Isaiah 41

1 “Be silent before Me, O islands, and let the peoples renew their strength. Let them come forward and testify; let us together draw near for judgment.

Keep silence before me, islands; and let the peoples renew [their] strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us draw near together to judgment.

2 Who has aroused one from the east and called him to his feet in righteousness? He hands nations over to him and subdues kings before him. He turns them to dust with his sword, to windblown chaff with his bow.

Who raised up from the east him whom righteousness calleth to its foot? He gave the nations before him, and caused him to have dominion over kings; he gave them as dust to his sword, as driven stubble to his bow.

3 He pursues them, going on safely, hardly touching the path with his feet.

He pursued them, he passed on in safety, by a way he had never come with his feet.

4 Who has performed this and carried it out, calling forth the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD—the first and the last— I am He.”

Who hath wrought and done [it], calling the generations from the beginning? I, Jehovah, the first; and with the last, I [am] HE.

5 The islands see and fear; the ends of the earth tremble. They approach and come forward.

The isles saw [it], and feared; the ends of the earth trembled: they drew near, and came.

6 Each one helps the other and says to his brother, “Be strong!”

They helped every one his neighbour, and [each] said to his brother, Take courage.

7 The craftsman encourages the goldsmith, and he who wields the hammer cheers him who strikes the anvil, saying of the welding, “It is good.” He nails it down so it will not be toppled.

And the artizan encouraged the founder, he that smootheth [with] the hammer him that smiteth on the anvil, saying of the soldering, It is good; and he fasteneth it with nails, that it be not moved.

8 “But you, O Israel, My servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, descendant of Abraham My friend—

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

9 I brought you from the ends of the earth and called you from its farthest corners. I said, ‘You are My servant.’ I have chosen and not rejected you.

— thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called from the extremities thereof, and to whom I said, Thou art my servant, I have chosen thee and not rejected thee,

10 Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will surely help you; I will uphold you with My right hand of righteousness.

— Fear 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 who rage against you will be ashamed and disgraced; those who contend with you will be reduced to nothing and will perish.

Lo, all that are incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded; they that strive with thee shall be as nothing, and shall perish.

12 You will seek them but will not find them. Those who wage war against you will come to nothing.

Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them — them that contend with thee; they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought.

13 For I am the LORD your God, who takes hold of your right hand and tells you: Do not fear, I will help you.

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

14 Do not fear, O worm of Jacob, O few men of Israel. I will help you,” declares the LORD. “Your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.

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

15 Behold, I will make you into a threshing sledge, new and sharp, with many teeth. You will thresh the mountains and crush them, and reduce the hills to chaff.

Behold, I have made of thee a new sharp threshing instrument having double teeth: thou shalt thresh and beat small the mountains, and shalt make the hills as chaff;

16 You will winnow them, and a wind will carry them away; a gale will scatter them. But you will rejoice in the LORD; you will glory in the Holy One of Israel.

thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them; and thou shalt rejoice in Jehovah, thou shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.

17 The poor and needy seek water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. I, the LORD, will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.

The afflicted and the needy seek water, and there is none; their tongue faileth for thirst: I, Jehovah, will answer them, [I], the God of Israel, will not forsake them.

18 I will open rivers on the barren heights, and fountains in the middle of the valleys. I will turn the desert into a pool of water, and the dry land into flowing springs.

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

19 I will plant cedars in the wilderness, acacias, myrtles, and olive trees. I will set cypresses in the desert, elms and boxwood together,

I will give in the wilderness the cedar, acacia, myrtle, and oleaster; I will set in the desert the cypress, pine, and box-tree together;

20 so that all may see and know, may consider and understand, that the hand of the LORD has done this and the Holy One of Israel has created it.”

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

21 “Present your case,” says the LORD. “Submit your arguments,” says the King of Jacob.

Produce your cause, saith Jehovah; bring forward your arguments, saith the King of Jacob.

22 “Let them come and tell us what will happen. Tell the former things, so that we may reflect on them and know the outcome. Or announce to us what is coming.

Let them bring them forward, and declare to us what shall happen: shew the former things, what they are, that we may give attention to them, and know the end of them; — or let us hear things to come:

23 Tell us the things that are to come, so that we may know that you are gods. Yes, do something good or evil, that we may look on together in dismay.

declare the things that are to happen hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods; yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be astonished, and behold it together.

24 Behold, you are nothing and your work is of no value. Anyone who chooses you is detestable.

Behold, ye are less than nothing, and your work is of nought; an abomination is he that chooseth you. ...

25 I have raised up one from the north, and he has come— one from the east who calls on My name. He will march over rulers as if they were mortar, like a potter who treads the clay.

I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come, — from the rising of the sun, he who will call upon my name; and he shall come upon princes as on mortar, and as the potter treadeth clay.

26 Who has declared this from the beginning, so that we may know, and from times past, so that we may say: ‘He was right’? No one announced it, no one foretold it, no one heard your words.

Who hath declared [it] from the beginning, that we may know? and beforetime, that we may say, [It is] right? Indeed, there is none that declareth; no, none that sheweth; no, none that heareth your words.

27 I was the first to tell Zion: ‘Look, here they are!’ And I gave to Jerusalem a herald of good news.

The first, [I said] to Zion, Behold, behold them! and to Jerusalem, I will give one that bringeth glad tidings.

28 When I look, there is no one; there is no counselor among them; when I ask them, they have nothing to say.

And I beheld, and there was no man; even among them, — and there was no counsellor, that, when I asked of them, could answer a word.

29 See, they are all a delusion; their works amount to nothing; their images are as empty as the wind.

Behold, they are all vanity, their works are nought, their molten images are wind and emptiness.