The Book of the Prophet Isaiah 42 The Servant of the Lord

 The Book of the Prophet Isaiah 42

The Servant of the Lord

1 Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice among the nations.

2 He will not cry out, nor exalt himself, nor make his voice heard in the street.

3 He will not break a bruised reed, nor snuff out a smoldering wick; he will indeed bring forth justice.

4 He will not lack nor be dismayed, until he has appointed justice in the earth; and the coastlands will wait for his instruction.

5 Thus says God the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who formed the earth and everything that comes from it, who gives breath to the people who are on it, and spirit to those who walk in it. 

6 I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will hold your hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant of the people, a light to the Gentiles;

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

8 I am the Lord; that is my name; I will not give my glory to another, nor my praise to carved images.

9 Behold, the former things have passed away, and new things I declare to you; before they come to light I will declare them to you.

10 Sing to the Lord a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth: you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it; you islands, and your inhabitants.

11 Let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voice, with the villages that Kedar inhabits; let those who dwell in the rocks sing for joy, and shout from the top of the mountains. 

12 Give glory to the Lord, and declare his praise in the coastlands.

13 The Lord will go forth like a mighty man, he will stir up jealousy like a man of war; he will cry out, and make a great noise, and will subdue his enemies.

14 For a long time I have kept silent, I have been still, and have restrained myself; but now I will cry out like a woman in labor, and I will lay waste and devour them together.

15 I will make the mountains and hills desolate, and I will dry up all their grass; I will turn the rivers into islands, and I will dry up the pools of water.

16 I will lead the blind by a way they have not known; I will make them walk in paths they have not known; I will make darkness light before them, and I will make crooked things straight. These things I will do for them, and I will never forsake them. 

17 Those who trust in carved images will be turned back and put to shame, those who say to molten images, "You are our gods."

18 Hear, you deaf! And you blind, look, that you may see.

19 Who is blind but my servant, or deaf like my messenger whom I send? And who is blind like one who is rewarded, or blind like the servant of the Lord?

20 You see many things, but you do not heed them; your ears are open, but you hear nothing.

21 The Lord was pleased with him for his righteousness' sake; he magnified him by the law and made him honorable.

22 But this is a people robbed and plundered; they are all trapped in caves and hidden in prison houses; they are a prey, with no one to rescue them; they are plunder, with no one to give them back.

23 Who among you will listen to this? Let him consider and hear what will happen next?

24 Who gave Jacob as a plunder, and Israel to the plunderers? Was it not the Lord, against whom they sinned, and in whose ways they would not walk, not obeying his law?

25 Therefore he poured out on them the fury of his anger, and the strength of war; he set a flame on them all around, but they did not understand; he burned them, but they did not set their hearts on it.