Isaiah 41

1 Keep silence before me, O islands, and let the peoples renew their strength. Let them come near, then let them speak. Let us come near together to judgment.

2 Who raised up the righteous man from the east, calls him to his foot, gives nations before him, and makes him rule over kings? He gives them as the dust to his sword, as the driven stubble to his bow.

3 He pursues them, and passes on safely, even by a way that he had not gone with his feet.

4 Who has wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I, Jehovah, the first, and with the last, I am he.

5 The isles have seen, and fear. The ends of the earth tremble, they draw near, and come.

6 They help every man his neighbor, and says to his brother, Be of good courage.

7 So the carpenter encourages the goldsmith, he who smoothes with the hammer, him who smites the anvil, saying of the soldering, It is good, and he fastens it with nails, that it should not be moved.

8 But thou, Israel, my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend,

9 thou whom I have taken hold of from the ends of the earth, and called from the corners thereof, and said to thee, Thou are my servant, I have chosen thee and not cast thee away.

10 Fear thou not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee. Yea, I will help thee. Yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

11 Behold, all those who are incensed against thee shall be put to shame and confounded. Those who strive with thee shall be as nothing, and shall perish.

12 Thou shall seek them, and shall not find them, even those who contend with thee. Those who war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of naught.

13 For I, Jehovah thy God, will hold thy right hand, saying to thee, Fear not, I will help thee.

14 Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel. I will help thee, says Jehovah, and thy Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.

15 Behold, I have made thee as a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth. Thou shall thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shall make the hills as chaff.

16 Thou shall winnow them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them. And thou shall rejoice in Jehovah. Thou shall glory in the Holy One of Israel.

17 The poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue fails for thirst. I, Jehovah, will answer them. I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.

18 I will open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.

19 I will put in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia, and the myrtle, and the oil tree. I will set in the desert the fir tree, the pine, and the box tree together,

20 that they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of Jehovah has done this, and the Holy One of Israel has created it.

21 Produce your case, says Jehovah. Bring forth your strong reasons, says the King of Jacob.

22 Let them bring forth, and declare to us what shall happen. Declare ye the former things, what they are, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them, or show us things to come.

23 Declare the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods. Yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together.

24 Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work is of naught. An abomination is he who chooses you.

25 I have raised up him from the north, and he has come, him who calls upon my name from the rising of the sun. And he shall come upon rulers as upon mortar, and as the potter treads clay.

26 Who has declared it from the beginning, that we may know, and beforetime, that we may say, He is right? Yea, there is none who declares. Yea, there is none who shows. Yea, there is none who hears your words.

27 First to Zion. Behold, behold them, and I will give to Jerusalem him who brings good news.

28 And when I look, there is no man. Even among them there is no counselor, that, when I ask of them, can answer a word.

29 Behold, all of them, their works are vanity and nothing. Their molten images are wind and confusion.