1 Behold, my servant, whom I hold up, my chosen one, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit on him; he will carry justice out to the nations.
2 He will not shout or raise his voice, nor let it be heard in the street.
3 A crushed reed he will not snap off, and a faintly glowing wick he will not put out; faithfully he will bring out justice.
4 He will not burn dim or be crushed until he has set justice in place on the earth; and the coastlands will wait for his law.
5 This is what God, the LORD, says, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and all that springs from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk upon it:
6 "I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will grasp you by the hand and guard you, and I will make you a covenant for the people, a light for the nations,
7 to open the eyes that are blind, to lead captives out of the dungeon, and out of the prison those who sit in darkness.
8 I am the LORD; that is my name. My glory I will not hand over to another, nor my praise to carved images.
9 See, the earlier things have come about, and now I announce new ones; before they sprout up I let you hear of them."
10 Sing a new song to the LORD, his praise from the end of the earth, you who go down to the sea and all that is in it, you coastlands and those who live there.
11 Let the wilderness and its towns raise their voices, the settlements where Kedar lives; let the inhabitants of Sela shout for joy, let them call out from the mountaintops.
12 Let them give the LORD glory and proclaim his praise in the coastlands.
13 The LORD marches out like a hero; like a warrior he rouses his zeal. He gives a shout, yes, he raises the battle cry; over his enemies he prevails.
14 "I have kept silent for a long time; I have stayed quiet and held myself back. Now, like a woman giving birth, I will groan, I will gasp and pant at once.
15 I will lay waste mountains and hills and dry up all their greenery; I will turn rivers into islands and dry up the pools.
16 I will lead the blind along a road they do not know; on paths they have not known I will guide them. I will make the darkness ahead of them into light and the rough places into level ground. These are the things I will do for them, and I will not leave them.
17 Those who trust in carved idols, who tell cast images, 'You are our gods,' will be driven back in utter shame.
18 Listen, you deaf! You blind, look up and see!
19 Who is blind but my servant, or deaf like the messenger I send? Who is blind like the one at peace with me, blind like the servant of the LORD?
20 You have seen much, but you pay no heed; his ears are open, yet he does not listen."
21 The LORD was pleased, for his righteousness' sake, to make the law great and glorious.
22 Yet this is a people robbed and plundered, all of them snared in holes and shut away in prisons; they have become loot with no one to rescue them, plunder with no one to say, "Give it back!"
23 Which of you will listen to this, pay attention and hear from now on?
24 Who handed Jacob over for plunder and Israel to the robbers? Was it not the LORD, against whom we have sinned? They would not walk in his ways, nor would they listen to his law.
25 So he poured out on him the fury of his anger and the violence of war; it set him ablaze all around, yet he did not understand; it burned him, yet he gave it no thought.