The Servant of the LORD

1“Here is my servant, whom I support,

my chosen one, in whom I delight.a

I’ve placed my Spirit upon him;

andb he’ll deliver hisc justice throughout the world.d

2He won’t shout,

or raise his voice,

or make it heard in the street.

3A crushed reed he will not break,

and a fading candlee he won’t snuff out.f

He’ll bring forthg justice for the truth.

4Andh he won’t grow faint or be crushed

until he establishes justice on the mainland,

and the coastlands take ownership ofi his Law.”

God Speaks about the Servant

5This is what God says—

the Godj who created the heavens

and stretched them out,

who spread out the earth and its produce,

who gives breath to the people on it

and lifek to those who walk in it:

6 “I’vel called you in righteousness.

I’ll take hold of your hand.

I’ll preserve you and appoint you

as a covenant to the people,m

as a light for the nations,

7to open blind eyes

and to bring out those who are boundn from their cells,

ando those sitting in darkness from prison.

8I, the LORD, am the one,

and I won’t give my name andp glory to another,

nor my praise to idols.

9See, the former things have taken place,

and I’m announcing theq new things—

before they spring into being

I’m telling you about them.”

Praise in Song to God

10Sing to the LORD a new song,

andr his praise from the ends of the earth,

you who sail down the sea and by everything in it,

you coastlands and their inhabitants.

11Let the desert cry out,s

its towns and thet villages where Kedar lives;

andu let those who live in Sela sing for joy.

Let them shout aloudv from the mountaintops.

12Let them give glory to the LORD,

and declare his praise in the islands.

13The LORD marches out like a warrior;

he stirs up his rage like a man of war;

he makes his anger heard;

he shouts aloud;w

he declares his mastery over his enemies:

14“I have certainlyx stayed silent for a long time;

I’ve kept still and held myself back.

Now, like a woman giving birth, I’ll cry out.

All of a sudden I’ll gasp and pant.

15I’ll devastate the mountains and hills,

and dry up all their vegetation;

I’ll turn rivers into islands,

and dry up the ponds.

16I’ll help the blind walk,

eveny on a road they do not know;

I’ll guide them

in directionsz they do not know.

I’ll turn the dark placesaa into light in front of them,

and the rough places into level ground.

These are the things I will do,

and I won’t abandon them.

17Those who trust in carved idols

will turn back andbb be completely disappointed,cc

along with thosedd who say to metal images,

‘You are our gods.’”

God Rebukes Israel

18“Listen, you deaf people,

and look up, you blind people, so you may see!

19Who is blind except my servant,

or deaf like my messenger I am sending?

Who is blind like the one committed to me,

or blind like the LORD’s servant?

20You’ve seenee many things, but you pay noff attention.

His ears are open,gg but he doesn’t listen.

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

that he should magnify his Law and make it glorious.

22But this is a people who have been robbed and plundered,

all of them trapped in pits

or hidden away in prisons.hh

They have become prey, with no one to rescue them;

they have been made loot, with no one to say, ‘Send them back!’

23“Who among you will listen,

andii pay attention,

and listen for the time to come?”

God Punishes Israel

24“Who handed Jacob over to looters,

and Israel to robbers?

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

After all, they weren’t willing to walk in his ways,

and they wouldn’t obeyjj his instruction,

25so he drenched him withkk the heat that is his anger,ll

the violence of war.

It enveloped him in flames,

but still he had no insight.

It burned him up,

but he didn’t take it to heart.”