Isaiah 42

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

2He will not cry out, nor raise his voice, nor let it be heard abroad.

3He will not break a crushed reed or quench dim flax; he will faithfully bring forth justice.

4He will not grow dim nor be crushed until he establishes justice in the earth, and the coastlands will wait for his instruction.

5Thus says God Yahweh, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread the earth and its produce, who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it.

6I, Yahweh, have called you in righteousness, and will grasp your hand and guard you, and will appoint you a covenant for the people, a light for the nations.

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

8I am Yahweh; that is my name. I will not give my glory to another, nor my praise to idols.

9Behold, the former things have come, and new things I declare; before they spring forth, I tell you of them.

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, islands and their inhabitants.

11Let the wilderness and its cities call out, the villages where Kedar dwells. Let the dwellers of Sela sing joyfully. Let them shout from the mountaintops.

12Let them ascribe glory to Yahweh and declare his praise in the islands.

13Yahweh will march out like a champion, rousing zeal like a warrior; he will shout—yes, roar against his enemies—and triumph over them.

14I have been silent from of old, held still and restrained myself—like a woman in labor I will cry, destroy, and devour together.

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

16I will lead the blind along a path unknown to them and guide them through trails they have not traversed. Before them I will turn darkness to light and the crooked to level ground. These matters I will carry out for them, and I will not abandon them.

17Those who place confidence in carved images and say to cast images, "You are our gods," will be driven back and confounded in shame.

18You deaf, hear, and you blind, look to see.

19Who is blind but my servant, or deaf like my messenger whom I send? Who is blind like the one who is whole, and blind like Yahweh's servant?

20You see many things but do not take heed; ears are open, but he does not hear.

21Yahweh delighted, for the sake of his righteousness, to exalt the law and honor it.

22But this is a plundered and spoiled people; all of them snared in pits and hidden in prison houses. They have become prey—no deliverer; spoil—no one saying, “Restore.”

23Who among you will listen to this, pay attention, and hear for the future?

24Who delivered Jacob for spoil and booty, Israel to the plunderers? Was it not Yahweh, against whom we have sinned? They refused to walk in his ways and did not heed his law.

25He poured out upon him the heat of his anger and the strength of battle, and it kindled him from every side, but he did not know; it burned him, but he did not lay it upon his heart.