Isaiah 42:1-11

“Take a good look at my servant! I love him dearly, for he is my chosen one. I have taken hold of him in my strength, and I have clothed him with my Spirit. He will cause justice to spring up for the nations. He will be gentle and will not quarrel with others in public. He will not exalt his own voice. He would never crush a broken heart nor disregard the weak and vulnerable. He will make sure justice comes to those who are wronged. His inner being will not become faint or discouraged, nor will his light grow dim before he establishes justice on the earth. Even the distant lands beyond the seas will hunger for his instruction.” Here are the words of the true God, YAHWEH, the one who created the starry heavens and stretched them out. He is the one who formed the earth and filled it with life. He gives breath to every person and spirit to everyone everywhere. “I, YAHWEH, have commissioned you in righteousness to succeed. I will take your hand in love and watch over you. I will give you as a covenant for the people, a walking-light to the nations. Your mission is to open blind eyes, to set prisoners free from dark dwellings, and to open prison doors to those who are held by darkness. I am YAHWEH; that is my name. I will not give my glory to another god nor my renown to idols. Don’t you see that what I have prophesied has come to pass? And now I am foretelling the future. I declare it to you before it sprouts up.” Sing to YAHWEH a brand-new song! Sing his praise until it echoes from the ends of the earth! Sailors and sea creatures, praise him! Islands and all their inhabitants, sing his praise! Let the desert and its villages lift their voices in praise! Let the tent villages of Kedar shout their praises! Let the residents of Sela’s cliffs shout with glee, with a celebration shout from the mountaintops!