Isaiah 42 - Easy To Read Version

¹ “Look at my Servant!\par I support him.\par He is the one I chose.\par And I am very pleased with him.\par I put my Spirit in him.\par He will judge the nations fairly.\par

² He will not speak loudly in the streets.\par He will not cry out or yell.\par

³ \{He will be gentle.\}\par He will not break even a crushed reed. {\cf2\super [381]} \par He will not put out even a weak flame.\par He will judge fairly and find the truth.\par

⁴ He will not become weak\par or be crushed until he brings\par justice to the world.\par And people in faraway places\par will trust his teachings.”\par

⁵ The Lord, the \{true\} God, said these things. (The Lord made the skies. The Lord spread the skies over the earth. He also made everything on the earth. The Lord breathes life into all people on earth. The Lord gives a spirit to every person that walks on the earth.)

⁶ “I, the Lord, called you to do right.\par I will hold your hand.\par And I will protect you.\par You will be the sign that shows\par \{I have\} an Agreement with the people.\par You will be a light to shine for all people.\par

⁷ You will open the eyes of the blind people,\par and they will be able to see.\par Many people are in prison;\par you will free those people.\par Many people live in darkness;\par you will lead them out of that prison.\par

⁸ “I am the Lord.\par My name is YAHWEH.\par I will not give my glory to another.\par I will not let statues (false gods)\par take the praise that should be mine.\par

⁹ In the beginning,\par I said some things would happen,\par and those things happened!\par And now, before it happens,\par I am telling you about some things\par that will happen in the future.”\par

¹⁰ Sing a new song to the Lord,\par all you people in faraway countries,\par all you people that sail on the seas,\par all you animals in the oceans,\par all you people in faraway places,\par praise the Lord!\par

¹¹ Deserts and cities, villages of Kedar, {\cf2\super [382]} \par praise the Lord!\par People living in Sela, sing for joy!\par Sing from the top of your mountain.\par

¹² Give glory to the Lord.\par Praise him all you people\par in faraway lands!\par

¹³ The Lord will go out like a strong soldier.\par He will be like a man ready to fight a war.\par He will become very excited.\par He will cry out and shout loudly,\par and he will defeat his enemies.\par

¹⁴ “For a long time I have said nothing.\par I controlled myself\par and didn’t say anything.\par But now I will cry out\par like a woman giving birth to a child.\par I will breath very hard and loud.\par

¹⁵ I will destroy the hills and mountains.\par I will dry up all the plants that grow there.\par I will change rivers to dry land.\par I will dry up pools of water.\par

¹⁶ Then I will lead the blind people\par in a way they never knew.\par I will lead the blind people\par to places they have never been before.\par I will change darkness into light for them.\par And I will make the rough ground smooth.\par I will do the things I promised!\par And I will not leave my people.\par

¹⁷ But some of the people\par stopped following me.\par Those people have statues\par that are covered with gold.\par They tell those statues,\par ‘You are my gods.’\par Those people trust their false gods.\par But those people will be disappointed!\par

¹⁸ “You deaf people should hear me!\par You blind people should look and see me!\par

¹⁹ In all the world, my servant {\cf2\super [383]} \par is the most blind!\par The messenger I send \{to the world\}\par is the most deaf.\par The one I made the Agreement with\par —the servant of the Lord—\par is the most blind.\par

²⁰ My servant sees what he should do,\par but he does not obey me.\par He can hear with his ears,\par but he refuses to listen to me.”\par

²¹ The Lord wants his servant to be good.\par The Lord wants him to honor\par his wonderful teachings. {\cf2\super [384]} \par

²² But look at the people.\par Other people have defeated them\par and have stolen things from them.\par All the young men are afraid.\par They are locked in the prisons.\par People have taken their money from them.\par And there is no person to save them.\par Other people took their money.\par And there was no person to say,\par “Give it back!”\par

²³ Did any of you people listen to \{God’s\} words? No! But you should listen very closely to his words \{and think about what happened\}.

²⁴ Who let people take the wealth from Jacob and Israel? The Lord allowed them to do this! We sinned against the Lord. So the Lord allowed people to take away our wealth. The people of Israel did not want to live the way the Lord wanted. The people of Israel did not listen to his teaching.

²⁵ So the Lord became angry at them. The Lord caused powerful wars against them. It was like the people of Israel had fire all around them. But they did not know what was happening. It was like they were burning. But they did not try to understand the things that were happening.