Isaiah 42
Berean Standard Bible · Compare translations · 700 BC – 539 BC · Exile in Babylon · Tap a verse to copy, share or highlight ·
25 verses · 665 words · ~3 min read · ~4 min listen
Here Is My Servant
1“Here is My Servant, whom I uphold,
My Chosen One, in whom My soul delights.
I will put My Spirit on Him,
and He will bring justice to the nations.
2He will not cry out or raise His voice,
nor make His voice heard in the streets.
3A bruised reed He will not break
and a smoldering wick He will not extinguish;
He will faithfully bring forth justice.
4He will not grow weak or discouraged
before He has established justice on the earth.
In His law the islands will put their hope.”
5This is what God the Lord says—
He who created the heavens
and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and its offspring,
who gives breath to the people on it
and life to those who walk in it:
6“I, the Lord, have called you
for a righteous purpose,
and I will take hold of your hand.
I will keep you and appoint you
to be a covenant for the people
and a light to the nations,
7to open the eyes of the blind,
to bring prisoners out of the dungeon
and those sitting in darkness
out from the prison house.
8I am the Lord;
that is My name!
I will not yield My glory to another
or My praise to idols.
9Behold, the former things have happened,
and now I declare new things.
Before they spring forth
I proclaim them to you.”
A New Song of Praise
10Sing to the Lord a new song—
His praise from the ends of the earth—
you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it,
you islands, and all who dwell in them.
11Let the desert and its cities raise their voices;
let the villages of Kedar cry aloud.
Let the people of Sela sing for joy;
let them cry out from the mountaintops.
12Let them give glory to the Lord
and declare His praise in the islands.
13The Lord goes forth like a mighty one;
He stirs up His zeal like a warrior.
He shouts; yes, He roars
in triumph over His enemies:
14“I have kept silent from ages past;
I have remained quiet and restrained.
But now I will groan like a woman in labor;
I will at once gasp and pant.
15I will lay waste the mountains and hills
and dry up all their vegetation.
I will turn the rivers into dry land
and drain the marshes.
16I will lead the blind by a way they did not know;
I will guide them on unfamiliar paths.
I will turn darkness into light before them
and rough places into level ground.
These things I will do for them,
and I will not forsake them.
17But those who trust in idols
and say to molten images, ‘You are our gods!’
will be turned back in utter shame.
Israel Is Deaf and Blind
18Listen, you deaf ones;
look, you blind ones, that you may see!
19Who is blind but My servant,
or deaf like the messenger I am sending?
Who is blind like My covenant partner,
or blind like the servant of the Lord?
20Though seeing many things, you do not keep watch.
Though your ears are open, you do not hear.”
21The Lord was pleased, for the sake of His righteousness,
to magnify His law and make it glorious.
22But this is a people plundered and looted,
all trapped in caves or imprisoned in dungeons.
They have become plunder with no one to rescue them,
and loot with no one to say, “Send them back!”
23Who among you will pay attention to this?
Who will listen and obey hereafter?
24Who gave Jacob up for spoil,
and Israel to the plunderers?
Was it not the Lord,
against whom we have sinned?
They were unwilling to walk in His ways,
and they would not obey His law.
25So He poured out on them His furious anger
and the fierceness of battle.
It enveloped them in flames,
but they did not understand;
it consumed them,
but they did not take it to heart.
Footnotes (4)
- a v4 Or bruised
- b v4 Or In His teaching the coastlands will put their hope; LXX In His name the nations will put their hope; cited in Matthew 12:18–21
- c v10 Or coastlands; also in verse 12
- d v15 Or coastlands or islands
Study notes on this chapter · 2
Prophecy & fulfillmentLinked by the New Testament
The chosen servant who will not break a bruised reed
The first of Isaiah's 'servant songs': God's Spirit-anointed servant brings justice gently to the nations. Matthew says Jesus' quiet healing ministry fulfilled it.
When: Isaiah 40–55; applied by Matthew to Jesus' Galilean ministry.
Original passageIsaiah 42:1–4
Where the New Testament applies itMatthew 12:15–21
Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.
Prophecy & fulfillmentLinked by the New Testament
A light for the nations
Isaiah's servant is called to restore Israel and also to be a light for the nations so that salvation reaches the ends of the earth. Simeon takes this up when he holds the infant Jesus, and Paul and Barnabas apply it to their own mission to the Gentiles. Paul later says the Messiah would proclaim light to both Jews and Gentiles.
When: Isaiah, c. 700–540 BC; Simeon, c. 5 BC; Paul and Barnabas, c. AD 46–48.
Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.