Yahweh’s Chosen Servant
“aBehold, My bServant, whom I uphold;
My cchosen one in whom My dsoul is well‑pleased.
I have put My eSpirit upon Him;
He will bring forth fjustice to the nations.
2 He will not cry out or raise His voice,
Nor make His voice heard in the street.
3 A crushed reed He will not break
And a faintly burning wick He will not extinguish;
He will bring forth ajustice in truth.
4 He will not be afaint or crushed
Until He has established justice in the earth;
And the bcoastlands will wait expectantly for His law.”
5 Thus says the God, Yahweh,
Who acreated the heavens and bstretched them out,
Who spread out the cearth and its offspring,
Who dgives breath to the people on it
And spirit to those who walk in it,
6 “I am Yahweh, I have acalled You in righteousness;
I will also btake hold of You by the hand and cguard You,
And I will give You as a dcovenant to the people,
As a elight to the nations,
7 To aopen blind eyes,
To bbring out prisoners from the dungeon
And those who inhabit darkness from the prison.
8 aI am Yahweh, that is bMy name;
I will not give My cglory to another,
Nor My praise to graven images.
9 Behold, the aformer things have come to pass;
Now I declare bnew things;
Before they spring forth I cause you to hear them.”
10 Sing to Yahweh a anew song,
Sing His praise from the bend of the earth!
cYou who go down to the sea, das well as its fullness.
You ecoastlands, and those who inhabit them.
11 Let the awilderness and its cities lift up their voices,
The villages where bKedar inhabits.
Let the inhabitants of cSela sing aloud,
Let them shout for joy from the tops of the dmountains.
12 Let them agive glory to Yahweh
And declare His praise in the bcoastlands.
13 aYahweh will go forth like a warrior;
He will awaken His bzeal like a man of war.
He will make a loud shout, indeed, He will raise a war cry.
He will cprevail against His enemies.
Israel’s Blindness and Deafness
14 “aI 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.
15 I will alay waste the mountains and hills
And dry up all their vegetation;
I will bmake the rivers into coastlands
And dry up the pools of waters.
16 I will alead the blind by a way they do not know,
In paths they do not know I will guide them.
I will bmake darkness into light before them
And crugged places into plains.
These are the things I will do,
And I will dnot forsake them.”
17 They will be turned back and be autterly put to shame,
Who trust in graven images,
Who say to molten images,
“You are our gods.”
18 aHear, you deaf!
And look, you blind, that you may see.
19 Who is blind but My aservant,
Or so deaf as My bmessenger whom I send?
Who is so blind as he that is cat peace with Me,
Or so blind as the servant of Yahweh?
20 aYou have seen many things, but you do not keep them;
Your ears are open, but none hears.
21 Yahweh was pleased for His righteousness’ sake
That He make the law agreat and majestic.
22 But this is a people plundered and pillaged as spoil;
All of them are atrapped in caves,
Or are bhidden away in prisons;
They have become a plunder with none to deliver them,
And a spoil, with none to say, “Have them return!”
23 Who among you will give ear to this?
Who will give heed and hear hereafter?
24 Who gave Jacob up for spoil, and Israel to plunderers?
Was it not Yahweh, against whom we have sinned,
And in whose ways they awere not willing to walk,
And whose law they did not bobey?
25 So He poured out on him the heat of His anger
And the afierceness of battle;
And it set him aflame all around,
Yet he did not know it;
And it burned him, but he did not bset it upon his heart.