Single lesson
Isaiah 42: Here Is My Servant
Isaiah 42:1–9; Isaiah 42:10–17; Isaiah 42:18–25
Isaiah 42:1–9 presents Yahweh’s servant in calm, weighty language. The passage describes who the servant is, how he works, what Yahweh gives him to do, and why Yahweh’s own name and word matter here. This lesson also brings together A New Song of Praise, Israel Is Deaf and Blind.
Before you teach
In these verses, Yahweh first speaks about his servant and then speaks directly to him. The servant is chosen, upheld and given God’s Spirit to bring justice. Yahweh also identifies himself as Creator, says he has called and kept the servant, and declares new things before they appear.
Explain the central teaching of Isaiah 42: Here Is My Servant, using two details from the reading. This passage teaches that Yahweh’s chosen servant will faithfully bring justice in a gentle manner, under Yahweh’s call and for Yahweh’s glory. This poem calls people everywhere to praise Yahweh, because he acts with power, promises to lead the blind and not forsake them, and exposes the failure of idols. Isaiah 42:18–25 teaches that Yahweh’s law is right, and refusing his ways leads to judgement that people must take seriously.
Welcome: Isaiah 42: Here Is My Servant
5 minIntroduce “Here Is My Servant”, “A New Song of Praise”, “Israel Is Deaf and Blind” and locate Isaiah 42:1–9; Isaiah 42:10–17; Isaiah 42:18–25. This passage teaches that Yahweh’s chosen servant will faithfully bring justice in a gentle manner, under Yahweh’s call and for Yahweh’s glory. Invite each learner to name a detail or question they will listen for.
Isaiah 42:1, Isaiah 42:5, Isaiah 42:9
Read and explain the passage
12 minHere Is My Servant (Isaiah 42:1–9): The passage begins with Yahweh drawing attention to "my servant". He is upheld by God, chosen by God, and one in whom God delights. Yahweh has put his Spirit on him. From the first verse, the servant’s work is named clearly: he will bring justice to the nations.
A New Song of Praise (Isaiah 42:10–17): The poem begins with a command to sing a new song to Yahweh. Praise is not limited to one group. It stretches from the end of the earth to the sea, islands, wilderness, cities, villages, and mountain tops. The repeated calls show how wide this praise is meant to be.
Israel Is Deaf and Blind (Isaiah 42:18–25): The passage opens with a command to the deaf and blind to hear, look, and see. The words show that the issue is not presented as simple lack of sight or hearing, but as failure to respond to Yahweh’s call. The people are summoned to attention.
Read the selected verses together, pausing at “Here Is My Servant”, “A New Song of Praise”, “Israel Is Deaf and Blind”. Use the source reading below and check the explanation against the words of the passage.
Isaiah 42:1, Isaiah 42:10, Isaiah 42:11, Isaiah 42:12, Isaiah 42:18
Discuss the details and their meaning
8 minUse the three questions below. Begin with “What descriptions of the servant come before his task is explained?” and allow time to find the supporting verses. Isaiah 42:18–25 teaches that Yahweh’s law is right, and refusing his ways leads to judgement that people must take seriously. Ask learners to explain which details support their answer and to identify a question they would like to explore further.
Isaiah 42:1, Isaiah 42:13, Isaiah 42:14, Isaiah 42:24
Make and respond: Vision and message evidence map
12 minWork on “Isaiah 42: Here Is My Servant: Vision and message evidence map”. Follow the materials and steps below, using “Here Is My Servant”, “A New Song of Praise”, “Israel Is Deaf and Blind” as reading headings. Each learner should include at least two accurate details and their verse references. Share one observation from the finished sheet and explain how it connects with the central teaching.
Isaiah 42:1, Isaiah 42:13, Isaiah 42:25
Closing: return to Israel Is Deaf and Blind
3 minRevisit Isaiah 42:18–25. Invite a learner to summarise what the group has learned about Israel Is Deaf and Blind and another to support the summary with a verse. Give learners a moment to complete their response sheet. They can share a question or, if appropriate for the group, join the optional prayer.
Isaiah 42:18, Isaiah 42:22, Isaiah 42:25
Questions to explore
What descriptions of the servant come before his task is explained?
Start with the words Yahweh uses about him in verse 1 before focusing on the work of bringing justice.
Isaiah 42:1
What change happens between Yahweh’s silence and Yahweh’s action?
Compare the words about being silent and restrained with the later words about crying out, shouting, and triumphing.
Isaiah 42:13, Isaiah 42:14
According to the passage, why did Jacob and Israel become plunder?
The text directly answers this by naming sin, refusal to walk in Yahweh’s ways, and disobedience to his law.
Isaiah 42:24
Make, think or respond
Isaiah 42: Here Is My Servant: Vision and message evidence map
What you’ll need
- plain paper or card
- pencils or pens
- a Bible or the source reading on this page
Try it together
- Fold a sheet into three panels or draw three columns. Label them “What the passage describes”, “What is explained in the text”, “What question remains”.
- Read Isaiah 42:1–9; Isaiah 42:10–17; Isaiah 42:18–25. Use “Here Is My Servant”, “A New Song of Praise”, “Israel Is Deaf and Blind” as your reading headings and add a short quotation or detail with its verse reference to each panel.
- Compare your notes with a partner. Check that every quotation is accurate and every conclusion has support in the passage.
- Circle an explanation the passage itself provides. Leave unexplained details as questions for further reading.
The finished sheet keeps the details of Isaiah 42: Here Is My Servant connected to their Bible references and gives the group a way to explain what they noticed.
Adapt for your group
- For learners who need more support, prepare the reading headings “Here Is My Servant”, “A New Song of Praise”, “Israel Is Deaf and Blind” and let them match short quotations to the correct heading.
- For confident readers, compare two sections of Isaiah 42:1–9; Isaiah 42:10–17; Isaiah 42:18–25. Ask for a written explanation with two supporting references and one question that the text leaves open.
An optional closing prayer
“God, help us listen carefully as we read Isaiah 42:1–9; Isaiah 42:10–17; Isaiah 42:18–25. Help us understand what we have read, ask thoughtful questions and respond with care for others. Amen.”
Read the Bible passage World English Bible Classic
Isaiah 42
1 “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.
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.
4 He will not fail nor be discouraged, until he has set justice on the earth, and the islands wait for his law.”
5 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, says:
6 “I, Yahweh, have called you in righteousness. I will hold your hand. I 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.
8 “I am Yahweh. That is my name. I will not give my glory to another, nor my praise to engraved images.
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.
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 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, 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. It set him on fire all around, but he didn’t know. It burned him, but he didn’t take it to heart.”
World English Bible Classic. Public domain.