The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 "Here is my servant, whom I support, my chosen one, in whom I take pleasure. I have put my Spirit on him; he will bring justice to the Goyim.
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See my servant, whom I am supporting, my loved one, in whom I take delight: I have put my spirit on him; he will give the knowledge of the true God to the nations.
2 He will not cry or shout; no one will hear his voice in the streets.
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He will make no cry, his voice will not be loud: his words will not come to men's ears in the streets.
3 He will not snap off a broken reed or snuff out a smoldering wick. He will bring forth justice according to truth;
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He will not let a crushed stem be quite broken, and he will not let a feebly burning light be put out: he will go on sending out the true word to the peoples.
4 he will not weaken or be crushed until he has established justice on the earth, and the coastlands wait for his Torah."
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His light will not be put out, and he will not be crushed, till he has given the knowledge of the true God to the earth, and the sea-lands will be waiting for his teaching.
5 Thus says God, ADONAI, who created the heavens and spread them out, who stretched out the earth and all that grows from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk on it:
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God the Lord, even he who made the heavens, measuring them out on high; stretching out the earth, and giving its produce; he who gives breath to the people on it, and life to those who go about on it, says:
6 "I, ADONAI, called you righteously, I took hold of you by the hand, I shaped you and made you a covenant for the people, to be a light for the Goyim,
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I the Lord have made you the vessel of my purpose, I have taken you by the hand, and kept you safe, and I have given you to be an agreement to the people, and a light to the nations:
7 so that you can open blind eyes, free the prisoners from confinement, those living in darkness from the dungeon.
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To give eyes to the blind, to make free the prisoners from the prison, to let out those who are shut up in the dark.
8 I am ADONAI; that is my name. I yield my glory to no one else, nor my praise to any idol.
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I am the Lord; that is my name: I will not give my glory to another, or my praise to pictured images.
9 See how the former predictions come true; and now new things do I declare - before they sprout I tell you about them."
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See, the things said before have come about, and now I give word of new things: before they come I give you news of them.
10 Sing to ADONAI a new song! Let his praise be sung from the ends of the earth by those sailing the sea and by everything in it, by the coastlands and those living there.
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Make a new song to the Lord, and let his praise be sounded from the end of the earth; you who go down to the sea, and everything in it, the sea-lands and their people.
11 Let the desert and its cities raise their voices, the villages where Kedar lives; let those living in Sela shout for joy; let them cry out from the mountaintops!
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Let the waste land and its flocks be glad, the tent-circles of Kedar; let the people of the rock give a glad cry, from the top of the mountains let them make a sound of joy.
12 Let them give glory to ADONAI and proclaim his praise in the coastlands.
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Let them give glory to the Lord, sounding his praise in the sea-lands.
13 ADONAI will go out like a soldier, like a soldier roused to the fury of battle; he will shout, yes, he raises the battle cry; as he triumphs over his foes.
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The Lord will go out as a man of war, he will be moved to wrath like a fighting-man: his voice will be strong, he will give a loud cry; he will go against his attackers like a man of war.
14 "For a long time I have held my peace, I have been silent, restrained myself. Now I will shriek like a woman in labor, panting and gasping for air.
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I have long been quiet, I have kept myself in and done nothing: now I will make sounds of pain like a woman in childbirth, breathing hard and quickly.
15 I will devastate mountains and hills, wither all their vegetation, turn the rivers into islands and dry up the lakes.
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I will make waste mountains and hills, drying up all their plants; and I will make rivers dry, and pools dry land.
16 The blind I will lead on a road they don't know, on roads they don't know I will lead them; I will turn darkness to light before them, and straighten their twisted paths. These are things I will do without fail.
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And I will take the blind by a way of which they had no knowledge, guiding them by roads strange to them: I will make the dark places light before them, and the rough places level. These things will I do and will not give them up.
17 Those who trust in idols, who say to statues, 'You are our gods,' will be repulsed in utter shame.
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They will be turned back and be greatly shamed who put their hope in pictured images, who say to metal images, You are our gods.
18 Listen, you deaf! Look, you blind! - so that you will see!
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Give ear, you whose ears are shut; and let your eyes be open, you blind, so that you may see.
19 Who is as blind as my servant, or as deaf as the messenger I send? Who is as blind as the one I rewarded, as blind as the servant of ADONAI?"
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Who is blind, but my servant? who has his ears stopped, but he whom I send? who is blind as my true one, or who has his ears shut like the Lord's servant?
20 You see much but don't pay attention; you open your ears, but you don't listen.
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Seeing much, but keeping nothing in mind; his ears are open, but there is no hearing.
21 ADONAI was pleased, for his righteousness' sake, to make the Torah great and glorious.
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It was the Lord's pleasure, because of his righteousness, to make the teaching great and give it honour.
22 But this is a people pillaged and plundered, all trapped in holes and sequestered in prisons. They are there to be plundered, with no one to rescue them; there to be pillaged, and no one says, "Return them!"
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But this is a people whose property has been taken away from them by force; they are all taken in holes, and shut up in prisons: they are made prisoners, and no one makes them free; they are taken by force and no one says, Give them back.
23 Which of you will listen to this? Who will hear and give heed in the times to come?
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Who is there among you who will give ear to this? who will give attention to it for the time to come?
24 Who gave Ya'akov to be pillaged, Isra'el to the plunderers? Didn't ADONAI, against whom we have sinned, in whose ways they refused to walk, he whose Torah they did not obey?
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Who gave up Jacob to those who took away his goods, and Israel to his attackers? Did not the Lord? he against whom they did wrong, and in whose ways they would not go, turning away from his teaching.
25 This is why he poured on him his blazing anger as well as the fury of battle - it wrapped him in flames, yet he learned nothing; it burned him, yet he did not take it to heart.
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For this reason he let loose on him the heat of his wrath, and his strength was like a flame; and it put fire round about him, but he did not see it; he was burned, but did not take it to heart.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.