VerseAI

NIV

Isaiah 42

  1. 1<pb/><t>“Here is my servant, whom I uphold,</t> <t>my chosen one in whom I delight;</t> <t>I will put my Spirit on him,</t> <t>and he will bring justice to the nations.</t>
  2. 2<t>He will not shout or cry out,</t> <t>or raise his voice in the streets.</t>
  3. 3<t>A bruised reed he will not break,</t> <t>and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.</t> <t>In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;</t>
  4. 4<t>he will not falter or be discouraged</t> <t>till he establishes justice on earth.</t> <t>In his teaching the islands will put their hope.” <pb/></t>
  5. 5<t>This is what God the LORD says—</t> <t>the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out,</t> <t>who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it,</t> <t>who gives breath to its people,</t> <t>and life to those who walk on it:</t>
  6. 6<t>“I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness;</t> <t>I will take hold of your hand.</t> <t>I will keep you and will make you</t> <t>to be a covenant for the people</t> <t>and a light for the Gentiles,</t>
  7. 7<t>to open eyes that are blind,</t> <t>to free captives from prison</t> <t>and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness. <pb/></t>
  8. 8<t>“I am the LORD; that is my name!</t> <t>I will not yield my glory to another</t> <t>or my praise to idols.</t>
  9. 9<t>See, the former things have taken place,</t> <t>and new things I declare;</t> <t>before they spring into being</t> <t>I announce them to you.”</t>
  10. 10<t>Sing to the LORD a new song,</t> <t>his praise from the ends of the earth,</t> <t>you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it,</t> <t>you islands, and all who live in them.</t>
  11. 11<t>Let the wilderness and its towns raise their voices;</t> <t>let the settlements where Kedar lives rejoice.</t> <t>Let the people of Sela sing for joy;</t> <t>let them shout from the mountaintops.</t>
  12. 12<t>Let them give glory to the LORD</t> <t>and proclaim his praise in the islands.</t>
  13. 13<t>The LORD will march out like a champion,</t> <t>like a warrior he will stir up his zeal;</t> <t>with a shout he will raise the battle cry</t> <t>and will triumph over his enemies. <pb/></t>
  14. 14<t>“For a long time I have kept silent,</t> <t>I have been quiet and held myself back.</t> <t>But now, like a woman in childbirth,</t> <t>I cry out, I gasp and pant.</t>
  15. 15<t>I will lay waste the mountains and hills</t> <t>and dry up all their vegetation;</t> <t>I will turn rivers into islands</t> <t>and dry up the pools.</t>
  16. 16<t>I will lead the blind by ways they have not known,</t> <t>along unfamiliar paths I will guide them;</t> <t>I will turn the darkness into light before them</t> <t>and make the rough places smooth.</t> <t>These are the things I will do;</t> <t>I will not forsake them.</t>
  17. 17<t>But those who trust in idols,</t> <t>who say to images, ‘You are our gods,’</t> <t>will be turned back in utter shame.</t>
  18. 18<t>“Hear, you deaf;</t> <t>look, you blind, and see!</t>
  19. 19<t>Who is blind but my servant,</t> <t>and deaf like the messenger I send?</t> <t>Who is blind like the one in covenant with me,</t> <t>blind like the servant of the LORD?</t>
  20. 20<t>You have seen many things, but you pay no attention;</t> <t>your ears are open, but you do not listen.”</t>
  21. 21<t>It pleased the LORD</t> <t>for the sake of his righteousness</t> <t>to make his law great and glorious.</t>
  22. 22<t>But this is a people plundered and looted,</t> <t>all of them trapped in pits</t> <t>or hidden away in prisons.</t> <t>They have become plunder,</t> <t>with no one to rescue them;</t> <t>they have been made loot,</t> <t>with no one to say, “Send them back.” <pb/></t>
  23. 23<t>Which of you will listen to this</t> <t>or pay close attention in time to come?</t>
  24. 24<t>Who handed Jacob over to become loot,</t> <t>and Israel to the plunderers?</t> <t>Was it not the LORD,</t> <t>against whom we have sinned?</t> <t>For they would not follow his ways;</t> <t>they did not obey his law.</t>
  25. 25<t>So he poured out on them his burning anger,</t> <t>the violence of war.</t> <t>It enveloped them in flames, yet they did not understand;</t> <t>it consumed them, but they did not take it to heart.</t>