Isaiah 42:5-25

5 This is what God the Lord says,
Who ^acreated the heavens and ^bstretched them out,
Who spread out the ^cearth and its ▼

▼Or vegetation

offspring,
Who ^egives breath to the people on it
And spirit to those who walk in it:
6 “I am the Lord, I have ^fcalled You in righteousness,
I will also ^ghold You by the hand and ^hwatch over You,
And I will appoint You as a ⁱcovenant to the people,
As a ^jlight to the nations,
7 To ^kopen blind eyes,
To ^lbring out prisoners from the dungeon
And those who dwell in darkness from the prison.
8 “ ^mI am the Lord, that is ⁿMy name;
I will not give My ^oglory to another,
Nor My praise to idols.
9 “Behold, the ^pformer things have come to pass,
Now I declare ^qnew things;
Before they sprout I proclaim them to you.”

10 Sing to the Lord a ^rnew song,
Sing His praise from the ^send of the earth!
^tYou who go down to the sea, and ^uall that is in it;
You ^vislands, and those who live on them.
11 Let the ^wwilderness and its cities raise their voices,
The settlements which ^xKedar inhabits.
Let the inhabitants of ^ySela sing aloud,
Let them shout for joy from the tops of the ^zmountains.
12 Let them ^aagive glory to the Lord
And declare His praise in the ^abcoastlands.
13 ^acThe Lord will go out like a warrior,
He will stir His ^adzeal like a man of war.
He will shout, indeed, He will raise a war cry.
He will ^aeprevail against His enemies.

The Blindness of the People

14 “ ^afI have kept silent for a long time,
I have kept still and restrained Myself.
Now like a woman in labor I will groan,
I will both gasp and pant.
15 “I will ^aglay waste the mountains and hills
And wither all their vegetation;
I will ^ahturn the rivers into coastlands
And dry up the ponds.
16 “I will ^ailead those who are blind by a way they have not known,
In paths they have not known I will guide them.
I will ^ajturn darkness into light before them
And ^akuneven land into plains.
These are the things I will do,
And I will ^alnot leave them undone.”
17 They will be turned back and be ^amutterly put to shame,
Who trust in ▼

▼Or carved images

idols,
Who say to cast metal images,
“You are our gods.”

18 ^aoHear, you who are deaf!
And look, you who are blind, so that you may see.
19 Who is blind but My ^apservant,
Or so deaf as My ^aqmessenger whom I send?
Who is so blind as one who is ▼

▼Or the devoted one

, ^asat peace with Me,
Or so blind as the servant of the Lord?
20 ^atYou have seen many things, but you do not retain them;
Your ears are open, but no one hears.
21 The Lord was pleased for His righteousness’ sake
To make the Law ^augreat and glorious.
22 But this is a people plundered and pillaged;
All of them are ^avtrapped in ▼

▼Or holes

caves,
Or are ^axhidden away in prisons;
They have become plunder, with no one to save them,
And spoils with no one to say, “Give them back!”

23 Who among you will listen to this?
Who will pay attention and listen in the time to come?
24 Who gave Jacob up for spoils, and Israel to plunderers?
Was it not the Lord, against whom we have sinned,
And in whose ways they ^aywere not willing to walk,
And whose Law they did not ^azobey?
25 So He poured out on him the heat of His anger
And the ^bafierceness of battle;
And it set him aflame all around,
Yet he did not recognize it;
And it burned him, but he ▼

▼Lit did not lay it to heart

, ^bcpaid no attention.

Isaiah 43:1-10

Israel Redeemed

1 But now, this is what the Lord says, He who is your ^bdCreator, Jacob,
And He who ^beformed you, Israel:
“Do not ^bffear, for I have ^bgredeemed you;
I have ^bhcalled you by name; you are ^biMine!
2 “When you ^bjpass through the waters, ^bkI will be with you;
And through the rivers, they will not overflow you.
When you ^blwalk through the fire, you will not be scorched,
Nor will the flame burn you.
3 “For ^bmI am the Lord your God,
The Holy One of Israel, your ^bnSavior;
I have given Egypt as your ransom,
▼

▼Or Ethiopia

, ^bpCush and Seba in exchange for you.
4 “Since you are ^bqprecious in My sight,
Since you are ^brhonored and I ^bslove you,
I will give other people in your place and other nations in exchange for your life.
5 “Do not fear, for ^btI am with you;
I will bring ^buyour offspring from the east,
And ^bvgather you from the west.
6 “I will say to the ^bwnorth, ‘Give them up!’
And to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’
Bring My ^bxsons from afar
And My daughters from the ^byends of the earth,
7 Everyone who is ^bzcalled by My name,
And whom I have ^cacreated for My ^cbglory,
^ccWhom I have formed, even whom I have made.”

Israel Is God’s Witness

8 Bring out the people who are ^cdblind, even though they have eyes,
And those who are deaf, even though they have ears.
9 All the nations have ^cegathered together
So that the peoples may be assembled.
Who among them can ^cfdeclare this
And proclaim to us the former things?
Let them present ^cgtheir witnesses so ^chthat they may be justified,
Or let them hear and say, “It is true.”
10 “You are ^ciMy witnesses,” declares the Lord,
“And ^cjMy servant whom I have chosen,
So that you may know and believe Me
And understand that ^ckI am He.
^clBefore Me there was no God formed,
And there will be none after Me.