Isaiah 42

New American Standard Bible

God’s Promise concerning His Servant

42 “^(A)Behold, My ^(B)Servant, whom I ^[a]uphold;
My ^(C)chosen one in whom My ^(D)soul delights.
I have put My ^(E)Spirit upon Him;
He will bring forth ^(F)justice to the ^[b]nations.
²He will not cry out nor raise His voice,
Nor make His voice heard in the street.
³A bent reed He will not break off
And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish;
He will faithfully bring forth ^(G)justice.
⁴He will not be ^(H)disheartened or crushed
Until He has established justice on the earth;
And the ^(I)coastlands will wait expectantly for His ^[c]law.”

⁵This is what God the Lord says,

Who ^(J)created the heavens and ^(K)stretched them out,
Who spread out the ^(L)earth and its ^[d]offspring,
Who ^(M)gives breath to the people on it
And spirit to those who walk in it:
⁶“I am the Lord, I have ^(N)called You in righteousness,
I will also ^(O)hold You by the hand and ^(P)watch over You,
And I will appoint You as a ^(Q)covenant to the people,
As a ^(R)light to the nations,
⁷To ^(S)open blind eyes,
To ^(T)bring out prisoners from the dungeon
And those who dwell in darkness from the prison.
⁸^(U)I am the Lord, that is ^(V)My name;
I will not give My ^(W)glory to another,
Nor My praise to idols.
⁹Behold, the ^(X)former things have come to pass,
Now I declare ^(Y)new things;
Before they sprout I proclaim them to you.”

¹⁰Sing to the Lord a ^(Z)new song,
Sing His praise from the ^(AA)end of the earth!
^(AB)You who go down to the sea, and ^(AC)all that is in it;
You ^(AD)islands, and those who live on them.
¹¹Let the ^(AE)wilderness and its cities raise their voices,
The settlements which ^(AF)Kedar inhabits.
Let the inhabitants of ^(AG)Sela sing aloud,
Let them shout for joy from the tops of the ^(AH)mountains.
¹²Let them ^(AI)give glory to the Lord
And declare His praise in the ^(AJ)coastlands.
¹³^(AK)The Lord will go out like a warrior,
He will stir His ^(AL)zeal like a man of war.
He will shout, indeed, He will raise a war cry.
He will ^(AM)prevail against His enemies.

The Blindness of the People

¹⁴“^(AN)I have kept silent for a long time,
I have kept still and restrained Myself.
Now like a woman in labor I will groan,
I will both gasp and pant.
¹⁵I will ^(AO)lay waste the mountains and hills
And wither all their vegetation;
I will ^(AP)turn the rivers into coastlands
And dry up the ponds.
¹⁶I will ^(AQ)lead those who are blind by a way they have not known,
In paths they have not known I will guide them.
I will ^(AR)turn darkness into light before them
And ^(AS)uneven land into plains.
These are the things I will do,
And I will ^(AT)not leave them undone.”
¹⁷They will be turned back and be ^(AU)utterly put to shame,
Who trust in ^[e]idols,
Who say to cast metal images,
“You are our gods.”

¹⁸^(AV)Hear, you who are deaf!
And look, you who are blind, so that you may see.
¹⁹Who is blind but My ^(AW)servant,
Or so deaf as My ^(AX)messenger whom I send?
Who is so blind as one who is ^[f]^(AY)at peace with Me,
Or so blind as the servant of the Lord?
²⁰^(AZ)You have seen many things, but you do not retain them;
Your ears are open, but no one hears.
²¹The Lord was pleased for His righteousness’ sake
To make the Law ^(BA)great and glorious.
²²But this is a people plundered and pillaged;
All of them are ^(BB)trapped in ^[g]caves,
Or are ^(BC)hidden away in prisons;
They have become plunder, with no one to save them,
And spoils with no one to say, “Give them back!”

²³Who among you will listen to this?
Who will pay attention and listen in the time to come?
²⁴Who gave Jacob up for spoils, and Israel to plunderers?
Was it not the Lord, against whom we have sinned,
And in whose ways they ^(BD)were not willing to walk,
And whose Law they did not ^(BE)obey?
²⁵So He poured out on him the heat of His anger
And the ^(BF)fierceness of battle;
And it set him aflame all around,
Yet he did not recognize it;
And it burned him, but he ^[h]^(BG)paid no attention.