Isaiah

42 Lo! my Servant I will uphold him, My chosen well-pleased is my soul,—I have put my spirit upon him, Justice—to the nations will he bring forth:

2 He will not cry out nor will he speak loud,—Nor cause to be heard in the street his voice:

3 Cane that is crushed will he not break, And wick that is fading will he not quench,—Faithfully will he bring forth justice:

4 He will not fade nor will he be crushed, Until he establish in the earth justice, And for his instruction Coastlands wait.

5 Thus saith God himself—Yahweh,—Creator of the heavens, that stretched them forth, Out-spreader of earth and the products thereof,—Giver of breath to the people thereon, And of spirit to them who walk therein

6 I—Yahweh have called thee in righteousness And will firmly grasp thy hand,—And will keep thee And give thee—As the covenant of a people, As the light of nations:

7 To open eyes that are blind,—To bring forth Out of the dungeon the captive, Out of the prison the dwellers in darkness.

8 I am Yahweh, that is my Name,—And my glory to another will I not give, Nor my praise to images.

9 Things told in advance lo! they have come to pass,—And new things am I telling, Ere yet they spring forth I let you hear them.

10 Sing to Yahweh a song that is new, His praise from the end of the earth,—Ye that go down to the sea and the fulness thereof, The Coastlands, and ye who dwell therein.

11 Let the wilderness shout and the cities thereof, The villages wherein dwelleth Kedar,—Let the inhabitants of the crag raise shouts of triumph, From the top of the mountains let them cry aloud:

12 Let them render unto Yahweh glory,—And his praise in the Coastlands let them tell.

13 Yahweh as a hero goeth forth, As a man of war he stirreth up jealousy,—He giveth a cry, yea he raiseth a war-cry, Over his foes he showeth his strength.

14 I have held my peace from age-past times, I kept still, I restrained myself,—As a travailing woman I pant, I breathe hard and gasp all at once!

15 I will lay waste mountains and hills, And all their vegetation will I wither,—And I will make rivers to be shores, And lakes will I dry up:

16 Thus will I lead the blind by a way they know not, In paths they know not will I guide them,—I will make the place that was dark before them to be light, And crooked ways to be straight, These things have I done unto them, And have not forsaken them.

17 They have drawn back They turn very pale Who have been trusting in a graven image,—Who have been saying to a molten image, Ye are our gods!

18 Ye deaf, hear! And ye blind, look around that ye may see!

19 Who is blind if not my Servant? Or deaf like my messenger whom I send? Who is blind like an intimate friend? Or blind like the Servant of Yahweh?

20 Seeing many things yet thou heedest not, Opening the ears yet he heareth not.

21 Yahweh is well-pleased for his own righteousness’ sake, He magnifieth instruction and maketh it majestic.

22 But that is a people preyed upon and plundered, Snared in holes all of them, And in houses of restraint concealed,—They have become a prey and there is none to deliver,—A booty and there is none to say—Restore!

23 Who among you will give ear to this,—Let him hearken and hear for an aftertime?

24 Who gave as a booty Jacob And Israel to them who were ready to take prey? Was it not Yahweh? He against whom we have sinned, And they were not willing in his ways to walk, Neither hearkened they to his instruction?

25 So he hath poured out upon him The glow of his anger, and The strength of battle; And it hath set him aflame round about, yet he knoweth it not, And it hath kindled upon him, yet he layeth it not to heart.