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Isaiah 42 from Scroll 1Q Isaiaha

Behold, my servant, whom I uphold;

my chosen, in whom my soul delights—

I have put my Spirit on him.

He will bring justice to the nations.

He will not shout,

nor raise his voice,

nor cause it to be heard in the street.

He won’t break a bruised reed.

He won’t quench a dimly burning wick.

He will faithfully bring justice.

And He will not fail nor be discouraged,

until he has set justice in the earth,

and the islands will wait for his law.”

 

Thus says God Yahweh,

he The God who created the heavens and stretched them out,

he who spread out the earth and that which comes out of it,

he who gives breath to its people and spirit to those who walk in it.

“I, Yahweh, have called you in righteousness,

and will hold your hand,

and will keep you,

and make you a covenant for the people,

as a light for the nations;

7 to open the blind eyes,

to bring the prisoners out of the dungeon,

and those who sit in darkness out of the prison.

 

“I am Yahweh.

That is my name.

I will not give my glory to another,

nor my praise to engraved images.

Behold, the former things have happened,

and I declare new things.

I tell you about them before they come up.”

 

10 Sing to Yahweh a new song,

and his praise from the end of the earth,

you who go down to the sea,

and all that is therein,

the islands and their inhabitants.

11 Let the wilderness and its cities raise their voices,

with the villages that Kedar inhabits.

Let the inhabitants of Sela sing.

Let them shout from the top of the mountains!

12 Let them give glory to Yahweh,

and declare his praise in the islands.

13 Yahweh will go out like a mighty man.

He will stir up zeal like a man of war.

He will raise a war cry.

Yes, he will shout aloud.

He will triumph over his enemies.

 

14 I have surely been silent a long time.

I have been quiet and restrained myself.

Now I will cry out like a travailing woman. I will both gasp and pant.

15 I will destroy mountains and hills,

and dry up all their herbs.

I will make the rivers islands,

and will dry up the pools.

16 I will bring the blind by a way that they don’t know.

I will lead them in paths that they don’t know.

I will make darkness light before them,

and crooked places straight.

I will do these things,

and I will not forsake them.

 

17 Those who trust in engraved images,

who tell molten images,

You are our gods

will be turned back.

They will be utterly disappointed.

 

18 “Hear, you deaf,

and look, you blind,

that you may see.

19 Who is blind, but my servant?

Or who is as deaf as my messenger whom I send?

Who is as blind as he who is at peace,

and as blind as Yahweh’s servant?

20 You see many things, but don’t observe.

His ears are open, but he doesn’t listen.

21 It pleased Yahweh, for his righteousness’ sake, then to magnify the law,

and make it honorable.

22 But this is a robbed and plundered people.

All of them are snared in holes,

and they are hidden in prisons.

They have become captives, and no one delivers;

and a plunder, and no one says, ‘Restore them!’

 

23 Who is there among you who will give ear to this?

Who will listen and hear for the time to come?

24 Who gave Jacob as plunder,

and Israel to the robbers?

Didn’t Yahweh, he against whom we have sinned?

For they would not walk in his ways,

and they disobeyed his law.

25 Therefore he poured the fierceness of his anger on him,

and the strength of battle;

and it set him on fire all around, but he didn’t know;

and it burned him, but he didn’t take it to heart.”

 

Isaiah 42 from Scroll 4Q56 Isaiahb

2 He will not shout,

nor raise his voice,

nor cause it to be heard in the street.

3 He won’t break a bruised reed.

He won’t quench a dimly burning wick.

He will faithfully bring justice.

He will not fail nor be discouraged,

until he has set justice in the earth,

and the islands will wait for his law.”

 

5 Thus says God Yahweh,

he who created the heavens and stretched them out,

he who spread out the earth and that which comes out of it,

he who gives breath to its people and spirit to those who walk in it.

6 “I, Yahweh, have called you in righteousness,

and will hold your hand,

and will keep you,

and make you a covenant for the people,

as a light for the nations;

7 to open the blind eyes,

to bring the prisoners out of the dungeon,

and those who sit in darkness out of the prison.

[..]

9 Behold, the former things have happened,

and I declare new things.

I tell you about them before they come up.”

 

10 Sing to Yahweh a new song,

and his praise from the end of the earth,

you who go down to the sea,

and all that is therein,

the islands and their inhabitants.

11 Let the wilderness and its cities raise their voices,

with the villages that Kedar inhabits.

Let the inhabitants of Sela sing.

Let them shout from the top of the mountains!

12 Let them give glory to Yahweh,

and declare his praise in the islands.

 

Isaiah 42 from Scroll 4Q61 Isaiahg

14 “I have been silent a long time.

I have been quiet and restrained myself.

Now I will cry out like a travailing woman. I will both gasp and pant.

15 I will destroy mountains and hills,

and dry up all their herbs.

I will make the rivers islands,

and will dry up the pools.

16 I will bring the blind by a way that they don’t know.

I will lead them in paths that they don’t know.

I will make darkness light before them,

and crooked places straight.

I will do these things,

and I will not forsake them.

 

17 “Those who trust in engraved images,

who tell molten images,

You are our gods’

will be turned back.

They will be utterly disappointed.

 

18 “Hear, you deaf,

and look, you blind,

that you may see.

19 Who is blind, but my servant?

Or who is as deaf as my messenger whom I send?

Who is as blind as he who is at peace,

and as blind as Yahweh’s servant?

[..]

21 It pleased Yahweh, for his righteousness’ sake, to magnify the law,

and make it honorable.

22 But this is a robbed and plundered people.

All of them are snared in holes,

and they are hidden in prisons.

They have become captives, and no one delivers;

and a plunder, and no one says, ‘Restore them!’

 

23 Who is there among you who will give ear to this?

Who will listen and hear for the time to come?

24 Who gave Jacob as plunder,

and Israel to the robbers?

Didn’t Yahweh, he against whom we have sinned?

For they would not walk in his ways,

and they disobeyed his law.

25 Therefore he poured the fierceness of his anger on him,

and the strength of battle;

and it set him on fire all around, but he didn’t know;

and it burned him, but he didn’t take it to heart.”

 

Isaiah 42 from Scroll 4Q62 Isaiahh

4 He will not fail nor be discouraged,

until he has set justice in the earth,

and the islands will wait for his law.”

 

5 Thus says God Yahweh,

he who created[1] the heavens and stretched them out,

he who spread out the earth and that which comes out of it,

he who gives breath to its people and spirit to those who walk in it.

“I, Yahweh, have called you in righteousness,

and will hold your hand,

and will keep you,

and make you a covenant for the people forever[2],

as a light for the nations;

7 to open the blind eyes,

to bring the prisoners out of the dungeon,

and those who sit in darkness out of the prison.

 

8 “I am Yahweh.

That is my name.

I will not give my glory to another,

nor my praise to engraved images.

Behold, the former things have happened,

and I declare new things.

I tell you about them before they come up.”

 

10 Sing to Yahweh a new song,

and his praise from the end of the earth,

you who go down to the sea,

and all that is therein,

the islands and their inhabitants.

11 Let the wilderness and its cities raise their voices,

with the villages that Kedar inhabits.

Let the inhabitants of Sela sing.

Let them shout from the top of the mountains!

 



[1] This scroll is a rare case in which the spelling differences are due to the scroll using fewer vowel letters than the Masoretic Text. Usually, it is the opposite.

[2] The Hebrew word for “forever” has two additional letters than the word for “people.” “For the people” appears to be a better translation, since it parallels the next phrase.

How to read these pages:

      The translation to the left is based on the World English Bible. Words in regular black font are words in the scrolls matching the traditional text for that passage.

      Words in italics cannot be seen in the scroll, since the scroll is fragmentary. These words are supplied for readability by the World English Bible translation.

      Words present in the scroll but with some letters unreadable or missing are in blue like this: blue. One Hebrew word often is translated into multiple English words, and when this occurs, all the English words are in blue.

      Words present in the scroll but with spelling differences that do not affect the meaning are in green like this: green. This is common in Hebrew.

      If the scroll is different from the traditional text, words in the traditional text that are missing from the text of the scroll are marked through in red like this: strike-through.

      If the scroll is different from the traditional text, words in the scroll that are not in the traditional text are underlined in red like this: new words.