Hebrew Names Version HNV
The Message Bible MSG
1 Behold, my servant, whom I uphold; my chosen, in whom my soul delights: I have put my Spirit on him; he will bring forth justice to the Goyim.
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"Take a good look at my servant. I'm backing him to the hilt. He's the one I chose, and I couldn't be more pleased with him. I've bathed him with my Spirit, my life. He'll set everything right among the nations.
2 He will not cry, nor lift up his voice, nor cause it to be heard in the street.
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He won't call attention to what he does with loud speeches or gaudy parades.
3 A bruised reed will he not break, and a dimly burning wick will he not quench: he will bring forth justice in truth.
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He won't brush aside the bruised and the hurt and he won't disregard the small and insignificant, but he'll steadily and firmly set things right.
4 He will not fail nor be discouraged, until he have set justice in the eretz; and the isles shall wait for his law.
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He won't tire out and quit. He won't be stopped until he's finished his work - to set things right on earth. Far-flung ocean islands wait expectantly for his teaching." The God Who Makes Us Alive with His Own Life
5 Thus says God the LORD, he who created the heavens, and stretched them forth; he who spread abroad the eretz and that which comes out of it; he who gives breath to the people on it, and spirit to those who walk therein:
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God's Message, the God who created the cosmos, stretched out the skies, laid out the earth and all that grows from it, Who breathes life into earth's people, makes them alive with his own life:
6 I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness, and will hold your hand, and will keep you, and give you for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Goyim;
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"I am God. I have called you to live right and well. I have taken responsibility for you, kept you safe. I have set you among my people to bind them to me, and provided you as a lighthouse to the nations,
7 to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, and those who sit in darkness out of the prison-house.
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To make a start at bringing people into the open, into light: opening blind eyes, releasing prisoners from dungeons, emptying the dark prisons.
8 I am the LORD, that is my name; and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to engraved images.
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I am God. That's my name. I don't franchise my glory, don't endorse the no-god idols.
9 Behold, the former things have happened, and new things do I declare. Before they spring forth I tell you of them.
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Take note: The earlier predictions of judgment have been fulfilled. I'm announcing the new salvation work. Before it bursts on the scene, I'm telling you all about it."
10 Sing to the LORD a new song, and his praise from the end of the eretz; you who go down to the sea, and all that is therein, the isles, and the inhabitants of it.
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Sing to God a brand-new song, sing his praises all over the world! Let the sea and its fish give a round of applause, with all the far-flung islands joining in.
11 Let the wilderness and the cities of it lift up [their voice], the villages that Kedar does inhabit; let the inhabitants of Sela sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains.
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Let the desert and its camps raise a tune, calling the Kedar nomads to join in. Let the villagers in Sela round up a choir and perform from the tops of the mountains.
12 Let them give glory to the LORD, and declare his praise in the islands.
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Make God's glory resound; echo his praises from coast to coast.
13 The LORD will go forth as a mighty man; he will stir up [his] zeal like a man of war: he will cry, yes, he will shout aloud; he will do mightily against his enemies.
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God steps out like he means business. You can see he's primed for action. He shouts, announcing his arrival; he takes charge and his enemies fall into line:
14 I have long time held my shalom; I have been still, and refrained myself: [now] will I cry out like a travailing woman; I will gasp and pant together.
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"I've been quiet long enough. I've held back, biting my tongue. But now I'm letting loose, letting go, like a woman who's having a baby -
15 I will lay waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs; and I will make the rivers islands, and will dry up the pools.
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Stripping the hills bare, withering the wildflowers, Drying up the rivers, turning lakes into mudflats.
16 I will bring the blind by a way that they don't know; in paths that they don't know will I lead them; I will make darkness light before them, and crooked places straight. These things will I do, and I will not forsake them.
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But I'll take the hand of those who don't know the way, who can't see where they're going. I'll be a personal guide to them, directing them through unknown country. I'll be right there to show them what roads to take, make sure they don't fall into the ditch. These are the things I'll be doing for them - sticking with them, not leaving them for a minute."
17 They shall be turned back, they shall be utterly put to shame, who trust in engraved images, who tell molten images, You are our gods.
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But those who invested in the no-gods are bankrupt - dead broke. You've Seen a Lot, but Looked at Nothing
18 Hear, you deaf; and look, you blind, that you may see.
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Pay attention! Are you deaf? Open your eyes! Are you blind?
19 Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger whom I send? Who is blind as he who is at shalom, and blind as the LORD's servant?
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You're my servant, and you're not looking! You're my messenger, and you're not listening! The very people I depended upon, servants of God, blind as a bat - willfully blind!
20 You see many things, but don't observe. His ears are open, but he doesn't hear.
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You've seen a lot, but looked at nothing. You've heard everything, but listened to nothing.
21 It pleased the LORD, for his righteousness' sake, to magnify the law, and make it honorable.
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God intended, out of the goodness of his heart, to be lavish in his revelation.
22 But this is a people robbed and plundered; they are all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison-houses: they are for a prey, and none delivers; for a spoil, and none says, Restore.
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But this is a people battered and cowed, shut up in attics and closets, Victims licking their wounds, feeling ignored, abandoned.
23 Who is there among you who will give ear to this? who will listen and hear for the time to come?
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But is anyone out there listening? Is anyone paying attention to what's coming?
24 Who gave Ya`akov for a spoil, and Yisra'el to the robbers? Didn't the LORD? he against whom we have sinned, and in whose ways they would not walk, neither were they obedient to his law.
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Who do you think turned Jacob over to the thugs, let loose the robbers on Israel? Wasn't it God himself, this God against whom we've sinned - not doing what he commanded, not listening to what he said?
25 Therefore he poured on him the fierceness of his anger, and the strength of battle; and it set him on fire round about, yet he didn't know; and it burned him, yet he didn't lay it to heart.
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Isn't it God's anger that's behind all this, God's punishing power? Their whole world collapsed but they still didn't get it; their life is in ruins but they don't take it to heart.
The Hebrew Names Version is in the public domain.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.