Isaiah 42
NLT Parallel ESV [BSB CSB ESV HCS KJV ISV NAS NET NIV NLT HEB]
New Living TranslationEnglish Standard Version
1“Look at my servant, whom I strengthen. He is my chosen one, who pleases me. I have put my Spirit upon him. He will bring justice to the nations.1Behold 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.
2He will not shout or raise his voice in public.2He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street;
3He will not crush the weakest reed or put out a flickering candle. He will bring justice to all who have been wronged.3a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice.
4He will not falter or lose heart until justice prevails throughout the earth. Even distant lands beyond the sea will wait for his instruction. ”4He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his law.
5God, the LORD, created the heavens and stretched them out. He created the earth and everything in it. He gives breath to everyone, life to everyone who walks the earth. And it is he who says,5Thus 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:
6“I, the LORD, have called you to demonstrate my righteousness. I will take you by the hand and guard you, and I will give you to my people, Israel, as a symbol of my covenant with them. And you will be a light to guide the nations.6“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,
7You will open the eyes of the blind. You will free the captives from prison, releasing those who sit in dark dungeons.7to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.
8“I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not give my glory to anyone else, nor share my praise with carved idols.8I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.
9Everything I prophesied has come true, and now I will prophesy again. I will tell you the future before it happens.” A Song of Praise to the LORD9Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.”
10Sing a new song to the LORD! Sing his praises from the ends of the earth! Sing, all you who sail the seas, all you who live in distant coastlands.10Sing 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.
11Join in the chorus, you desert towns; let the villages of Kedar rejoice! Let the people of Sela sing for joy; shout praises from the mountaintops!11Let 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.
12Let the whole world glorify the LORD; let it sing his praise.12Let them give glory to the LORD, and declare his praise in the coastlands.
13The LORD will march forth like a mighty hero; he will come out like a warrior, full of fury. He will shout his battle cry and crush all his enemies.13The 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.
14He will say, “I have long been silent; yes, I have restrained myself. But now, like a woman in labor, I will cry and groan and pant.14For 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.
15I will level the mountains and hills and blight all their greenery. I will turn the rivers into dry land and will dry up all the pools.15I will lay waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their vegetation; I will turn the rivers into islands, and dry up the pools.
16I will lead blind Israel down a new path, guiding them along an unfamiliar way. I will brighten the darkness before them and smooth out the road ahead of them. Yes, I will indeed do these things; I will not forsake them.16And 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.
17But those who trust in idols, who say, ‘You are our gods,’ will be turned away in shame. Israel’s Failure to Listen and See17They are turned back and utterly put to shame, who trust in carved idols, who say to metal images, “You are our gods.”
18“Listen, you who are deaf! Look and see, you blind!18Hear, you deaf, and look, you blind, that you may see!
19Who is as blind as my own people, my servant? Who is as deaf as my messenger? Who is as blind as my chosen people, the servant of the LORD?19Who 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?
20You see and recognize what is right but refuse to act on it. You hear with your ears, but you don’t really listen.”20He sees many things, but does not observe them; his ears are open, but he does not hear.
21Because he is righteous, the LORD has exalted his glorious law.21The LORD was pleased, for his righteousness’ sake, to magnify his law and make it glorious.
22But his own people have been robbed and plundered, enslaved, imprisoned, and trapped. They are fair game for anyone and have no one to protect them, no one to take them back home.22But 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!”
23Who will hear these lessons from the past and see the ruin that awaits you in the future?23Who among you will give ear to this, will attend and listen for the time to come?
24Who allowed Israel to be robbed and hurt? It was the LORD, against whom we sinned, for the people would not walk in his path, nor would they obey his law.24Who 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?
25Therefore, he poured out his fury on them and destroyed them in battle. They were enveloped in flames, but they still refused to understand. They were consumed by fire, but they did not learn their lesson.25So 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.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.
Isaiah 41
Top of Page
Top of Page