Isaiah 41
1 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.
[Yahweh says], “You [people who live on] [APO] islands in the ocean, be silent in front of me [while I ask you some questions]! Then you can be courageous and talk to me. We will meet together and decide [which one of us is right].
2 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.
Who has urged this king to come from the east? Who has enabled his [army] to righteously defeat many nations and to trample their kings under their feet? With their swords they cut [their enemies] into tiny pieces [HYP]; with their arrows they cause their enemies to scatter like [SIM] the wind scatters chaff.
3 He pursued them, he passed on in safety, by a way he had never come with his feet.
Even though they march through areas where they have not gone previously, they pursue [their enemies] and continue to march, and nothing stops them.
4 Who hath wrought and done [it], calling the generations from the beginning? I, Jehovah, the first; and with the last, I [am] HE.
Who has enabled rulers to do [DOU] mighty things like that? Who has done that throughout all generations? It is I, Yahweh; I was the first [one to do things like that], and I will be the last one [to do them].”
5 The isles saw [it], and feared; the ends of the earth trembled: they drew near, and came.
[People who live on] [PRS] islands in the ocean are afraid while they watch. People in remote areas tremble and gather together.
6 They helped every one his neighbour, and [each] said to his brother, Take courage.
They encourage each other and say to each other, “Be strong!'
7 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.
The craftsmen encourage those who make things from gold, and the men who flatten metal encourage those who hammer metal (on an anvil/into shape). They all say, “The idol has been well made!” And then they carefully nail down the idol in order that it will not topple over!
8 But thou, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham, my friend
[Yahweh says], “[You people of] Israel [are like] my servants; you are [descendants of] Jacob, whom I chose; [you are] descendants of Abraham, who [I said is] my friend.
9 — 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,
I summoned you from very distant places [DOU] on the earth, and I said ‘I [want you to] serve me; I have chosen you, and I will not reject you.’
10 — 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.
Do not be afraid, because I will (be with/help) you. Do not be discouraged, because I am your God. I will enable you to be strong, and I will help you; I will hold you up with my powerful arm by which you will be rescued.
11 Lo, all that are incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded; they that strive with thee shall be as nothing, and shall perish.
It is certain that all those who are angry with you [Israeli people] will be disgraced [DOU]. Those who oppose you will be wiped out; they will all die.
12 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.
If you search for those who tried to conquer you, you will not find them, [because they will all have disappeared]. Those who attacked you will not exist [any more].
13 For I, Jehovah, thy God, hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.
[It will be as though] I will hold you up by your right hand. I am Yahweh, your God, and I say to you, ‘Do not be afraid, [because] I will help you.’
14 Fear not, thou worm Jacob, ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith Jehovah, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
Although you people of Israel [DOU] [think that you are as insignificant as] worms, do not be afraid [of your enemies], because I will help you. I am Yahweh, the one who rescues you; I am the Holy One of Israel.
15 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;
[I will cause] you to be like [MET] a (threshing sledge/big piece of metal that has sharp teeth for separating grain from chaff). You will tear [your enemies to bits], causing them to be like bits of chaff on the mountains.
16 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.
You will toss them up into the air, and a strong wind will blow them away [DOU]. [When that happens], you will rejoice about what I [have done for you]; you will praise me, the Holy One of Israel.
17 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.
When poor and needy people need water and they have no water, and their tongues are very dry because they are very thirsty, I, Yahweh, will come and help them. I, the God to whom you Israeli people belong, will never abandon them.
18 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.
I will cause rivers to flow for them on the barren hills. I will give them fountains in the valleys. I will fill [HYP] the desert with pools of water. Water from springs will flow into rivers, and the rivers will flow across the dry ground.
19 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;
I will plant [trees] in the desert— cedar [trees], acacia [trees], myrtle [trees], olive [trees], cypress [trees], fir [trees], and pine [trees].
20 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.
[I will do that] in order that people who see it will think about it, and they will know and understand [DOU] that it is [I], Yahweh, who have done it; it is what [I], the Holy One of Israel, have done.
21 Produce your cause, saith Jehovah; bring forward your arguments, saith the King of Jacob.
[I], Yahweh, the true king of Israel say [to you nations], “Tell what your idols can do for you!
22 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:
Bring them here to tell us what is going to happen! Ask them to tell us what things happened long ago, in order that we may think about those things, and learn if those things that they predicted really happened. Or, ask them to tell us about the future, in order that we can know what will happen.
23 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.
[Yes], those idols should tell us what will happen in the future. If they do that, we will know that they are really gods. Tell them to do something—either something good or something bad! Tell them to do something that will cause us to be amazed and afraid!
24 Behold, ye are less than nothing, and your work is of nought; an abomination is he that chooseth you. ...
But [that is impossible, because] idols are absolutely worthless [HYP]; they can do nothing, and I detest those who decide [to worship] idols.”
25 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.
“[But] I have incited/urged a ruler who will come [with his army] from the north. I have summoned him to come from [his country, which is] east [of Israel], and I have given him my authority [MTY]. I will [enable his army to conquer other rulers]; they will trample those leaders like [SIM] a man who makes clay pots first tramples the clay.
26 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.
(Who told you people long ago that this would happen?/No one told you people long ago that this would happen!) [RHQ] (Who predicted it, with the result that we can say, ‘What he predicted was correct!’?/No one predicted it, with the result that we can say, ‘What he predicted was correct!’) [RHQ] No one else said that it would happen.
27 The first, [I said] to Zion, Behold, behold them! and to Jerusalem, I will give one that bringeth glad tidings.
I was the first one to tell [the people of] Jerusalem, ‘Listen to this! I have appointed a messenger to tell good news to you!’
28 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.
None of your idols told you that [DOU]. And when I asked them questions, none of them was able to give me any answers.
29 Behold, they are all vanity, their works are nought, their molten images are wind and emptiness.
Think about it: Those idols are all useless, worthless [DOU] things. They are [as meaningless as] [MET] the wind.”
