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The Servant of the Lord

¹ "See! My servant, My chosen one! My much Loved, in Whom My soul is well pleased! I will put My Spirit on Him. He will say to the nations what is right from wrong. ² He will not cry out or speak with a loud voice. His voice will not be heard in the streets. ³ He will not break a broken branch or put out a little fire. He will be faithful to make everything fair. ⁴ He will not lose hope or be crushed, until He has made things right on the earth. And the islands will wait with hope in His Law."

⁵ This is what God the Lord Who made the heavens and spread them out and 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, says, ⁶ "I am the Lord. I have called you to be right and good. I will hold you by the hand and watch over you. And I will give you as an agreement to the people, as a light to the nations. ⁷ You will open blind eyes. You will bring people out of prison, out of the prison where they live in darkness. ⁸ I am the Lord. That is My name. I will not give My shining-greatness to another, or My praise to false gods. ⁹ See, the things told about in the past have happened. Now I speak about new things. Before they happen I will tell you about them."

A Song of Praise to the Lord

¹⁰ Sing a new song to the Lord! Sing His praise from the end of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it, you islands and those who live on them. ¹¹ Let the desert and its cities lift up their voice, the towns where Kedar lives. Let the people of Sela sing. Let them call out for joy from the tops of the mountains. ¹² Let them give honor to the Lord, and praise Him in the islands. ¹³ The Lord will go out like a powerful soldier. He will be ready like a man of war. He will call out, yes, He will call out a war cry. He will be strong against those who hate Him.

God Promises to Help His People

¹⁴ "I have been quiet for a long time. I have been quiet and have held Myself back. Now I will cry out like a woman giving birth. I will breathe hard and fast. ¹⁵ I will lay waste the mountains and hills, and dry up all their plants. I will make the rivers into islands, and dry up the pools. ¹⁶ I will lead the blind by a way that they do not know. I will lead them in paths they do not know. I will turn darkness into light in front of them. And I will make the bad places smooth. These are the things I will do and I will not leave them." ¹⁷ They will be turned back and be put to shame who trust in false gods, who say to these objects of worship, "You are our gods."

Israel Is Blind and Cannot Hear

¹⁸ Listen, you who do not hear! And look, you blind, that you may see. ¹⁹ Who is blind but My servant? Who does not hear, as the one whom I send with news? Who is so blind as he who is at peace with Me, or so blind as the servant of the Lord? ²⁰ You see many things, but you cannot tell what you see. Your ears are open, but you do not hear. ²¹ Because He is right and good, the Lord was pleased to make the Law great and give it honor. ²² But this is a people robbed of what they owned. All of them are trapped in deep holes, or hidden in prisons. They have been robbed of what they have, with no one to help them. They have been taken away, with no one to say, "Give them back!"

²³ Who among you will hear this? Who will listen and hear in the future? ²⁴ Who let Jacob be taken? Who gave Israel to robbers? Was it not the Lord, Whom we have sinned against, in Whose ways we were not willing to walk, and Whose Law we did not obey? ²⁵ So He poured out upon Israel the heat of His anger and the power of battle. It set him on fire all around. Yet he did not understand. It burned him, but he did not think about it.