Isaiah 42

The Lord's Chosen Servant

1 e Behold f my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, g in whom my soul delights;
h I have put my Spirit upon him;
i he will bring forth justice to the nations.
2 He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice,
or make it heard in the street;
3 j a bruised reed he will not break,
and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;
k he will faithfully bring forth justice.
4 He will not grow faint or be discouraged 1
till he has established justice in the earth;
and l the coastlands wait for his law.

5 Thus says God, the Lord,
who created the heavens m and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
n who gives breath to the people on it
and spirit to those who walk in it:
6 "I am the Lord; o I have called you in righteousness;
I will take you by the hand and keep you;
I will give you p as a covenant for the people,
q a light for the nations,
7 r to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
s from the prison those who sit in darkness.
8 I am the Lord; that is my name;
t my glory I give to no other,
nor my praise to carved idols.
9 Behold, the former things have come to pass,
u and new things I now declare;
before they spring forth
I tell you of them."

Sing to the Lord a New Song

10 v Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise from the end of the earth,
w you who go down to the sea, and all that fills it,
l the coastlands and their inhabitants.
11 Let the desert and its cities lift up their voice,
the villages that x Kedar inhabits;
let the habitants of y Sela sing for joy,
let them shout from the top of the mountains.
12 Let them give glory to the Lord,
and declare his praise in l the coastlands.
13 z The Lord goes out like a mighty man,
like a man of war a he stirs up his zeal;
he cries out, b he shouts aloud,
he shows himself mighty against his foes.

14 For a long time I have held my peace;
I have kept still and restrained myself;
now I will cry out c like a woman in labor;
I will gasp and pant.
15 d I will lay waste mountains and hills,
and dry up all their vegetation;
I will turn the rivers into islands, 2
and dry up the pools.
16 e And I will lead the blind
in a way that they do not know,
in paths that they have not known
I will guide them.
I will turn the darkness before them into light,
f the rough places into level ground.
These are the things I do,
and I do not forsake them.
17 g They are turned back and utterly put to shame,
who trust in carved idols,
who say to metal images,
"You are our gods."

Israel's Failure to Hear and See

18 Hear, you deaf,
and look, you blind, that you may see!
19 Who is blind but my servant,
or deaf as my messenger whom I send?
Who is blind as my dedicated one, 3
or blind as the servant of the Lord?
20 h He sees many things, but does not observe them;
i his ears are open, but he does not hear.
21 The Lord was pleased, for his righteousness' sake,
to magnify his law and make it glorious.
22 But this is a people plundered and looted;
they are all of them trapped in holes
j and hidden in prisons;
they have become plunder with none to rescue,
spoil with none to say, "Restore!"
23 Who among you will give ear to this,
will attend and listen for the time to come?
24 Who gave up Jacob to the looter,
and Israel to the plunderers?
Was it not the Lord, against whom we have sinned,
in whose ways they would not walk,
and whose law they would not obey?
25 So he poured on him the heat of his anger
and the might of battle;
it set him on fire all around, k but he did not understand;
it burned him up, l but he did not take it to heart.

  1. Cross References
    Matthew 12:18 - 20
    Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.
  2. Cross References
    Isaiah 41:8
    But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have...
    Isaiah 43:10
    You are my witnesses," declares the Lord, "and ...
    Isaiah 52:13
    Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall b...
    Isaiah 53:11
    Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and...
    Isaiah 42:19
    Who is blind but my servant, or deaf as my mess...
    Ezekiel 34:24
    And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my serv...
    Zechariah 3:8
    Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you and you...
    Acts 3:26
    God, having raised up his servant, sent him to ...
    Acts 4:27
    For truly in this city there were gathered toge...
    Philippians 2:7
    But made himself nothing, taking the form of a ...
  3. Cross References
    Matthew 3:17
    And behold, a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.
  4. Cross References
    Isaiah 11:2
    And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
    Isaiah 61:1
    The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.
  5. Cross References
    Isaiah 2:4
    He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.
  6. Cross References
    Isaiah 57:15
    For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: "I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.
  7. Cross References
    Psalms 9:8
    And he judges the world with righteousness; he judges the peoples with uprightness.
  8. Cross References
    Isaiah 60:9
    For the coastlands shall hope for me, the ships of Tarshish first, to bring your children from afar, their silver and gold with them, for the name of the Lord your God, and for the Holy One of Israel, because he has made you beautiful.
    Genesis 10:5
    From these the coastland peoples spread in their lands, each with his own language, by their clans, in their nations.
    Isaiah 2:3
    And many peoples shall come, and say: "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths." For out of Zion shall go the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
    Matthew 12:21
    And in his name the Gentiles will hope.
  9. Cross References
    Isaiah 44:24
    Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb: "I am the Lord, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself.
    Isaiah 45:12
    I made the earth and created man on it; it was my hands that stretched out the heavens, and I commanded all their host.
  10. Cross References
    Acts 17:25
    Nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.
  11. Cross References
    Isaiah 41:9
    You whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, "You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off".
  12. Cross References
    Isaiah 49:6
    He says: "It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.
    Isaiah 49:8
    Thus says the Lord : "In a time of favor I have answered you; in a day of salvation I have helped you; I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people, to establish the land, to apportion the desolate heritages.
  13. Cross References
    Luke 2:32
    A light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.
  14. Cross References
    Isaiah 35:5
    Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
    Isaiah 49:9
    Saying to the prisoners, 'Come out,' to those who are in darkness, 'Appear.' They shall feed along the ways; on all bare heights shall be their pasture.
    Isaiah 61:1
    The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.
    Hebrews 2:14 - 15
    Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil.
  15. Cross References
    Luke 1:79
    To give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.
  16. Cross References
    Isaiah 48:11
    For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.
  17. Cross References
    Isaiah 43:19
    Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
  18. Cross References
    Psalms 33:3
    Sing to him a new song; play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.
  19. Cross References
    Psalms 107:23
    Some went down to the sea in ships, doing business on the great waters.
  20. Cross References
    Isaiah 42:4
    He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his law.
  21. Cross References
    Isaiah 21:16
    For thus the Lord said to me, "Within a year, according to the years of a hired worker, all the glory of Kedar will come to an end.
  22. Cross References
    Isaiah 16:1
    Send the lamb to the ruler of the land, from Sela, by way of the desert, to the mount of the daughter of Zion.
  23. Cross References
    Isaiah 42:4
    He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his law.
  24. Cross References
    Isaiah 40:10
    Behold, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.
  25. Cross References
    Isaiah 9:7
    Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
    Isaiah 59:17
    He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head; he put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and wrapped himself in zeal as a cloak.
  26. Cross References
    Psalms 78:65
    Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, like a strong man shouting because of wine.
  27. Cross References
    Isaiah 13:8
    They will be dismayed: pangs and agony will seize them; they will be in anguish like a woman in labor. They will look aghast at one another; their faces will be aflame.
  28. Cross References
    Isaiah 50:2
    Why, when I came, was there no man; why, when I called, was there no one to answer? Is my hand shortened, that it cannot redeem? Or have I no power to deliver? Behold, by my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a desert; their fish stink for lack of water and die of thirst.
  29. Cross References
    Isaiah 35:5
    Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
    Isaiah 35:8
    And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.
  30. Cross References
    Isaiah 40:4
    Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.
  31. Cross References
    Isaiah 1:29
    For they shall be ashamed of the oaks that you desired; and you shall blush for the gardens that you have chosen.
    Isaiah 44:11
    Behold, all his companions shall be put to shame, and the craftsmen are only human. Let them all assemble, let them stand forth. They shall be terrified; they shall be put to shame together.
    Isaiah 45:16
    All of them are put to shame and confounded; the makers of idols go in confusion together.
    Psalms 97:7
    All worshipers of images are put to shame, who make their boast in worthless idols; worship him, all you gods!
  32. Cross References
    Romans 2:21 - 23
    You then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal?
  33. Cross References
    Jeremiah 6:10
    To whom shall I speak and give warning, that they may hear? Behold, their ears are uncircumcised, they cannot listen; behold, the word of the Lord is to them an object of scorn; they take no pleasure in it.
  34. Cross References
    Isaiah 14:17
    Who made the world like a desert and overthrew its cities, who did not let his prisoners go home?
  35. Cross References
    Isaiah 47:11
    But evil shall come upon you, which you will not know how to charm away; disaster shall fall upon you, for which you will not be able to atone; and ruin shall come upon you suddenly, of which you know nothing.
    Hosea 7:9
    Strangers devour his strength, and he knows it not; gray hairs are sprinkled upon him, and he knows it not.
  36. Cross References
    Isaiah 57:1
    The righteous man perishes, and no one lays it to heart; devout men are taken away, while no one understands. For the righteous man is taken away from calamity.
    Isaiah 57:11
    Whom did you dread and fear, so that you lied, and did not remember me, did not lay it to heart? Have I not held my peace, even for a long time, and you do not fear me?
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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