CHAPTER 42

1 Behold, my servant; I will lean upon him; ²⁶⁷²⁶⁷     Or, I will uphold him. Mine sleet, in whom my soul is well pleased. I have put my Spirit upon him; He shall exhibit judgment to the nations.

2 He shall not cry aloud; He shall not lift up, Nor cause his voice to be heard in the streets.

3 A bruised reed he shall not break, And the smoking flax he shall not quench; He shall bring forth judgment in truth.

4 He shall not thine, nor be discouraged, Till he set judgment in the earth; And the islands shall wait for his law.

5 Thus saith God ²⁶⁸²⁶⁸     Or, The mighty. Jehovah, The Creator of the heavens, And who stretcheth them out; Who spreadeth out the earth, And its productions; Giving breath to the people who dwell in it, And spirit to them who walk on it.

6 I Jehovah have called thee in righteousness, And will hold thee by thy hand; And will keep thee, And will place thee for a covenant of the people, For a light of the nations;

7 That thou mayest open the eyes of the blind; That thou mayest bring out the prisoners from the prison, And from the house of the prison those who sit in darkness.

8 I am Jehovah, that is my name; And my glory will I not give to another, Nor my praise to graven images.

9 Behold, the former things have come; And new things do I declare; Before they spring up, I will make them known to you.

10 Sing to Jehovah a new song, His praise from the end of the earth; Ye who go down to the sea, And its fullness; Ye islands, And their inhabitants.

11 Let the desert And its cities cry aloud, The villages where Kedar dwelleth; Let the inhabitants of the rock sing; And let them shout from the top of the mountains.

12 Let them give glory to Jehovah, And let them declare his praise in the islands.

13 Jehovah shall go forth as a giant; And as a warrior shall he rouse his zeal; He shall cry aloud; he shall shout; He shall strengthen himself against his adversaries.

14 I have kept silence for a long time; I have been silent, And have refrained myself; I will cry like a woman in travail; I will destroy And swallow at once.

15 I will reduce mountains And hills to a wilderness; I will dry up all their herbage; I will make the rivers islands; And I will dry up the pools.

16 And I will lead the blind by a way which they knew not; I will cause them to walk in paths which they had not known; And I will turn darkness before them into light, And crooked ways into a plain. These things ²⁶⁹²⁶⁹     Or, These words. will I do to them, And I will not forsake them.

17 They shall be turned back, With shame shall they be ashamed, Who trust in a graven image; And who say to a molten image; Ye are our gods.

18 O ye deaf, hear; And ye blind, be attentive to see.

19 Who is blind but my servant? Who is deaf but my messenger whom I send? Who is blind as he that is perfect, And blind as the servant of Jehovah?

20 By seeing many things which thou observest not; By opening the ears, so that he may not hear.

21 Jehovah is well-pleased on account of his righteousness, That he may honor And magnify his law.

22 But this people hath been robbed And trodden down; They shall all be snared in prisons, And they shall be hidden in caves; They shall be made a spoil, And there shall be none to deliver; A prey, And none shall say, Restore.

23 Who among you will hear this? Who will hearken? Who will attend for the time to come?

24 Who gave Jacob to be a prey, And gave up Israel to the robbers? Was it not Jehovah? Because we have sinned against him, And they would not walk in his ways, And did not hearken to his law.

25 Therefore he hath poured upon him The fury of his anger, And the strength of battle. It set him on fire on every side, And he gave no heed to it; It burned him, But he laid it not to heart.