4. He will not grow weak or be discourageduntil He has established justice on earth.The islands will wait for His instruction.”
5. This is what God, Yahweh, says —who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on itand life to those who walk on it —
6. “I, Yahweh, have called Youfor a righteous purpose, and I will hold You by Your hand. I will keep You and appoint Youto be a covenant for the people and a light to the nations,
7. in order to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the dungeon, and those sitting in darkness from the prison house.
8. I am Yahweh, that is My name;I will not give My glory to another or My praise to idols.
9. The past events have indeed happened.Now I declare new events; I announce them to you before they occur.”
10. Sing a new song to the Lord; sing His praise from the ends of the earth,you who go down to the sea with all that fills it, you islands with your inhabitants.
11. Let the desert and its cities shout,the settlements where Kedar dwells cry aloud. Let the inhabitants of Sela sing for joy; let them cry out from the mountaintops.
12. Let them give glory to the Lordand declare His praise in the islands.
13. The Lord advances like a warrior;He stirs up His zeal like a soldier. He shouts, He roars aloud,He prevails over His enemies.
14. “I have kept silent from ages past;I have been quiet and restrained Myself. But now, I will groan like a woman in labor, gasping breathlessly.
15. I will lay waste mountains and hillsand dry up all their vegetation.I will turn rivers into islandsand dry up marshes.
16. I will lead the blind by a way they did not know; I will guide them on paths they have not known.I will turn darkness to light in front of them and rough places into level ground. This is what I will do for them,and I will not forsake them.
17. They will be turned back and utterly ashamed —those who trust in idolsand say to metal-plated images:You are our gods!
18. “Listen, you deaf!Look, you blind, so that you may see.