The Servant of the Lord
42 Here is My servant, whom I uphold,
My chosen one, in whom My soul delights.
I have put My Spirit upon him;
he shall bring forth justice to the nations.
2 He shall not cry out, nor lift up his voice,
nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.
3 A bruised reed he shall not break,
and the smoking flax he shall not quench;
he shall bring forth justice faithfully.
4 He shall not be disheartened nor be discouraged,
until he has set justice in the earth;
and the coastlands shall wait for his law.
5 Thus says God the Lord,
who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread forth the earth and that which comes out of it,
who gives breath to the people on it,
and spirit to those who walk in it:
6 I the Lord have called You in righteousness,
and will hold Your hand,
and will keep You and appoint You
for a covenant of the people,
for a light of the nations,
7 to open the blind eyes,
to bring out the prisoners from the prison,
and those who sit in darkness out of the prison house.
8 I am the Lord, that is My name;
and My glory I will not give to another,
nor My praise to graven images.
9 See, the former things have come to pass,
and new things I declare;
before they spring forth
I tell you of them.
A Song of Praise
10 Sing to the Lord a new song,
and His praise from the ends of the earth,
you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it,
the coastlands, and the inhabitants.
11 Let the wilderness and the cities lift up their voices,
the villages that Kedar inhabits.
Let the inhabitants of Sela sing,
let them shout from the top of the mountains.
12 Let them give glory to the Lord,
and declare His praise in the islands.
13 The Lord shall go forth like a mighty man;
He shall stir up zeal like a man of war.
He shall cry out, yes, raise a war cry;
He shall prevail against His enemies.
The Lord’s Help Is Promised
14 I have for a long time held My peace;
I have been still and refrained Myself.
Now I will cry like a travailing woman;
I will destroy and devour at once.
15 I will lay waste mountains and hills
and dry up all their vegetation,
and I will make the rivers islands,
and I will dry up the pools.
16 I will bring the blind by a way that they did not know;
I will lead them in paths that they have not known.
I will make darkness light before them
and crooked things straight.
These things I will do for them
and not forsake them.
17 They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed,
who trust in graven images,
who say to the molded images, “You are our gods.”
Israel’s Disobedience
18 Hear, you deaf;
look, you blind, that you may see.
19 Who is blind, but My servant?
Or deaf, as My messenger whom I sent?
Who is blind as he who is at peace with Me,
and blind as the servant of the Lord?
20 You have seen many things, but you do not observe them;
your ears are open, but no one hears.
21 The Lord is well pleased
for His righteousness’ sake
to magnify the law and make it honorable.
22 But this is a people robbed and despoiled;
they are all snared in holes,
and they are hidden in prison houses;
they are for a prey,
and no one delivers,
for a spoil,
and no one says, “Restore them.”
23 Who among you will give ear to this?
Who will listen and hear for the time to come?
24 Who gave up Jacob as spoil,
and Israel to the robbers?
Did not the Lord,
against whom we have sinned?
For they would not walk in His ways,
nor were they obedient to His law.
25 Therefore, He has poured on him the fury of His anger
and the strength of battle;
and it has set him on fire all around, yet he did not recognize it;
and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart.
