Isaiah
Chapter 42
1 Look at my servant, who I support; my chosen one, who pleases me; I have given him my spirit: he will bring fair judgment to the nations.
2 He will not shout or raise his voice or make it heard in the street.
3 He won’t break a hurt reed, and he won’t put out a weak flame: he will make sure that justice leads to truth.
4 He will not fail or lose heart until he establishes justice on earth; and the islands will look forward to his teachings.
5 God says, he who made the sky and stretched it wide; he who laid out the earth and all that grows from it; he who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it:
6 I, God, have called you to do right, and will take your hand, and will protect you, and make you a promise to the people, a light for all nations.
7 To give sight to the blind, to free the prisoners, and to lead those in darkness out of jail.
8 I am God, that is my name; I will not give my glory to another, nor my praise to idols.
9 Look, what happened before has happened, and now I tell you about new things: before they start to happen, I inform you.
10 Sing to God a new song and praise him from all over the earth, you who go to the sea and everything in it, the islands, and the people who live there.
11 Let the wild areas and their towns raise their voices, the settlements where Kedar lives: let the people of the cliffs sing, let them yell from the mountain tops.
12 Let them honor God and tell of his praise on the islands.
13 God will go out like a strong man. He will wake up jealousy like a soldier ready to fight. He will shout and roar. He will win against his enemies.
14 I have been quiet for a long time; I have been still and held back. Now I will cry out like a woman in labor; I will destroy and devour quickly.
15 I will destroy mountains and hills, and dry up all their plants; and I will turn rivers into dry land, and I will dry up the ponds.
16 I will guide the blind on unfamiliar paths; I will take them on routes they don’t know. I will turn the dark into light for them and make the rough places smooth. I will do these things for them and not leave them alone.
17 They will turn back and be very ashamed, those who trust in carved idols and tell the metal images, “You are our gods.”
18 Listen, you who cannot hear; and you who cannot see, look so that you may see.
19 Who is blind except my servant? Or who is deaf like the messenger I send? Who is as blind as the one in right standing, and as blind as God’s servant?
20 You see many things but don’t notice; you open your ears but don’t hear.
21 God is happy because of his goodness; he will make his laws great and respected.
22 These people are robbed and looted; they are all trapped in pits and hidden in jails. They are hunted, with no one to save them; they are taken, with no one saying, “Give back.”
23 Who among you will listen to this? Who will pay attention and listen for the future?
24 Who let Jacob be taken and Israel be robbed? Wasn’t it God, whom we sinned against? They wouldn’t follow His path or obey His rules.
25 So God has poured out his anger on him and sent the power of war. It has set him on fire all around, but he did not understand. It burned him, but he did not take it seriously.