Isaiah 41
1 Listen to me in silence, you people who live in lands beyond the sea. Let the nations regain their strength. Then let them come and speak, and let us join together for judgment.
Iles, be stille to me, and folkis chaunge strengthe; neiye thei, and thanne speke thei; neiye we togidere to doom.
2 Who has encouraged this one from the east who is called into God's service to do what is right? He gives him nations, and helps him trample kings underfoot. He makes them like dust with his sword, and turns them into chaff with his bow, blown before him on the wind.
Who reiside the iust man fro the eest, and clepide hym to sue hym silf? He schal yyue folkis in his siyt, and he schal welde kyngis; he schal yyue as dust to his swerd, and as stobil `that is rauyschid of the wynd, to his bowe.
3 He chases them down, and goes on unharmed, not following the usual routes.
He schal pursue hem, he schal go in pees; a path schal not appere in hise feet.
4 Who has achieved and done this, calling into existence each generation from the beginning of time? I, the Lord, the first and the last, I am the one.
Who wrouyte and dide these thingis? clepynge generaciouns at the bigynnyng. Y am the Lord; and Y am the firste and the laste.
5 The islands watch in fear, the distant lands tremble. They get together and consult.
Ilis sien, and dredden; the laste partis of erthe were astonyed; thei camen niy, and neiyiden.
6 They all help each other, encouraging one another to “Be strong!”
Ech man schal helpe his neiybore, and schal seie to his brother, Be thou coumfortid.
7 The craftsman encourages the goldsmith; the one who beats out the metal with a hammer encourages the one hitting the anvil, saying the soldering is good. They nail the idol down so it won't fall over.
A smyth of metal smytynge with an hamer coumfortide him that polischyde, ethir made fair, in that tyme, seiynge, It is good, to glu; and he fastenede hym with nailis, that he schulde not be mouyd.
8 But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, the ones I have chosen, descendants of my friend Abraham,
And thou, Israel, my seruaunte, Jacob, whom Y chees, the seed of Abraham, my frend, in whom Y took thee;
9 I brought you back from distant lands, I called you back from faraway places, telling you, “You are my servants.” I have chosen you, and I have not abandoned you.
fro the laste partis of erthe, and fro the fer partis therof Y clepide thee; and Y seide to thee, Thou art my seruaunt; Y chees thee, and castide not awei thee.
10 Don't be afraid, for I am with you! Don't be frightened for I, your God, will make you strong, and I will certainly help you. I will support you with my strong hand, acting for what is right.
Drede thou not, for Y am with thee; boowe thou not awei, for Y am thi God. Y coumfortide thee, and helpide thee; and the riythond of my iust man vp took thee.
11 See—everyone who is angry with you will be ashamed and disgraced. Those who fight against you will end up as nothing and die.
Lo! alle men schulen be schent, and schulen be aschamed, that fiyten ayens thee; thei schulen be as if thei ben not, and men schulen perische, that ayen seien thee.
12 Even though you look for your enemies, you won't find them. Those who attack you will become absolutely nothing.
Thou schalt seke hem, and thou schalt not fynde thi rebel men; thei schulen be, as if thei ben not, and as the wastyng of a man fiytynge ayens thee.
13 For I the Lord will grab you by the hand and tell you, “Don't be afraid! I myself will help you.
For Y am thi Lord God, takynge thin hond, and seiynge to thee, Drede thou not, Y helpide thee.
14 Don't be frightened, Jacob, you little worm, you people of Israel, for I will help you,” declared the Lord your Savior, the Holy One of Israel.
Nyle thou, worm of Jacob, drede, ye that ben deed of Israel. Y helpide thee, seith the Lord, and thin ayen biere, the hooli of Israel.
15 Look! I will make you into a new and sharp threshing device, with many pointed teeth. You will thresh the mountains and crush the hills, turning them into chaff.
Y haue set thee as a newe wayn threischynge, hauynge sawynge bilis; thou schalt threische mounteyns, and schalt make smal, and thou schalt sette litle hillis as dust.
16 You will throw them into the air, the wind will carry them away, and a storm will scatter them. Then you will be happy in the Lord, and boast about the Holy One of Israel.
Thou schalt wyndewe hem, and the wynd schal take hem awei, and a whirlewynd schal scatere hem; and thou schalt make ful out ioie in the Lord, and thou schalt be glad in the hooli of Israel.
17 The poor and needy search for water, but don't find any—their tongues are dry with thirst. I, the Lord, will respond to them; I, the God of Israel, won't abandon them.
Nedi men and pore seken watris, and tho ben not; the tunge of hem driede for thirst. Y the Lord schal here hem, I God of Israel schal not forsake hem.
18 I will open up rivers in the desolate highlands and springs in the valleys. I will make pools in the wilderness and springs in the desert.
Y schal opene floodis in hiy hillis, and wellis in the myddis of feeldis; Y schal sette the desert in to poondis of watris, and the lond without weie in to ryuers of watris.
19 I will plant cedars, acacias, myrtles, and olive trees in the desert. I will place evergreens in the desert, firs and box trees together.
Y schal yyue in wildirnesse a cedre, and a thorn, and a myrte tre, and the tre of an olyue; Y schal sette in the desert a fir tre, an elm, and a box tre togidere.
20 In this way everyone can see and know, they can think about it and draw the conclusion that the it is the Lord who has done this, that the Holy One of Israel made it happen.
That thei se, and knowe, and bithenke, and vndurstonde togidere; that the hond of the Lord dide this thing, and the hooli of Israel made that of nouyt.
21 “Now you submit your case,” says the Lord. “Present your evidence,” says the King of Jacob.
Make ye niy youre doom, seith the Lord; brynge ye, if in hap ye han ony thing, seith the kyng of Jacob.
22 “Let them come and tell us what's about to happen. Let them explain the things of the past, so that we can think about them and discover the final outcome. Or they can tell us about the future.
Neiy tho, and telle to vs, what euer thingis schulen come; telle ye the formere thingis that weren, and we schulen sette oure herte, and schulen wite; schewe ye to vs the laste thingis of hem, and tho thingis that schulen come.
23 Predict what's coming so we can know for sure that you are gods. At least do something, good or bad, to impress us when we see it.
Telle ye what thingis schulen come in tyme to comynge, and we schulen wite, that ye ben goddis; al so do ye wel, ethir yuele, if ye moun; and speke we, and see we togidere.
24 But look at you! You're nothing, and you can't do anything! Anyone who chooses you is disgusting!
Lo! ye ben of nouyt, and youre werk is of that that is not; he that chees you, is abhomynacioun.
25 I have encouraged the one who comes from the north. He is from the east, and will respect me. He will tread on rulers as if they were mortar, like a potter treading on clay.
I reiside fro the north, and he schal come fro the risyng of the sunne; he schal clepe my name. And he schal brynge magistratis as cley, and as a pottere defoulynge erthe.
26 Who announced this beforehand so that we could know about it? Who let us know in the past, so that now we could say: ‘He was right’? None of you announced it, none of you predicted it, and nobody heard you say a word!
Who tolde fro the bigynnyng, that we wite, and fro the bigynnyng, that we seie, Thou art iust? noon is tellynge, nether biforseiynge, nether herynge youre wordis.
27 I was the first to announce to Zion: ‘Look, here they are!’ I was the one who brought to Jerusalem the good news.
The firste schal seie to Sion, Lo! Y am present; and Y schal yyue a gospellere to Jerusalem.
28 I look at these idols, and find there is no one who can say anything. None of them can give advice; when I ask them something, they can't even answer.
And Y siy, and noon was of these, that token councel, and he that was axid, answeride a word.
29 Look at them! They're all evil, deceptive things. They can't do anything! They're just idols full of hot air!”
Lo! alle men ben vniust, and her werkis ben wynd and veyn; the symylacris of hem ben wynd, and voide thing.
