1 See, My servant, whom I {YHWH, Upholder} sustain; My chosen one in whom My soul {nefesh: inner being} delights. I have set My Spirit upon him, and he shall bring forth justice to the nations.
2 He will neither shout nor raise his voice; he will not let his voice {kolo: vocal expression} be heard in the street {bachutz: public place}.
3 A bruised reed {kaneh: fragile stalk} he will not break, and a dim flax flame he will not extinguish; he will bring out justice {mishpat: right judgment} in truth.
4 He will not grow dim or be crushed until He sets justice {mishpat: judicial order} in the earth, and the coastlands will wait for His law {torah: authoritative instruction}.
5 Thus says God {ha-El, Cosmic Creator}, the LORD {YHWH, Sustaining Ruler}: He created the heavens and stretched them out; He spread out the earth and what comes from it; He gives breath {neshamah: life force} to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk on it.
6 I, the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Sustainer}, have called you in righteousness {tsedeq: moral uprightness}; I will grasp your hand and guard you. I will appoint you as a covenant for the people and as a light for the nations.
7 To open the eyes of the blind {ivrot: lacking all sight}, to bring out the prisoner from the dungeon {mimasger: hidden stronghold}, and to bring out from the prison house those who sit in darkness.
8 I am the LORD {YHWH, Only One Worshiped}; that is My name. My glory I will not give to another, and My praise I will not give to idols {pesilim: carved images}.
9 Look, the former things have happened, and I {YHWH, Foretelling Lord} am now declaring new things; before they spring forth {titzmachnah: imminent emergence}, I announce them to you.
10 Sing to the LORD {YHWH, Praise Receiver} a new song; let His praise {tehillah: song of adoration} be heard from the farthest parts of the earth—those who go down to the sea and all that fills it, the islands and those who live on them.
11 Let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voice, the villages where Kedar {qedar: nomadic desert tribe} lives; let the inhabitants of Sela sing for joy {yaronnu: expressive jubilation}, and let them shout from the mountain tops.
12 Let them ascribe glory to the LORD{YHWH, Universal Sovereign} and proclaim His praise in the islands{iyyim: remote coasts}.
13 The LORD {YHWH, Divine Warrior} goes forth like a strong man; like a man of war He arouses zeal {qin‘ah: fervent ardor}. He will shout—yes, He will roar—and He will show Himself mighty against His enemies.
14 I {YHWH, Sovereign Judge} have been quiet for a long time; I kept still and held Myself back. Now, like a woman in labor, I will cry out; I will gasp and pant all at once {yachad: simultaneous outburst}.
15 I will devastate the mountains and the hills, and dry up all their grass {esev: vegetation}; I will transform the rivers into islands, and I will dry up the pools {agamim: standing waters}.
16 I {YHWH, Faithful Guide} will lead the sightless {ivrim: physically sightless} along a road unknown to them; on tracks they have never trod I will guide them. I will turn darkness into light before them and straighten the crooked places. These are the things I will do, and I will not abandon them.
17 Those who trust in an idol {pesel: carved image} and say to a molten image, “You are our God {Eloheinu, false substitute},” will be driven back and will be ashamed.
18 Hear, you deaf {hachereshim: spiritually unhearing}; look closely, you blind {ivrim: lacking perception}, so that you may see.
19 Who is blind except My servant {eved: commissioned one}, and who is deaf like My messenger whom I send? Who is blind like My dedicated one, and blind like the servant of the LORD {YHWH, Appointed Representative}?
20 He sees many things {rabot: Great Abundance}, but he does not take heed; his ears are opened, but he does not hear {shama‘: Attentive Listening}.
21 The LORD {YHWH, Righteous Exalter} was pleased for the sake of His righteousness {tsidqo: covenant faithfulness}; He will make the instruction great and make it glorious.
22 But this is a people plundered and stripped {shasui: stripped of goods}; all of them are trapped in pits and concealed {hachbau: hidden from sight} in prison houses. They have become plunder, with no one to rescue, and spoil, with no one saying “Restore.”
23 Who among you will listen {yaazin: deliberate listening} to this? Who will pay attention and hear for what is to come {achor: what is yet to come}?
24 Who handed Jacob over to be plundered, and Israel to the looters? Was it not the LORD {YHWH, Just Judge}? Against Him we have sinned {chatanu: willfully violated}. They did not want to walk in His ways, nor did they listen to His instruction.
25 So He {YHWH, Judge of Israel} poured out on him the fury of His anger and the strength of battle; it set him ablaze all around, yet he did not know. It burned him, yet he did not lay it to heart {lev: the seat of understanding}.