42
1 “Look, 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 to the nations.
2 He will not cry out or raise his voice or make it heard in the street.
3 A bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not extinguish.
He will faithfully bring forth justice.
4 He will not grow dim or be crushed until he establishes justice on the earth;
the islands will wait for his instruction.”
5 This is what God, the LORD, says, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what springs from it, who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk on 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 for the people, as a light for the nations,
7 to open blind eyes, to bring the prisoner out of confinement and those who sit in darkness out of the prison house.
8 I am the LORD;
that is my name.
I will not give my glory to another or my praise to carved images.
9 Look, the former things have come to pass, and I declare new things;
before they spring forth, I tell you of them.”
10 Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise from the ends of the earth, you who go down to the sea and all that fills it, the islands and their inhabitants.
11 Let the wilderness and its cities raise their voices, the villages where Kedar lives.
Let the inhabitants of Sela sing for joy;
let them shout from the mountaintops.
12 Let them give glory to the LORD and proclaim his praise in the islands.
13 The LORD will go out like a warrior;
like a man of war he will stir up his zeal.
He will shout, yes, cry out;
he will prevail against his enemies.
14 “For a long time I have kept silent;
I have been still and restrained myself.
Now I will cry out like a woman in labor;
I will gasp and pant together.
15 I will lay waste mountains and hills and dry up all their vegetation;
I will turn rivers into islands and dry up pools.
16 I will lead the blind by a way they do not know;
along paths they do not know I will guide them.
I will turn darkness into light before them and rough places into level ground.
These things I will do, and I will not forsake them.
17 Those who trust in carved images, who say to cast images, ‘You are our gods,’ will turn back in utter shame.
18 Hear, you deaf!
Look, you blind, so that you may see!
19 Who is blind but my servant, or deaf like my messenger whom I send?
Who is blind like the one at peace with me, blind like the servant of the LORD?
20 Seeing many things, you do not pay attention;
with ears open, he does not hear.”
21 The LORD was pleased, for the sake of his righteousness, to magnify his instruction and make it glorious.
22 But this is a people robbed and plundered, all trapped in holes and hidden in prison houses.
They have become prey with no one to deliver, plunder with no one to say, “Give it back!”
23 Who among you will give ear to this, pay attention and listen for the time to come?
24 Who gave Jacob over as plunder and Israel to robbers?
Was it not the LORD, against whom we sinned?
They were unwilling to walk in his ways and did not obey his instruction.
25 So he poured upon him his burning anger and the fury of battle.
It set him ablaze all around, but he did not understand;
it burned within him, but he did not take it to heart.