Isaiah 42:3
New International Version
A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;

New Living Translation
He will not crush the weakest reed or put out a flickering candle. He will bring justice to all who have been wronged.

English Standard Version
a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice.

Berean Standard Bible
A bruised reed He will not break and a smoldering wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice.

King James Bible
A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.

New King James Version
A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for truth.

New American Standard Bible
“A bent reed He will not break off And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice.

NASB 1995
“A bruised reed He will not break And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice.

NASB 1977
“A bruised reed He will not break, And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice.

Legacy Standard Bible
A crushed reed He will not break And a faintly burning wick He will not extinguish; He will bring forth justice in truth.

Amplified Bible
“A broken reed He will not break [off] And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish [He will not harm those who are weak and suffering]; He will faithfully bring forth justice.

Christian Standard Bible
He will not break a bruised reed, and he will not put out a smoldering wick; he will faithfully bring justice.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
He will not break a bruised reed, and He will not put out a smoldering wick; He will faithfully bring justice.

American Standard Version
A bruised reed will he not break, and a dimly burning wick will he not quench: he will bring forth justice in truth.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
A fractured reed he shall not break and the lamp that flickers he shall not extinguish. In the truth he shall bring out judgment

Brenton Septuagint Translation
A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench; but he shall bring forth judgement to truth.

Contemporary English Version
He won't break off a bent reed or put out a dying flame, but he will make sure that justice is done.

Douay-Rheims Bible
The bruised reed he shall not break, and smoking flax he shall not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.

English Revised Version
A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment in truth.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
He will not break off a damaged cattail. He will not even put out a smoking wick. He will faithfully bring about justice.

Good News Translation
He will not break off a bent reed nor put out a flickering lamp. He will bring lasting justice to all.

International Standard Version
A crushed reed he will not break, and a fading candle he won't snuff out. He'll bring forth justice for the truth.

JPS Tanakh 1917
A bruised reed shall he not break, And the dimly burning wick shall he not quench; He shall make the right to go forth according to the truth.

Literal Standard Version
A bruised reed He does not break, | And faded flax He does not quench, | He brings forth judgment to truth.

Majority Standard Bible
A bruised reed He will not break and a smoldering wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice.

New American Bible
A bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench. He will faithfully bring forth justice.

NET Bible
A crushed reed he will not break, a dim wick he will not extinguish; he will faithfully make just decrees.

New Revised Standard Version
a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice.

New Heart English Bible
He won't break a bruised reed. And he won't extinguish a dimly burning wick. He will faithfully bring justice.

Webster's Bible Translation
A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment to truth.

World English Bible
He won’t break a bruised reed. He won’t quench a dimly burning wick. He will faithfully bring justice.

Young's Literal Translation
A bruised reed he breaketh not, And dim flax he quencheth not, To truth he bringeth forth judgment.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Here is My Servant
2He will not cry out or raise His voice, nor make His voice heard in the streets. 3A bruised reed He will not break and a smoldering wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice. 4He will not grow weak or discouraged before He has established justice on the earth. In His law the islands will put their hope.”…

Cross References
Matthew 12:20
A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not extinguish, till He leads justice to victory.

Psalm 54:5
He will reward my enemies with evil. In Your faithfulness, destroy them.

Psalm 72:2
May he judge Your people with righteousness and Your afflicted with justice.

Psalm 72:4
May he vindicate the afflicted among the people; may he save the children of the needy and crush the oppressor.

Psalm 94:15
Surely judgment will again be righteous, and all the upright in heart will follow it.

Psalm 96:13
before the LORD, for He is coming--He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in His faithfulness.

Isaiah 9:7
Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from that time and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish this.


Treasury of Scripture

A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment to truth.

bruised

Isaiah 35:3,4
Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees…

Isaiah 40:11,29-31
He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young…

Isaiah 50:4,10
The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned…

smoking.

Isaiah 11:3,4
And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: …

Psalm 72:2-4
He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with judgment…

Psalm 96:13
Before the LORD: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth.

Jump to Previous
Break Breaketh Broken Bruised Burning Crushed Dim Dimly Extinguish Faithfully Feebly Flax Forth Judgment Justice Light Peoples Quench Quite Reed Right Sending Smoking Smoldering Snuff Stem True. Truth Wick Won't Word
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Break Breaketh Broken Bruised Burning Crushed Dim Dimly Extinguish Faithfully Feebly Flax Forth Judgment Justice Light Peoples Quench Quite Reed Right Sending Smoking Smoldering Snuff Stem True. Truth Wick Won't Word
Isaiah 42
1. The office of Christ, graced with meekness and constancy.
5. God's promise unto him.
10. An exhortation to praise God for his Gospel
13. God will manifest himself, and check idolatry
18. He reproves the people of incredulity.














(3) A bruised reed shall he not break . . .--Physical, moral, spiritual weakness are all brought under the same similitude. In another context the image has met us in Isaiah 36:6. The simple negative "he shall not break" implies, as in the rhetoric of all times, the opposite extreme, the tender care that props and supports. The humanity of the servant of the Lord was to embody what had been already predicated of the Divine will (Psalm 51:17). The dimly burning flax, the wick of a lamp nearly out, He will foster and cherish and feed the spiritual life, all but extinguished, with oil till it burns brightly again. In Matthew 25:1-13 we have to deal with lamps that are going out, and these not even He could light again unless the bearers of the lamps "bought oil" for themselves.

Judgment unto truth--i.e., according to the perfect standard of truth, with something of the sense of St. John's "true" in the sense of representing the ideal (John 1:9; John 15:1). . . .

Verse 3. - A bruised reed shall he not break. Egypt was compared to a "bruised reed" by Sennacherib (Isaiah 36:6), as being untrustworthy and destitute of physical strength; but here the image represents the weak and depressed in spirit, the lowly and dejected. Christ would deal tenderly with such, not violently. Smoking flax shall he not quench; rather, the wick which burns dimly (margin) he shall not quench. Where the flame of devotion burns at all, however feebly and dimly, Messiah will take care not to quench it. Rather he will tend it, and trim it, and give it fresh oil, and cause it to burn more brightly. He shall bring forth judgment unto truth. But with all this tenderness, this "economy," this allowance for the shortcomings and weaknesses of individuals, he will be uncompromising in his assertion of absolute justice and absolute truth. He will sanction nothing short of the very highest standard of moral purity and excellence. (For an instance of the combination of extreme tenderness with unswerving maintenance of an absolute standard, see John 8:8-11.)

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
A bruised
רָצוּץ֙ (rā·ṣūṣ)
Verb - Qal - QalPassParticiple - masculine singular
Strong's 7533: To crack in pieces

reed
קָנֶ֤ה (qā·neh)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 7070: A reed, a, rod, shaft, tube, stem, the radius, beam

He will not
לֹ֣א (lō)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

break
יִשְׁבּ֔וֹר (yiš·bō·wr)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 7665: To break, break in pieces

and a smoldering
כֵהָ֖ה (ḵê·hāh)
Adjective - feminine singular
Strong's 3544: Dim, dull, faint

wick
וּפִשְׁתָּ֥ה (ū·p̄iš·tāh)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 6594: Flax, a wick

He will not
לֹ֣א (lō)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

extinguish;
יְכַבֶּ֑נָּה (yə·ḵab·ben·nāh)
Verb - Piel - Imperfect - third person masculine singular | third person feminine singular
Strong's 3518: To be quenched or extinguished, to go out

He will faithfully
לֶאֱמֶ֖ת (le·’ĕ·meṯ)
Preposition-l | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 571: Stability, certainty, truth, trustworthiness

bring forth
יוֹצִ֥יא (yō·w·ṣî)
Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 3318: To go, bring, out, direct and proxim

justice.
מִשְׁפָּֽט׃ (miš·pāṭ)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4941: A verdict, a sentence, formal decree, divine law, penalty, justice, privilege, style


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OT Prophets: Isaiah 42:3 He won't break a bruised reed (Isa Isi Is)
Isaiah 42:2
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