice in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.
5Thus saith ·God#GodHebrew: El Jehovah, he that created the heavens and stretched them out, he that spread forth the earth and its productions, he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein: 6I, Jehovah, have called thee in righteousness, and will take hold of thy hand; and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the nations, 7to open the blind eyes, to bring forth the prisoner from the prison, them that sit in darkness out of the house of restraint. 8I am Jehovah, that is my name; and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. 9Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth will I cause you to hear them. 10Sing unto Jehovah a new song, his praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein, the isles and their inhabitants. 11Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit; let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains: 12let them give glory unto Jehovah, and declare his praise in the islands.
13Jehovah will go forth as a mighty man, he will stir up jealousy like a man of war: he will cry, yea, he will shout; he will shew himself mighty against his enemies. 14Long time have I holden my peace; I have been still, I have restrained myself: I will cry like a woman that travaileth; I will blow and pant at once. 15I will lay waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs; and I will make the rivers islands, and I will dry up the pools. 16And 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 things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them. 17They shall be turned back, they shall be covered with shame, that confide in graven images, that say to the molten images, Ye are our gods.
18— Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see. 19Who is blind, but my servant? and deaf, as my messenger whom I sent? Who is blind as he in whom I have trusted, and blind as Jehovah's servant, 20— seeing many things, and thou observest not? With opened ears, he heareth not. 21Jehovah had delight in him for his righteousness' sake: he hath magnified the law, and made it honourable. 22But this is a people robbed and spoiled; they are all of them snared in holes, and hidden in prison-houses; they are become a prey, and none delivereth, — a spoil, and none saith, Restore. 23Who among you will give ear to this, who will hearken and hear what is to come? 24Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers? Did not Jehovah, he against whom we have sinned? And they would not walk in his ways, neither did they hearken unto his law. 25And he hath poured upon him the fury 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 took it not to heart.
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First published in 1890. This edition is maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.