1 Behold my servant, I will uphold him: my elect, my soul delighteth in him: I have given my spirit upon him, he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. 2 He shall not cry, nor have respect to person, neither shall his voice be heard abroad. 3 The bruised reed he shall not break, and smoking flax he shall not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. 4 He shall not be sad, nor troublesome, till he set judgment in the earth: and the islands shall wait for his law. 5 Thus saith the Lord God that created the heavens, and stretched them out: that established the earth, and the things that spring out of it: that giveth breath to the people upon it, and spirit to them that tread thereon. 6 I the Lord have called thee in justice, and taken thee by the hand, and preserved thee. And I have given thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles: 7 That thou mightest open the eyes of the blind, and bring forth the prisoner out of prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. 8 I the Lord, this is my name: I will not give my glory to another, nor my praise to graven things. 9 The things that were first, behold they are come: and new things do I declare: before they spring forth, I will make you head them. 10 Sing ye to the Lora a new song, his praise is from the ends of the earth: you that go down to the sea, and all that are therein: ye islands, and ye inhabitants of them. 11 Let the desert and the cities thereof be exalted: Cedar shall dwell in houses: ye inhabitants of Petra, give praise, they shall cry from the top of the mountains. 12 They shall give glory to the Lord, and shall declare his praise in the islands. 13 The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man, as a man of war shall he stir up zeal: he shall shout and cry: he shall prevail against his enemies. 14 I have always held my peace, I have I kept silence, I have been patient, I will speak now as a woman in labour: I will destroy, and swallow up at once. 15 I will lay waste the mountains and hills, and will make all their grass to wither: and I will turn rivers into islands, and will dry up the standing pools. 16 And I will lead the blind into the way which they know not: and in the paths which they were ignorant of I will make them walk: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight: these things have I done to them, and have not forsaken them. 17 They are turned back: let them be greatly confounded, that trust in a graven thing, that say to a molten thing: You are our god. 18 Hear, ye deaf, and, ye blind, behold that you may see. 19 Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, but he to whom I have sent my messengers? Who is blind, but he that is sold? or who is blind, but the servant of the Lord? 20 Thou that seest many things, wilt thou not observe them? thou that hast ears open, wilt thou not hear? 21 And the Lord was willing to sanctify him, and to magnify the law, and exalt it. 22 But this is a people that is robbed and wasted: they are all the snare of young men, and they are hid in the houses of prisons: they are made a prey, and there is none to deliver them: a spoil, and there is none that saith: Restore. 23 Who is there among you that will give ear to this, that will attend and hearken for times to come? 24 Who hath given Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to robbers? hath not the Lord himself, against whom we have sinned? And they would not walk in his ways, and they have not hearkened to his law. 25 And he hath poured out upon him the indignation of his fury, and a strong battle, and hath burnt him round about, and he knew not: and set him on fire, and he understood not.
Isaiah · Douay-Rheims (Challoner), American Edition 1899
Isaiah 42 Douay-Rheims (Challoner), American Edition 1899
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Cross references (25)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Matthew 12:18–21; Luke 3:22; Isaiah 52:13; Isaiah 61:1; Isaiah 43:10
- 2 Matthew 12:16–20; 2 Timothy 2:24; 1 Peter 2:23; Matthew 11:29; Luke 17:20
- 3 Ezekiel 34:16; Jeremiah 31:25; Psalm 147:3; Matthew 11:28; Isaiah 40:11
- 4 Isaiah 53:2–12; Isaiah 55:5; Genesis 49:10; Psalm 22:27; Isaiah 52:13–15
- 5 Isaiah 40:22; Isaiah 45:12; Jeremiah 10:12; Zechariah 12:1; Isaiah 48:13
- 6 John 8:12; Luke 2:32; Isaiah 26:3; Acts 13:47; Isaiah 49:8
- 7 Ephesians 1:17–18; Isaiah 61:1; Isaiah 49:9; Isaiah 35:5; 2 Timothy 2:26
- 8 Isaiah 48:11; Isaiah 43:11; Exodus 34:14; Exodus 20:3–5; Psalm 83:18
- 9 Isaiah 43:19; Isaiah 46:9–10; John 13:19; 2 Peter 1:19–21; Isaiah 44:7–8
- 10 Psalm 33:3; Isaiah 42:4; Psalm 40:3; Romans 15:9–11; Psalm 98:1–4
- 11 Isaiah 32:16; Isaiah 60:7; Psalm 72:8–10; Isaiah 41:18–19; Psalm 120:5
- 12 Romans 15:9–11; Psalm 117:1–2; Isaiah 66:18–19; Revelation 7:9–12; Isaiah 42:4
- 13 Exodus 15:1–3; Psalm 78:65; Isaiah 59:16–19; Amos 1:2; Psalm 110:5–6
- 14 Psalm 83:1–2; Luke 18:7; Jeremiah 44:22; 2 Peter 3:9–10; 2 Peter 3:15
- 15 Isaiah 50:2; Nahum 1:4–6; Isaiah 44:27; Isaiah 2:12–16; Revelation 20:11
- 16 Isaiah 30:21; Luke 3:5; Isaiah 35:8; Isaiah 60:19–20; Luke 1:78–79
- 17 Psalm 97:7; Isaiah 1:29; Isaiah 44:11; Isaiah 45:16–17; Isaiah 44:17
- 18 Isaiah 43:8; Mark 7:34–37; Isaiah 29:18; Proverbs 20:12; Isaiah 35:5
- 19 2 Corinthians 4:4; Ezekiel 12:2; Jeremiah 5:21; Romans 2:17–23; Matthew 15:14–16
- 20 Deuteronomy 29:2–4; Acts 28:22–27; Isaiah 1:3; Isaiah 58:2; John 11:37–50
- 21 Hebrews 8:10; Romans 3:31; Romans 7:12; Matthew 5:17–20; Isaiah 42:4
- 22 Psalm 102:20; Jeremiah 50:17; Isaiah 51:23; Isaiah 24:22; Psalm 50:22
- 23 Acts 3:22–23; Isaiah 48:18; Leviticus 26:40–42; Matthew 21:28–31; Deuteronomy 4:29–31
- 24 Isaiah 59:1–2; Judges 10:7; Lamentations 1:14; Jeremiah 25:8–9; Lamentations 1:18
- 25 Isaiah 57:11; Hosea 7:9; Ezekiel 7:8–9; Malachi 2:2; Revelation 16:1–21
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
… for the Lord hath spoken." And again: "Thus saith the Lord God, who made the heaven, and stretched it out; who established the earth, and the things in it; and who giveth breath to the people upon it, and spirit to them who walk therein."
He shall shine and shall not be broken, until He sets judgment in the earth: and the nations shall hope in His name." The Hebrew has not "Jacob" and "Israel;" but the Septuagint translators, wishing to show the significance of the expression "my servant," and that it refers to the form of a servant in which the Most High humbled …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)
A bruised reed shall He not break, and smoking flax shall He not quench, till He send forth judgment unto victory. And in His name shall the Gentiles trust." The prophet celebrates His meekness, and His unspeakable power, and opens to the Gentiles "a great door and effectual;" he foretells also the ills that are to overtake the Jews, and …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)
… it seeth Him not,...but ye know Him; for he dwelleth with you." And so says Isaiah;--"He that spread forth the earth and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and Spirit to them that trample on it"; for they that trample down earthly things and rise above them are borne witness …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 8 (1895)
… in a more gentle manner; and the Lord's advent as a man was pointed out, that it should be subsequent to that law which was given by Moses, mild and tranquil, in which He would neither break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax. The mild and peaceful repose of His kingdom was indicated likewise.