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.

Be silent [and hearken] unto me, O ye Coastlands, And let the Races of Men renew their strength, —Let them approach, then, let them speak, Together, for controversy, let us draw near: —

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 roused up one from the East, In righteousness, called him to his feet, —Set before him nations And over kings, caused him to rule, His sword, made [them] like dust, His bow like driven chaff:

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

He pursued them passed along safely, —Upon the path of his own feet, entered he not?

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 performed, Calling the generations, in advance? I, Yahweh, [who am] First, And with them who are last, I, am the Same!

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

Coastlands have seen, so they fear, The ends of the earth, are in dread, —They have drawn near, and have come:

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

Every man, to his neighbour, giveth help, —And to his brother, saith 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.

So, the carver, hath encouraged, the goldsmith, he that maketh smooth with the hammer, him that smiteth the anvil, —Saying of the welding, It is, good, Then hath he fastened it with nails—it must not totter!

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 loving one;

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 from the extremities thereof, have called thee, —And said to thee, My Servant, thou! I have chosen thee and not cast thee off,

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.

Do not fear, for with thee, I am! Look not around, for, I, am thy God, —I have emboldened thee, Yea I have helped thee, Yea I have upheld thee with my righteous right-hand.

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! they shall turn pale and be ashamed—All they who have been incensed against thee, —They shall become as nothing and perish—The men who have been thine accusers:

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

Thou shalt seek them, but shalt not find them—The men who have contended with thee, They shall become as nothing, and as a thing of nought—The men who have warred 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, Yahweh thy God am firmly grasping thy right-hand, —Who am saying unto thee Do not fear! I, have become thy helper!

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.

Do not fear, Thou worm Jacob, Ye men of Israel, —I, have become thy helper, Declareth Yahweh, 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.

Lo! I have made of thee a new pointed threshing sledge, owning teeth, —Thou shalt thresh mountains and crush them, And, hills—like chaff, shalt thou make:

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, a wind, shall carry them away, And, a whirlwind, scatter, them, —But, thou, shalt exult in Yahweh, And, in the Holy One of Israel, shalt thou boast 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.

As for the oppressed and the needy. Seeking water when there is none, Their tongue with thirst being parched I—Yahweh, will answer them, The God of Israel, I 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 bare hills rivers, and In the midst of plains, fountains, —I will make The desert, a lake of water, and Parched land, 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 set in the desert! Cedar, acacia, and myrtle, and oil-tree, —I will place, in the waste plain, Cypress, holm-oak, and sherbin-cedar, 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 men may see and observe and consider and understand at once, That, the hand of Yahweh, hath done this, That the Holy One of Israel hath created it.

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

Bring near your contention, Saith Yahweh, —Advance your defences, 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 advance them, and tell us, What shall happen, —Things known in advance—what they were, tell ye, That we may lay them to our heart and mark the after-story of them, Or, things yet to come, let us hear:

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 ye the events which shall be here-after, That we may perceive that gods, ye are, —Surely ye must do something—good or bad, That we may be amazed and behold it, at once.

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

Lo! ye, are, of nought, And your work is a puff of breath, —An abomination, 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 roused up one from the North, and he hath come, From the rising of the sun, calleth he on my Name, —And he hath come, on deputies, as though they were mortar, And as a 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 told in advance, that we might know, And beforetime, that we might say Right! Nay, there is none who can tell. Nay, there is none who can let us hear, Nay, there is none who can understand what ye utter.

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

He who is First, [can say], To Zion, Lo! there they are! And to Jerusalem, A herald of good-tidings, do I give.

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

So I look, And there is not, a Man! Even among these And there is none to advise, —That, when I ask them, can answer a word.

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

Lo! as to all of them, Vanity—nothingness, are their works, Wind and emptiness, their molten images!