Isaiah 42

1Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one, in whom my soul delights. I have put my Spirit on him; he will bring justice to the nations.

2He will not cry out or raise his voice, or make it heard in the street.

3A bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not snuff out; he will faithfully bring forth justice.

4He will not grow dim or be bruised until he has established justice on the earth; the coastlands wait for his instruction.

5This is what God, Yahweh, says, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and all that comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it:

6I, Yahweh, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand and keep you; I will make you a covenant for the people, a light for the nations,

7to open eyes that are blind, to bring prisoners out of the dungeon, and those who sit in darkness out of the prison.

8I am Yahweh; that is my name. I will not give my glory to another, or my praise to idols.

9See, the former things have come to pass, and now I declare new things; before they spring up, I announce them to you.

10Sing to Yahweh a new song, his praise from the end of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that fills it, you coastlands and all who live in them.

11Let the wilderness and its towns lift up their voices, the villages where Kedar lives; let the inhabitants of Sela sing for joy; let them shout from the tops of the mountains.

12Let them give glory to Yahweh and declare his praise in the coastlands.

13Yahweh goes out like a mighty warrior; like a man of war he stirs up his zeal; he shouts, yes, he raises the battle cry; he shows his might against his enemies.

14For a long time I have kept silent; I have been still and held myself back. Now, like a woman in labor, I will cry out; I will gasp and pant.

15I will lay waste mountains and hills and dry up all their vegetation; I will turn rivers into islands and dry up the pools.

16I will lead the blind by a way they do not know; on paths they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light and the rough places into level ground. These are the things I will do, and I will not abandon them.

17Those who trust in idols, who say to metal images, “You are our gods,” will be turned back and utterly put to shame.

18Listen, you deaf; look, you blind, and see!

19Who is blind but my servant, or deaf like my messenger whom I send? Who is blind like my dedicated one, blind like the servant of Yahweh?

20You have seen many things but do not observe them; his ears are open, but he does not hear.

21Yahweh was pleased, for the sake of his righteousness, to make his instruction great and glorious.

22But this is a people robbed and plundered, all of them trapped in holes and hidden away in prisons; they have become plunder with no one to rescue them, spoil with no one to say, “Give it back!”

23Which of you will listen to this, will pay attention and listen for the time to come?

24Who handed Jacob over to be looted, and Israel to the plunderers? Was it not Yahweh, against whom we have sinned? They would not walk in his ways, and they did not obey his instruction.

25So he poured out on him his burning anger and the fury of war; it set him ablaze all around, but he did not understand; it burned him, but he did not take it to heart.