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, O islands; and let nations acquire new strength: let them approach, then let them speak, together let us come near 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 waked up from the east the man whom righteousness met in his steps? he giveth up nations before him, and maketh him rule over kings; that his sword may render them as the dust, as driven stubble, his bow.

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

He pursueth them, passeth along in safety, by a path which his feet have not gone over before.

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? he who called the generations from the beginning; I the Lord, [who am] the first, and with the latest I am the same.

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

The isles saw it, and are afraid; the ends of the earth tremble; they draw near, and come.

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

They help one another; and each one saith to his brother, Be strong!

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.

So the smith encouraged the melter, he that smootheth with the hammer him that striketh on the anvil; saying of the solder, It is good; and he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved.

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

But thou, Israel, art 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 hold of from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the midst of its chiefs, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant, I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away.

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 thou not, for I am with thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God; I strengthen thee, yea, I help thee, yea, I 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.

Behold, ashamed and confounded shall be all that were incensed against thee; they shall be as naught and perish—the men that strive with thee.

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

Thou wilt seek them, and shalt not find them, the men that contend with thee; they shall be as naught and as nothing, the men that make war against thee.

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 the Lord thy God lay hold of thy right hand; [I am he] who saith unto thee, Fear not, I 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 few men of Israel: I myself help thee, saith the Lord, and thy redeemer is 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 rendered thee a threshing instrument, sharp, new, having many teeth: thou shalt thresh mountains, and beat them small, and shalt render 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 scatter them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the storm shall disperse them; but thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, in the Holy One of Israel shalt thou glorify thyself.

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 poor and the needy seek water, and there is none; their tongue is dried up with thirst: I the Lord 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 on naked mountain-peaks rivers, and in the midst of valleys fountains; I will change the wilderness into a pool of water, and the dry land into springs of water.

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 place 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 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.”

In order that they may see, and know and take [it to heart], and comprehend together, that the hand of the Lord 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 the Lord: bring forward your strong reasons, 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 tell us what shall happen: the former things—what are they?—tell us, that we may take it to heart, and know the result of them; or let us hear the things that are 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.

Tell the events 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 see 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 less than a breath: [he that is] an abomination [alone] 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 waked up one from the north, and he cometh; from the rising of the sun one who will call on my name: and he shall [over-]come princes as mortar, and as the potter treadeth down the 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 told it from the beginning, that we may know it? and aforetimes, that we may say, “it is right?” but indeed there is none that telleth, indeed there is none that letteth us hear, indeed there is 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 [was I to say] to Zion, Behold, there they are; and to Jerusalem will I give one that bringeth good 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 ever look, and there is no man; and among these there is no counsellor, that they 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 all are naught; their works are nothing: wind and vanity are their molten images.