Limitless Word
He will not crush the weakest reed or put out a flickering candle. He will bring justice to all who have been wronged.
Isaiah 42:3 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB He won’t break a bruised reed. He won’t quench a dimly burning wick. He will faithfully bring justice.
  • KJV A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.
  • BSB A bruised reed He will not break and a smoldering wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice.
  • NKJV A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for truth.
  • NASB “A bent reed He will not break off And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

The Servant will not crush the bruised reed or quench the smoldering wick but faithfully bring justice.

Overview

With tender mercy the Servant cares for the weak and nearly broken rather than discarding them, while still bringing forth true justice. Strength and gentleness are perfectly joined in Him. Matthew 12:20 cites this verse of Jesus, whose compassion toward the frail and faltering fulfills the prophecy.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 27

  • Ezek 34:16I will seek that which was lost, and will bring back that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but the fat and the strong I will destroy; I will feed them in justice.
  • Jer 31:25For I have satiated the weary soul, and every sorrowful soul I have replenished.”
  • Isa 40:11He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom. He will gently lead those who have their young.
  • Ps 147:3He heals the broken in heart, and binds up their wounds.
  • Matt 11:28“Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest.
  • Isa 11:3–4His delight will be in the fear of Yahweh. He will not judge by the sight of his eyes, neither decide by the hearing of his ears;
  • John 5:30I can of myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is righteous; because I don’t seek my own will, but the will of my Father who sent me.
  • Matt 18:10–14See that you don’t despise one of these little ones, for I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.
  • Rev 19:11I saw the heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it is called Faithful and True. In righteousness he judges and makes war.
  • John 20:19–21When therefore it was evening, on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were locked where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the middle, and said to them, “Peace be to you.”
  • Isa 50:10Who among you fears Yahweh, and obeys the voice of his servant? He who walks in darkness, and has no light, let him trust in Yahweh’s name, and rely on his God.
  • Ps 96:13before Yahweh; for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, the peoples with his truth.
  • Luke 22:31–32The Lord said, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan asked to have you, that he might sift you as wheat,
  • Isa 40:29–31He gives power to the weak. He increases the strength of him who has no might.
  • Ps 98:9Let them sing before Yahweh, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.
  • Isa 35:3–4Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees.
  • Ps 72:2–4He will judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice.
  • Heb 2:17–18Therefore he was obligated in all things to be made like his brothers, that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people.
  • Mic 7:9I will bear the indignation of Yahweh, because I have sinned against him, until he pleads my case, and executes judgment for me. He will bring me out to the light. I will see his righteousness.
  • Ps 103:13–14Like a father has compassion on his children, so Yahweh has compassion on those who fear him.
  • Jer 31:18–20“I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus, ‘You have chastised me, and I was chastised, as an untrained calf: turn me, and I shall be turned; for you are Yahweh my God.
  • Isa 66:2For my hand has made all these things, and so all these things came to be,” says Yahweh: “but to this man will I look, even to he who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at my word.
  • Jer 30:12–17For Yahweh says, “Your hurt is incurable, and your wound grievous.
  • Isa 50:4The Lord Yahweh has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with words him who is weary. He wakens morning by morning, he wakens my ear to hear as those who are taught.
  • John 20:27Then he said to Thomas, “Reach here your finger, and see my hands. Reach here your hand, and put it into my side. Don’t be unbelieving, but believing.”
  • Isa 61:1–3The Lord Yahweh’s Spirit is on me; because Yahweh has anointed me to preach good news to the humble. He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to those who are bound;
  • Isa 57:15–18For thus says the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also who is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (6)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Isaiah videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Isaiah 42:3YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on IsaiahMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).

How Isaiah 42:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.