2. Post-Exile: The Blessing & Judgment Cycles ( 40:1 - 66:24 ) - 701-681 B.C., Israel

(These 8 groups of prophecies alternate between blessings on Israel and judgment on God's enemies.)

A. Cycle 1 (40:1 - 48:22)

1. Blessing: On God's Chastised People (40:1 - 45:25)

c. Blessing for God's People Through God's Servant, The Messiah (42:1-25)

¹ Behold my servant,
whom I uphold;
mine elect,
in whom my soul delighteth;
I have put my spirit upon him:
he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
² He shall not cry,
nor lift up,
nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.
³ A bruised reed shall he not break,
and the smoking flax shall he not quench:
he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.
⁴ He shall not fail nor be discouraged,
till he have set judgment in the earth:
and the isles shall wait for his law.

⁵ Thus saith God the LORD,
he that created the heavens,
and stretched them out;
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 walk therein:
⁶ I the LORD have called thee in righteousness,
and will hold thine hand,
and will keep thee,
and give thee for a covenant of the people,
for a light of the Gentiles;
⁷ To open the blind eyes,
to bring out the prisoners from the prison,
and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.
⁸ I am the LORD:
that is my name:
and my glory will I not give to another,
neither my praise to graven images.
⁹ Behold,
the former things are come to pass,
and new things do I declare:
before they spring forth I tell you of them.

¹⁰ Sing unto the LORD a new song,
and his praise from the end of the earth,
ye that go down to the sea,
and all that is therein;
the isles,
and the inhabitants thereof.
¹¹ Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice,
the villages that Kedar doth inhabit:
let the inhabitants of the rock sing,
let them shout from the top of the mountains.
¹² Let them give glory unto the LORD,
and declare his praise in the islands.
¹³ The LORD shall go forth as a mighty man,
he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war:
he shall cry,
yea,
roar;
he shall prevail against his enemies.

¹⁴ I have long time holden my peace;
I have been still,
and refrained myself:
now will I cry like a travailing woman;
I will destroy and devour at once.
¹⁵ I will make waste mountains and hills,
and dry up all their herbs;
and I will make the rivers islands,
and I will dry up the pools.
¹⁶ And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not;
I will lead them in paths that they have not known:
I will make darkness light before them,
and crooked things straight.
These things will I do unto them,
and not forsake them.
¹⁷ They shall be turned back,
they shall be greatly ashamed [they shall be pale with shame],
that trust in graven images,
that say to the molten images,
Ye are our gods.

¹⁸ Hear,
ye deaf;
and look,
ye blind,
that ye may see.
¹⁹ Who is blind,
but my servant?
or deaf,
as my messenger that I sent?
who is blind as he that is perfect,
and blind as the LORD'S servant?
²⁰ Seeing many things,
but thou observest not;
opening the ears,
but he heareth not.
²¹ The LORD is well pleased for his righteousness' sake;
he will magnify the law,
and make it honourable.
²² But this is a people robbed and spoiled;
they are all of them snared in holes,
and they are hid in prison houses:
they are for a prey,
and none delivereth;
for a spoil,
and none saith,
Restore.
²³ Who among you will give ear to this?
who will hearken and hear for the time to come?
²⁴ Who gave Jacob for a spoil,
and Israel to the robbers?
did not the LORD,
he against whom we have sinned?
for they would not walk in his ways,
neither were they obedient unto his law.
²⁵ Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger,
and the strength of battle:
and it hath set him on fire round about,
yet he knew not;
and it burned him,
yet he laid it not to heart.