The Book of the Prophet Isaiah

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- Chapter 42 -

(Matthew 12:15–21)

Yahweh says, “I want you people to know about my servant, whom I encourage. I have chosen him, and I am pleased with him. I have given him my Spirit, and he will make certain that all the people groups do what is right.

He will not show his power by shouting or by talking very loudly.

He will not get rid of anyone who is weak like a smashed reed, and he will not end the life of anyone who is helpless, like an oil lamp about to stop burning. He will faithfully make sure that judges decide cases justly.

He will not become exhausted or discouraged all during the time that he is causing things to be done justly throughout the earth. Even people living on the islands in the oceans will confidently wait for him to teach them his laws.”

Yahweh our God created the sky and spread it out. He also created the earth and everything on it. He gives breath to all the people on the earth and causes them to live. And he is the one who says to his special servant,

“I, Yahweh, have chosen you to show people that I always act righteously. I will grasp your hand and protect you, and I will present you to my Israelite people to be the one who will put into effect my covenant with them. You will be like a light to the other nations.

For you will enable blind people to see, you will free those who are in prison and release those who are in dark dungeons.

I am Yahweh; that is my name. I will not allow anyone else to receive the honor that only I deserve. And I will not allow others to praise idols, for they should praise only me.

Everything that I have prophesied has happened, and now I will tell about other things that will happen. I will tell you things that will happen before they happen.”

A New Song of Praise

(Psalm 98:1–9; Psalm 149:1–9)

Sing a new song to Yahweh! Sing to praise him throughout the world! All you people who sail across the oceans, and all you creatures that live in the oceans, and all you people who live on islands far away, sing!

You people who live in towns in the desert, sing loudly! You people who live in the region of Kedar in the north of Arabia, you rejoice also! You people in the city of Sela in Edom, you also should sing joyfully; shout to praise him from the tops of your mountains!

Even people who live on distant islands should honor Yahweh and sing to praise him.

It will be as though Yahweh will march out like a mighty soldier; he will show that he is very angry. He will shout a battle cry, and then he will defeat all his enemies.

He will say, “I have remained silent for a long time; I have restrained myself from doing what I need to do. But now, like a woman who is giving birth to a baby, I will cry out and gasp and pant.

I will level off the hills and mountains, and I will cause all the plants and trees to dry up. I will cause the rivers to become small streams, and little islands will appear in them, and I will cause all the pools to become dry.

My people who have been taken into exile are like blind people, but I will lead them along a road on which they have not walked before, on a road that they have not seen before. They have felt very helpless, as though they were walking in the darkness, but I will take away that darkness and I will make smooth the road that is in front of them. Those are the things that I will do for them; I will not abandon them.

But those who trust in carved idols, and say to images, ‘You are our gods,’ will be completely humiliated.”

Israel Is Deaf and Blind

You Israelite people who have acted toward God like deaf people, listen to what Yahweh says! “You who have been like blind people, look!

No people are as blind as my people, who should have been serving me. No people are as much like deaf people as the Israelites, who should have been my messengers. No people are as much like blind people as those whom I chose to serve me in a covenant.

You see and know what are the right things to do, but you do not do them. You hear what I say to you, but you do not pay attention.”

Because Yahweh is righteous, he has honored his glorious laws.

But armies have destroyed Jerusalem and have completely plundered all the valuable things, and they have captured Yahweh’s people and taken them away and put them in prison. They have been captured easily, because there was no one to protect them; there was no one to say that they should be allowed to return home.

Who among you will listen carefully to these things? Who will pay attention from now on?

Who allowed the valuable possessions of the people of Israel to be stolen? It was Yahweh, because he is the one against whom we had sinned; we did not conduct our lives like he wanted us to, and we did not obey his laws.

Therefore he was extremely angry with us, and he caused our soldiers to be destroyed in battles. It was as though he had lit a fire around us, but we did not understand what he was trying to tell us. His anger with us was like a fire that would burn us up, but we did not pay attention.

(Matthew 12:15–21)

“Behold, my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights: I have put my Spirit on him. He will bring justice to the nations.

He will not shout, nor raise his voice, nor cause it to be heard in the street.

He won’t break a bruised reed. He won’t quench a dimly burning wick. He will faithfully bring justice.

He will not fail nor be discouraged, until he has set justice in the earth, and the islands wait for his law.”

God the LORD, he who created the heavens and stretched them out, he who spread out the earth and that which comes out of it, he who gives breath to its people and spirit to those who walk in it, says:

“I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness. I will hold your hand. I will keep you, and make you a covenant for the people, as a light for the nations,

to open the blind eyes, to bring the prisoners out of the dungeon, and those who sit in darkness out of the prison.

“I am the LORD. That is my name. I will not give my glory to another, nor my praise to engraved images.

Behold, the former things have happened and I declare new things. I tell you about them before they come up.”

A New Song of Praise

(Psalm 98:1–9; Psalm 149:1–9)

Sing to the LORD a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that is therein, the islands and their inhabitants.

Let the wilderness and its cities raise their voices, with the villages that Kedar inhabits. Let the inhabitants of Sela sing. Let them shout from the top of the mountains!

Let them give glory to the LORD, and declare his praise in the islands.

The LORD will go out like a mighty man. He will stir up zeal like a man of war. He will raise a war cry. Yes, he will shout aloud. He will triumph over his enemies.

“I have been silent a long time. I have been quiet and restrained myself. Now I will cry out like a travailing woman. I will both gasp and pant.

I will destroy mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs. I will make the rivers islands, and will dry up the pools.

I will bring the blind by a way that they don’t know. I will lead them in paths that they don’t know. I will make darkness light before them, and crooked places straight. I will do these things, and I will not forsake them.

“Those who trust in engraved images, who tell molten images, ‘You are our gods,’ will be turned back. They will be utterly disappointed.

Israel Is Deaf and Blind

“Hear, you deaf, and look, you blind, that you may see.

Who is blind, but my servant? Or who is as deaf as my messenger whom I send? Who is as blind as he who is at peace, and as blind as the LORD’s servant?

You see many things, but don’t observe. His ears are open, but he doesn’t listen.

It pleased the LORD, for his righteousness’ sake, to magnify the law and make it honorable.

But this is a robbed and plundered people. All of them are snared in holes, and they are hidden in prisons. They have become captives, and no one delivers, and a plunder, and no one says, ‘Restore them!’

Who is there among you who will give ear to this? Who will listen and hear for the time to come?

Who gave Jacob as plunder, and Israel to the robbers? Didn’t the LORD, he against whom we have sinned? For they would not walk in his ways, and they disobeyed his law.

Therefore he poured the fierceness of his anger on him, and the strength of battle. It set him on fire all around, but he didn’t know. It burned him, but he didn’t take it to heart.”