Isaiah 42
New King James Version

The Servant of theLord

42 “Behold!^(A)My Servant whom I uphold,
My^[a]Elect Onein whomMy soul^(B)delights!
^(C)I have put My Spirit upon Him;
He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.
²He will not cry out, nor raiseHis voice,
Nor cause His voice to be heard in the street.
³A bruised reed He will not break,
And^[b]smoking flax He will not^[c]quench;
He will bring forth justice for truth.
⁴He will not fail nor be discouraged,
Till He has established justice in the earth;
^(D)And the coastlands shall wait for His law.”

⁵Thus says God theLord,
^(E)Who created the heavens and stretched them out,
Who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it,
^(F)Who gives breath to the people on it,
And spirit to those who walk on it:
⁶“I,^(G)theLord, have called You in righteousness,
And will hold Your hand;
I will keep You^(H)and give You as a covenant to the people,
As^(I)a light to the Gentiles,
⁷^(J)To open blind eyes,
To^(K)bring out prisoners from the prison,
Those who sit in^(L)darkness from the prison house.
⁸IamtheLord, thatisMy name;
And My^(M)glory I will not give to another,
Nor My praise to carved images.
⁹Behold, the former things have come to pass,
And new things I declare;
Before they spring forth I tell you of them.”

Praise to theLord

¹⁰^(N)Sing to theLorda new song,
AndHis praise from the ends of the earth,
^(O)You who go down to the sea, and^[d]all that is in it,
You coastlands and you inhabitants of them!
¹¹Let the wilderness and its cities lift uptheir voice,
The villagesthatKedar inhabits.
Let the inhabitants of Sela sing,
Let them shout from the top of the mountains.
¹²Let them give glory to theLord,
And declare His praise in the coastlands.
¹³TheLordshall go forth like a mighty man;
He shall stir upHiszeal like a man of war.
He shall cry out,^(P)yes, shout aloud;
He shall prevail against His enemies.

Promise of theLord’s Help

¹⁴“I have held My peace a long time,
I have been still and restrained Myself.
NowI will cry like a woman in^[e]labor,
I will pant and gasp at once.
¹⁵I will lay waste the mountains and hills,
And dry up all their vegetation;
I will make the rivers coastlands,
And I will dry up the pools.
¹⁶I will bring the blind by a way they did not know;
I will lead them in paths they have not known.
I will make darkness light before them,
And crooked places straight.
These things I will do for them,
And not forsake them.
¹⁷They shall be^(Q)turned back,
They shall be greatly ashamed,
Who trust in carved images,
Who say to the molded images,
‘Youareour gods.’

¹⁸“Hear, you deaf;
And look, you blind, that you may see.
¹⁹^(R)Whoisblind but My servant,
Or deaf as My messengerwhomI send?
Whoisblind ashe who isperfect,
And blind as theLord’s servant?
²⁰Seeing many things,^(S)but you do not observe;
Opening the ears, but he does not hear.”

Israel’s Obstinate Disobedience

²¹TheLordis well pleased for His righteousness’ sake;
He will exalt the law and makeithonorable.
²²But thisisa people robbed and plundered;
All of them are^[f]snared in holes,
And they are hidden in prison houses;
They are for prey, and no one delivers;
For plunder, and no one says, “Restore!”

²³Who among you will give ear to this?
Whowill listen and hear for the time to come?
²⁴Who gave Jacob for plunder, and Israel to the robbers?
Was it not theLord,
He against whom we have sinned?
^(T)For they would not walk in His ways,
Nor were they obedient to His law.
²⁵Therefore He has poured on him the fury of His anger
And the strength of battle;
^(U)It has set him on fire all around,
^(V)Yet he did not know;
And it burned him,
Yet he did not takeitto^(W)heart.