The Servant, a Light to the Nations

1Here is my servant, whom I uphold,

my chosen, in whom my soul delights;

I have put my spirit upon him;

he will bring forth justice to the nations.

2He will not cry or lift up his voice,

or make it heard in the street;

3a bruised reed he will not break,

and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;

he will faithfully bring forth justice.

4He will not grow faint or be crushed

until he has established justice in the earth;

and the coastlands wait for his teaching.

5Thus says God, the LORD,

who created the heavens and stretched them out,

who spread out the earth and what comes from it,

who gives breath to the people upon it

and spirit to those who walk in it:

6I am the LORD, I have called you in righteousness,

I have taken you by the hand and kept you;

I have given you as a covenant to the people,42.6 Meaning of Heb uncertain

a light to the nations,

7to open the eyes that are blind,

to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,

from the prison those who sit in darkness.

8I am the LORD, that is my name;

my glory I give to no other,

nor my praise to idols.

9See, the former things have come to pass,

and new things I now declare;

before they spring forth,

I tell you of them.

A Hymn of Praise

10Sing to the LORD a new song,

his praise from the end of the earth!

Let the sea roar42.10 Cn Compare Ps 96.11; 98.7: Heb Those who go down to the sea and all that fills it,

the coastlands and their inhabitants.

11Let the desert and its towns lift up their voice,

the villages that Kedar inhabits;

let the inhabitants of Sela sing for joy,

let them shout from the tops of the mountains.

12Let them give glory to the LORD,

and declare his praise in the coastlands.

13The LORD goes forth like a soldier,

like a warrior he stirs up his fury;

he cries out, he shouts aloud,

he shows himself mighty against his foes.

14For a long time I have held my peace,

I have kept still and restrained myself;

now I will cry out like a woman in labour,

I will gasp and pant.

15I will lay waste mountains and hills,

and dry up all their herbage;

I will turn the rivers into islands,

and dry up the pools.

16I will lead the blind

by a road they do not know,

by paths they have not known

I will guide them.

I will turn the darkness before them into light,

the rough places into level ground.

These are the things I will do,

and I will not forsake them.

17They shall be turned back and utterly put to shame—

those who trust in carved images,

who say to cast images,

‘You are our gods.’

18Listen, you that are deaf;

and you that are blind, look up and see!

19Who is blind but my servant,

or deaf like my messenger whom I send?

Who is blind like my dedicated one,

or blind like the servant of the LORD?

20He sees many things, but does42.20 Heb You see many things but do not observe them;

his ears are open, but he does not hear.

Israel's Disobedience

21The LORD was pleased, for the sake of his righteousness,

to magnify his teaching and make it glorious.

22But this is a people robbed and plundered,

all of them are trapped in holes

and hidden in prisons;

they have become a prey with no one to rescue,

a spoil with no one to say, ‘Restore!’

23Who among you will give heed to this,

who will attend and listen for the time to come?

24Who gave up Jacob to the spoiler,

and Israel to the robbers?

Was it not the LORD, against whom we have sinned,

in whose ways they would not walk,

and whose law they would not obey?

25So he poured upon him the heat of his anger

and the fury of war;

it set him on fire all around, but he did not understand;

it burned him, but he did not take it to heart.