Isaiah 42 - ESV Bible - Literal Word

Isaiah 42

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The Lord’s Chosen Servant

Behold my servant, whom I uphold,

my chosen, in whom my soul delights;

I have put my Spirit upon him;

he will bring forth justice to the nations.

He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice,

or make it heard in the street;

a bruised reed he will not break,

and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;

he will faithfully bring forth justice.

He will not grow faint or be discouraged

till he has established justice in the earth;

and the coastlands wait for his law.

Thus says God, the Lord,

who created the heavens and stretched them out,

who spread out the earth and what comes from it,

who gives breath to the people on it

and spirit to those who walk in it:

“I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness;

I will take you by the hand and keep you;

I will give you as a covenant for the people,

a light for the nations,

to open the eyes that are blind,

to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,

from the prison those who sit in darkness.

I am the Lord; that is my name;

my glory I give to no other,

nor my praise to carved idols.

Behold, the former things have come to pass,

and new things I now declare;

before they spring forth

I tell you of them.”

Sing to the Lord a New Song

Sing to the Lord a new song,

his praise from the end of the earth,

you who go down to the sea, and all that fills it,

the coastlands and their inhabitants.

Let the desert and its cities lift up their voice,

the villages that Kedar inhabits;

let the habitants of Sela sing for joy,

let them shout from the top of the mountains.

Let them give glory to the Lord,

and declare his praise in the coastlands.

The Lord goes out like a mighty man,

like a man of war he stirs up his zeal;

he cries out, he shouts aloud,

he shows himself mighty against his foes.

For a long time I have held my peace;

I have kept still and restrained myself;

now I will cry out like a woman in labor;

I will gasp and pant.

I will lay waste mountains and hills,

and dry up all their vegetation;

I will turn the rivers into islands,

and dry up the pools.

And I will lead the blind

in a way that they do not know,

in paths that they have not known

I will guide them.

I will turn the darkness before them into light,

the rough places into level ground.

These are the things I do,

and I do not forsake them.

They are turned back and utterly put to shame,

who trust in carved idols,

who say to metal images,

“You are our gods.”

Israel’s Failure to Hear and See

Hear, you deaf,

and look, you blind, that you may see!

Who is blind but my servant,

or deaf as my messenger whom I send?

Who is blind as my dedicated one,

or blind as the servant of the Lord?

He sees many things, but does not observe them;

his ears are open, but he does not hear.

The Lord was pleased, for his righteousness’ sake,

to magnify his law and make it glorious.

But this is a people plundered and looted;

they are all of them trapped in holes

and hidden in prisons;

they have become plunder with none to rescue,

spoil with none to say, “Restore!”

Who among you will give ear to this,

will attend and listen for the time to come?

Who gave up Jacob to the looter,

and Israel to the plunderers?

Was it not the Lord, against whom we have sinned,

in whose ways they would not walk,

and whose law they would not obey?

So he poured on him the heat of his anger

and the might of battle;

it set him on fire all around, but he did not understand;

it burned him up, but he did not take it to heart.

Isaiah 43

« Isaiah 42Isaiah 43Isaiah 44 »

Israel’s Only Savior

But now thus says the Lord,

he who created you, O Jacob,

he who formed you, O Israel:

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;

I have called you by name, you are mine.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;

when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,

and the flame shall not consume you.

For I am the Lord your God,

the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

I give Egypt as your ransom,

Cush and Seba in exchange for you.

Because you are precious in my eyes,

and honored, and I love you,

I give men in return for you,

peoples in exchange for your life.

Fear not, for I am with you;

I will bring your offspring from the east,

and from the west I will gather you.

I will say to the north, Give up,

and to the south, Do not withhold;

bring my sons from afar

and my daughters from the end of the earth,

everyone who is called by my name,

whom I created for my glory,

whom I formed and made.”

Bring out the people who are blind, yet have eyes,

who are deaf, yet have ears!

All the nations gather together,

and the peoples assemble.

Who among them can declare this,

and show us the former things?

Let them bring their witnesses to prove them right,

and let them hear and say, It is true.

“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord,

“and my servant whom I have chosen,

that you may know and believe me

and understand that I am he.

Before me no god was formed,

nor shall there be any after me.

I, I am the Lord,

and besides me there is no savior.

I declared and saved and proclaimed,

when there was no strange god among you;

and you are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and I am God.

Also henceforth I am he;

there is none who can deliver from my hand;

I work, and who can turn it back?”

Thus says the Lord,

your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:

“For your sake I send to Babylon

and bring them all down as fugitives,

even the Chaldeans, in the ships in which they rejoice.

I am the Lord, your Holy One,

the Creator of Israel, your King.”

Thus says the Lord,

who makes a way in the sea,

a path in the mighty waters,

who brings forth chariot and horse,

army and warrior;

they lie down, they cannot rise,

they are extinguished, quenched like a wick:

“Remember not the former things,

nor consider the things of old.

Behold, I am doing a new thing;

now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

I will make a way in the wilderness

and rivers in the desert.

The wild beasts will honor me,

the jackals and the ostriches,

for I give water in the wilderness,

rivers in the desert,

to give drink to my chosen people,

the people whom I formed for myself

that they might declare my praise.

“Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob;

but you have been weary of me, O Israel!

You have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings,

or honored me with your sacrifices.

I have not burdened you with offerings,

or wearied you with frankincense.

You have not bought me sweet cane with money,

or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices.

But you have burdened me with your sins;

you have wearied me with your iniquities.

“I, I am he

who blots out your transgressions for my own sake,

and I will not remember your sins.

Put me in remembrance; let us argue together;

set forth your case, that you may be proved right.

Your first father sinned,

and your mediators transgressed against me.

Therefore I will profane the princes of the sanctuary,

and deliver Jacob to utter destruction

and Israel to reviling.

Psalm 70

« Psalm 69Psalm 70Psalm 71 »

O Lord, Do Not Delay

To the choirmaster. Of David, for the memorial offering.

Make haste, O God, to deliver me!

O Lord, make haste to help me!

Let them be put to shame and confusion

who seek my life!

Let them be turned back and brought to dishonor

who delight in my hurt!

Let them turn back because of their shame

who say, “Aha, Aha!”

May all who seek you

rejoice and be glad in you!

May those who love your salvation

say evermore, “God is great!”

But I am poor and needy;

hasten to me, O God!

You are my help and my deliverer;

O Lord, do not delay!

Proverbs 17

« Prov 16Prov 17Prov 18 »

Better is a dry morsel with quiet

than a house full of feasting with strife.

A servant who deals wisely will rule over a son who acts shamefully

and will share the inheritance as one of the brothers.

The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold,

and the Lord tests hearts.

An evildoer listens to wicked lips,

and a liar gives ear to a mischievous tongue.

Whoever mocks the poor insults his Maker;

he who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished.

Grandchildren are the crown of the aged,

and the glory of children is their fathers.

Fine speech is not becoming to a fool;

still less is false speech to a prince.

A bribe is like a magic stone in the eyes of the one who gives it;

wherever he turns he prospers.

Whoever covers an offense seeks love,

but he who repeats a matter separates close friends.

A rebuke goes deeper into a man of understanding

than a hundred blows into a fool.

An evil man seeks only rebellion,

and a cruel messenger will be sent against him.

Let a man meet a she‑bear robbed of her cubs

rather than a fool in his folly.

If anyone returns evil for good,

evil will not depart from his house.

The beginning of strife is like letting out water,

so quit before the quarrel breaks out.

He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous

are both alike an abomination to the Lord.

Why should a fool have money in his hand to buy wisdom

when he has no sense?

A friend loves at all times,

and a brother is born for adversity.

One who lacks sense gives a pledge

and puts up security in the presence of his neighbor.

Whoever loves transgression loves strife;

he who makes his door high seeks destruction.

A man of crooked heart does not discover good,

and one with a dishonest tongue falls into calamity.

He who sires a fool gets himself sorrow,

and the father of a fool has no joy.

A joyful heart is good medicine,

but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

The wicked accepts a bribe in secret

to pervert the ways of justice.

The discerning sets his face toward wisdom,

but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.

A foolish son is a grief to his father

and bitterness to her who bore him.

To impose a fine on a righteous man is not good,

nor to strike the noble for their uprightness.

Whoever restrains his words has knowledge,

and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding.

Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise;

when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.

The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway,
a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.