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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.

 


22. But this people. Isaiah now declares that it is through their own fault that the people are miserable and appointed to destruction, because they reject God, who would otherwise have been inclined to do good to them, and because they deliberately set aside all remedies, and wish for death, as is commonly the case with men who are past hope. Thus he excuses God in such a manner as to bring a heavy accusation against the people, because they have rejected him by their ingratitude, and have abused his fatherly kindness. Yet, as I remarked a little before, he mentions these things, not so much for the sake of excusing God, as of bringing a bitter complaint, that his countrymen have leagued to their destruction; because, as if on set purpose, they have precipitated themselves into many calamities. If, then, we see the Church, at the present day, in a ruinous and revolting condition, we ought to ascribe it to our iniquities and transgressions, by which we do not suffer God to do good to us.

The copulative ו (vau) is rendered by some therefore; but I have preferred to translate it but; for it states a contrast to that desire by which the Lord declared that he was prompted to defend his people, if they had permitted it. I choose to interpret הפח (hapheach) as a gerundial participle, about to be snared; for he speaks of a nation which was about to be led into captivity. As to בהורים, (bahurim,) I think that two words, instead of one, are here used to signify in dens; for to translate the word young men, appears to me to be at variance with the context.

They shall be made a spoil. They who interpret this as relating to the whole human race, who have no Savior but Christ, (John 8:36,) adduce nothing that corresponds to the Prophet’s meaning; for he simply declares that the people shall perish without hope of deliverance, because they rejected the grace of God. Let us infer from this what must befall us, if we do not in due time embrace the grace of God offered to us. We shall certainly deserve to be deprived of all aid, to be exposed as a prey and a spoil, and utterly to perish.


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