Isaiah 42

‘Here is my servant.

I have made him strong,

I chose him and I love him.

I have put my Spirit in him.

My servant will tell the nations

what I want them to do.

₂He will not ask anyone to help him,

he will not talk loudly,

and he will not shout in the streets.

₃He will not break a reed that is bent,

and he will not put out a lamp

that has only a small flame.

He will make sure that all people know

what I want them to do.

₄He will not stop

or become weak or discouraged

until he has brought justice on earth.

The people in the lands far away by the sea

are waiting to hear what he will teach them.’

who made the expanse above the world

and put it up like a tent.

He is the Lord who made the earth

and everything that comes from the earth.

He is the Lord who gives life and breath

to the people on earth. He said:

₆‘I am the Lord who has called you

to do what I want you to do

and I hold you in my hand and protect you.

You must be my covenant with my people,

and you must be a light to the nations.

₇You must make blind people see

and bring people out of dark jails.

₈I am the Lord, and that is my name.

People must honour Me,

and they must honour no one else.

They must praise Me,

and they must not praise the images of gods.

₉Everything has happened

just as I said it would happen,

and now I tell you what will happen later.

I am telling you this before it happens.’

₁₀Sing a new song to the Lord.

Everyone on earth must praise Him,

the people at the sea and everything in the sea,

and also the people who live

far from here near the sea.

₁₁The people in the desert and in towns

in the desert must praise the Lord,

and also the people in the towns of the land of Kedar.

The people in Sela must rejoice.

Those who live high on the mountains

must stand on the mountains and shout.

₁₂They must honour the Lord,

and all the people who live far from here

near the sea must praise Him.

₁₃The Lord comes like a soldier

who wants to go to war.

He shouts and defeats his enemies.

₁₄The Lord says:

‘For a long time I have kept quiet.

I have not spoken, but now I shout_loudly

like a woman who is having a baby,

and my breathing is getting faster.

₁₅I make all the green plants become dry

on the mountains and hills,

and I make the rivers and pools become dry.

₁₆I make blind people walk on a road

that they do not know,

and I take them to places they do not know about.

I change the darkness before them

and make it light,

and I make their road easy to walk on.

These are the things that I do

and I will continue to do them.

₁₇People who think their images

can help them will be ashamed.

People who say to the idols:

“You are our gods,”

will not know what to do.’

₁₈‘You who don't want to listen,

you must listen and open your eyes.

₁₉My servants, my messengers whom I send,

are blind and deaf. No one is as blind

and deaf as they are

because they don't want to see,

and they don't want to listen.

No one is as blind and deaf

as the people whom I have punished.

No one is as blind as the servants of the Lord.

₂₀They have seen and heard a lot of things,

but they are like people

who have seen or heard nothing.

₂₁The Lord wanted them to do what He wants.

His laws are important

and He explained the laws to them.

₂₂But they have become people

who have been defeated and have had to go

out of their land.

The enemies have put them in holes and jails.

The enemies have taken them away and

no one has stopped them.

They have taken everything and

no one has told them to give it back.

₂₃Is there anyone listening?

Is there anyone who listens

to what I am saying?

₂₄Who said that the enemies

may take the Israelites away?

We are the descendants of Jacob.

It was the Lord who said that.

We have sinned_against Him.

We have not lived as He wanted,

and we have not done what He taught us to do.

₂₅That is why the Lord became

very angry with the Israelites.

He called enemies

to go to war_against his people.

The flames burnt them from all sides,

but they did not know why it happened.’