Isaiah 42 - 43

Yahweh’s Chosen Servant

“Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold;

My chosen one in whom My soul is well‑pleased.

I have put My Spirit upon Him;

He will bring forth justice to the nations.

He will not cry out or raise His voice,

Nor make His voice heard in the street.

A crushed reed He will not break

And a faintly burning wick He will not extinguish;

He will bring forth justice in truth.

He will not be faint or crushed

Until He has established justice in the earth;

And the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law.”

5 Thus says the God, Yahweh,

Who created the heavens and stretched them out,

Who spread out the earth and its offspring,

Who gives breath to the people on it

And spirit to those who walk in it,

“I am Yahweh, I have called You in righteousness;

I will also take hold of You by the hand and guard You,

And I will give You as a covenant to the people,

As a light to the nations,

To open blind eyes,

To bring out prisoners from the dungeon

And those who inhabit darkness from the prison.

I am Yahweh, that is My name;

I will not give My glory to another,

Nor My praise to graven images.

Behold, the former things have come to pass;

Now I declare new things;

Before they spring forth I cause you to hear them.”

Sing to Yahweh a new song,

Sing His praise from the end of the earth!

You who go down to the sea, as well as its fullness.

You coastlands, and those who inhabit them.

Let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voices,

The villages where Kedar inhabits.

Let the inhabitants of Sela sing aloud,

Let them shout for joy from the tops of the mountains.

Let them give glory to Yahweh

And declare His praise in the coastlands.

Yahweh will go forth like a warrior;

He will awaken His zeal like a man of war.

He will make a loud shout, indeed, He will raise a war cry.

He will prevail against His enemies.

Israel’s Blindness and Deafness

“I have kept silent for a long time;

I have kept still and restrained Myself.

Now like a woman in labor I will groan;

I will both gasp and pant.

I will lay waste the mountains and hills

And dry up all their vegetation;

I will make the rivers into coastlands

And dry up the pools of waters.

I will lead the blind by a way they do not know,

In paths they do not know I will guide them.

I will make darkness into light before them

And rugged places into plains.

These are the things I will do,

And I will not forsake them.”

They will be turned back and be utterly put to shame,

Who trust in graven images,

Who say to molten images,

“You are our gods.”

Hear, you deaf!

And look, you blind, that you may see.

Who is blind but My servant,

Or so deaf as My messenger whom I send?

Who is so blind as he that is at peace with Me,

Or so blind as the servant of Yahweh?

You have seen many things, but you do not keep them;

Your ears are open, but none hears.

Yahweh was pleased for His righteousness’ sake

That He make the law great and majestic.

But this is a people plundered and pillaged as spoil;

All of them are trapped in caves,

Or are hidden away in prisons;

They have become a plunder with none to deliver them,

And a spoil, with none to say, “Have them return!”

Who among you will give ear to this?

Who will give heed and hear hereafter?

Who gave Jacob up for spoil, and Israel to plunderers?

Was it not Yahweh, against whom we have sinned,

And in whose ways they were not willing to walk,

And whose law they did not obey?

So He poured out on him the heat of His anger

And the fierceness of battle;

And it set him aflame all around,

Yet he did not know it;

And it burned him, but he did not set it upon his heart.

The Redemption of Israel

But now, thus says Yahweh, your Creator, O Jacob,

And He who formed you, O Israel,

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;

I have called you by name; you are Mine!

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

And through the rivers, they will not overflow you.

When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched,

Nor will the flame burn you.

For I am Yahweh your God,

The Holy One of Israel, your Savior;

I have given Egypt as your ransom,

Ethiopia and Seba in your place.

Since you are precious in My sight,

Since you are honored and I love you,

I will give other men in your place and other peoples in exchange for your life.

Do not fear, for I am with you;

I will bring your seed from the east,

And gather you from the west.

I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’

And to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’

Bring My sons from afar

And My daughters from the ends of the earth,

Everyone who is called by My name,

And whom I have created for My glory,

Whom I have formed, even whom I have made.”

Israel Is Yahweh’s Witness

Bring out the people who are blind, even though they have eyes,

And the deaf, even though they have ears.

All the nations have gathered together

So that the peoples may be assembled.

Who among them can declare this

And make us hear the former things?

Let them present their witnesses that they may be justified,

Or let them hear and say, “It is true.”

“You are My witnesses,” declares Yahweh,

“And My servant whom I have chosen,

So that you may know and believe Me

And understand that I am He.

Before Me there was no god formed,

And there will be none after Me.

I, even I, am Yahweh,

And there is no savior besides Me.

It is I who have declared and saved and caused it to be heard,

And there was no strange god among you;

So you are My witnesses,” declares Yahweh,

“And I am God.

Even from eternity I am He,

And there is none who can deliver out of My hand;

I act and who can reverse it?”

Rivers in the Wasteland

14 Thus says Yahweh your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel,

“For your sake I have sent to Babylon,

And will bring down those who fled—all of them,

Even the Chaldeans—into the ships in which they shouted for joy.

I am Yahweh, your Holy One,

The Creator of Israel, your King.”

16 Thus says Yahweh,

Who makes a way through the sea

And a path through the mighty waters,

Who brings forth the chariot and the horse,

The military force and the mighty man;

They will lie down together and not rise again;

They have been extinguished and quenched like a wick:

“Do not remember the former things,

Nor carefully consider things of the past.

Behold, I will do something new;

Now it will spring forth;

Will you not know it?

I will even make a roadway in the wilderness,

Rivers in the wasteland.

The beasts of the field will glorify Me,

The jackals and the ostriches,

Because I have given waters in the wilderness

And rivers in the wasteland,

To give drink to My chosen people.

The people whom I formed for Myself

Will recount My praise.

“Yet you have not called on Me, O Jacob;

But you have become weary of Me, O Israel.

You have not brought to Me the sheep of your burnt offerings,

Nor have you glorified Me with your sacrifices.

I have not burdened you with offerings,

Nor wearied you with frankincense.

You have not bought Me sweet cane with money,

Nor have you satisfied Me with the fat of your sacrifices;

Rather you have burdened Me with your sins;

You have wearied Me with your iniquities.

“I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake,

And I will not remember your sins.

Bring Me to remembrance, let us enter into judgment together;

Recount your cause, that you may be proved right.

Your first father sinned,

And your spokesmen have transgressed against Me.

So I will profane the princes of the sanctuary,

And I will give Jacob to be devoted to destruction and Israel to revilement.