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The Servant, a Light to the Nations

42

Here is 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.

2

He will not cry or lift up his voice,

or make it heard in the street;

3

a bruised reed he will not break,

and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;

he will faithfully bring forth justice.

4

He will not grow faint or be crushed

until he has established justice in the earth;

and the coastlands wait for his teaching.

 

5

Thus says God, the L ord,

who created the heavens and stretched them out,

who spread out the earth and what comes from it,

who gives breath to the people upon it

and spirit to those who walk in it:

6

I am the L ord, I have called you in righteousness,

I have taken you by the hand and kept you;

I have given you as a covenant to the people,

a light to the nations,

7

to 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 L ord, that is my name;

my glory I give to no other,

nor my praise to idols.

9

See, the former things have come to pass,

and new things I now declare;

before they spring forth,

I tell you of them.

 

A Hymn of Praise

10

Sing to the L ord a new song,

his praise from the end of the earth!

Let the sea roar and all that fills it,

the coastlands and their inhabitants.

11

Let the desert and its towns lift up their voice,

the villages that Kedar inhabits;

let the inhabitants of Sela sing for joy,

let them shout from the tops of the mountains.

12

Let them give glory to the L ord,

and declare his praise in the coastlands.

13

The L ord goes forth like a soldier,

like a warrior he stirs up his fury;

he cries out, he shouts aloud,

he shows himself mighty against his foes.

 

14

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.

15

I will lay waste mountains and hills,

and dry up all their herbage;

I will turn the rivers into islands,

and dry up the pools.

16

I will lead the blind

by a road they do not know,

by paths 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 will do,

and I will not forsake them.

17

They shall be turned back and utterly put to shame—

those who trust in carved images,

who say to cast images,

“You are our gods.”

 

18

Listen, you that are deaf;

and you that are blind, look up and see!

19

Who is blind but my servant,

or deaf like my messenger whom I send?

Who is blind like my dedicated one,

or blind like the servant of the L ord?

20

He sees many things, but does not observe them;

his ears are open, but he does not hear.

Israel’s Disobedience

21

The L ord was pleased, for the sake of his righteousness,

to magnify his teaching and make it glorious.

22

But this is a people robbed and plundered,

all of them are trapped in holes

and hidden in prisons;

they have become a prey with no one to rescue,

a spoil with no one to say, “Restore!”

23

Who among you will give heed to this,

who will attend and listen for the time to come?

24

Who gave up Jacob to the spoiler,

and Israel to the robbers?

Was it not the L ord, against whom we have sinned,

in whose ways they would not walk,

and whose law they would not obey?

25

So he poured upon him the heat of his anger

and the fury of war;

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

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

 


17. They shall be driven back. This enables us to see more clearly to whom the former doctrine relates, for it distinguishes between the worshippers of God and the worshippers of idols. The Lord will be a leader to his own people, but, on the other hand, they who worship idols shall be ashamed As if he had said, that here the Lord gives us a choice, either to be saved by his grace, or to perish miserably; for all that place their hope of salvation in idols shall perish, but they who trust in the word of God are certain of salvation; because, though they often are heavily afflicted, yet he will not allow their hope to be put to shame in the end, but by the result will prove that he did not in vain lay down this distinction.

And say to a molten image, Ye are our gods. It is certain that by these two marks are described all idolaters who place their hope in any one else than in God alone; for, although idolaters do not bow down before their idols, yet, by attaching divinity to them, they offer blasphemy to the only and true God; for the chief part of the worship of God consists in faith and calling upon him, both of which the Prophet here describes. It may be asked, Were they so stupid as to say to an image, “Thou art my god?” for all superstitious persons confessed that God is in heaven, and did not openly ascribe divinity to wood or stone. I reply, all idolaters ascribe to images the power of God, though they acknowledge that he is in heaven; for, when they flee to statues and images, when they make and perform vows to them, they undoubtedly ascribe to them what belongs to God. It is in vain for them, therefore, to cloak their ignorance under plausible excuses, for they reckon wood and stone to be gods, and offer the highest insult to God; and consequently, the Prophet did not employ exaggerated language, or falsely accuse them of being idolaters; for it is plainly testified by their words and speeches, when they call their idols and images gods. Even though they did not utter a word, their madness is openly manifested by their imagining that they cannot reach the hand or the ear of God without bowing down before images to utter their prayers. The object of these statements is, that all may understand that no man will be saved but, he who trusts in God alone.


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