Isaiah 41

1 Keep silence before mee, O ylands, and let the people renue their strength: let the come neere, and let them speake: let vs come together into iudgement.

Keep silent towards Me, O isles, And the peoples pass on [to] power, They come nigh, then they speak, 'Together — to judgment we draw near.'

2 Who raised vp iustice from the East, and called him to his foote? and gaue the nations before him, and subdued the Kings? he gaue them as dust to his sword, and as scattered stubble vnto his bowe.

Who stirred up from the east a righteous one? He calleth him to His foot, He giveth before him nations, And kings He causeth him to rule, He giveth [them] as dust [to] his sword, As driven stubble [to] his bow.

3 He pursued them, and passed safely by the way that he had not gone with his feete.

He pursueth them, he passeth over in safety A path with his feet he entereth not.

4 Who hath wrought and done it? he that calleth the generations from the beginning. I the Lord am the first, and with the last I am ye same.

Who hath wrought and done, Calling the generations from the first? I, Jehovah, the first, and with the last I [am] He.

5 The yles sawe it, and did feare, and the ends of the earth were abashed, drew neere, and came.

Seen have isles and fear, ends of the earth tremble, They have drawn near, yea, they come.

6 Euery man helped his neighbour, and saide to his brother, Be strong.

Each his neighbour they help, And to his brother he saith, 'Be strong.'

7 So the workeman comforted the founder, and he that smote with ye hammer, him that smote by course, saying, It is ready for the sodering, and he fastened it with nayles that it shoulde not be mooued.

And strengthen doth an artisan the refiner, A smoother [with] a hammer, Him who is beating [on] an anvil, Saying, 'For joining it [is] good,' And he strengtheneth it with nails, it is not moved!

8 But thou, Israel, art my seruant, and thou Iaakob, whom I haue chosen, the seede of Abraham my friend.

— And thou, O Israel, My servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, Seed of Abraham, My lover,

9 For I haue taken thee from the endes of the earth, and called thee before the chiefe thereof, and saide vnto thee, Thou art my seruant: I haue chosen thee, and not cast thee away.

Whom I have taken hold of, from the ends of the earth, And from its near places I have called thee, And I say to thee, My servant Thou [art], I have chosen thee, and not rejected thee.

10 Feare thou not, for I am with thee: be not afraide, for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee, and helpe thee, and will susteine thee with the right hand of my iustice.

Be not afraid, for with thee I [am], Look not around, for I [am] thy God, I have strengthened thee, Yea, I have helped thee, yea, I upheld thee, With the right hand of My righteousness.

11 Beholde, all they that prouoke thee, shalbe ashamed, and confounded: they shalbe as nothing, and they that striue with thee, shall perish.

Lo, all those displeased with thee, They are ashamed and blush, They are as nothing, yea, perish Do the men who strive with thee.

12 Thou shalt seeke them and shalt not finde them: to wit, the men of thy strife, for they shall be as nothing, and the men that warre against thee, as a thing of nought.

Thou seekest them, and findest them not, The men who debate with thee, They are as nothing, yea, as nothing, The men who war with thee.

13 For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying vnto thee, Feare not, I wil helpe thee.

For I, Jehovah thy God, Am strengthening thy right hand, He who is saying to thee, 'Fear not, I have helped thee.'

14 Feare not, thou worme, Iaakob, and ye men of Israel: I wil helpe thee, sayth the Lord and thy redeemer the holy one of Israel.

Fear not, O worm Jacob, ye men of Israel, I helped thee, an affirmation of Jehovah, Even thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

15 Behold, I wil make thee a roller, and a newe threshing instrument hauing teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountaines, and bring them to pouder, and shalt make the hilles as chaffe.

Lo, I have set thee for a new sharp threshing instrument, Possessing teeth, thou threshest mountains, And beatest small, and hills as chaff thou makest.

16 Thou shalt fanne them, and the winde shall carie them away, and the whirlewinde shall scatter them: and thou shalt reioyce in the Lord, and shalt glory in the holy one of Israel.

Thou winnowest them, and a wind lifteth them up, And a whirlwind scattereth them, And thou — thou rejoicest in Jehovah, In the Holy One of Israel dost boast thyself.

17 When the poore and the needy seeke water, and there is none (their tongue faileth for thirst: I the Lord will heare them: I the God of Israel will not forsake them)

The poor and the needy are seeking water, And there is none, Their tongue with thirst hath failed, I, Jehovah do answer them, The God of Israel — I forsake them not.

18 I will open riuers in the toppes of the hils, and fountaines in the middes of the valleis: I will make the wildernesse as a poole of water, and the waste land as springs of water.

I open on high places rivers, And in midst of valleys fountains, I make a wilderness become a pond of water, And a dry land become springs of water.

19 I will set in the wildernesse the cedar, the shittah tree, and the mirre tree, and the pine tree, and I will set in the wildernesse the firre tree, the elme and the boxe tree together.

I give in a wilderness the cedar, Shittah, and myrtle, and oil-tree, I set in a desert the fir-pine and box-wood together.

20 Therefore let them see and knowe, and let them consider and vnderstande together that the hand of the Lord hath done this, and the holy one of Israel hath created it.

So that they see, and know, And regard, and act wisely together, For the hand of Jehovah hath done this, And the Holy One of Israel hath prepared it.

21 Stand to your cause, saith the Lord: bring forth your strong reasons, saith ye King of Iaakob.

Bring near your cause, saith Jehovah, Bring nigh your mighty ones, saith the king of Jacob.

22 Let them bring foorth, and let them tell vs what shall come: let them shew the former things what they be, that wee may consider them, and knowe the latter ende of them: either declare vs things for to come.

They bring nigh, and declare to us that which doth happen, The first things — what they [are] declare ye, And we set our heart, and know their latter end, Or the coming things cause us to hear.

23 Shewe the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods: yea, doe good or doe euill, that we may declare it, and beholde it together.

Declare the things that are coming hereafter, And we know that ye [are] gods, Yea, ye may do good or do evil, And we look around and see [it] together.

24 Beholde, ye are of no value, and your making is of naught: man hath chosen an abomination by them.

Lo, ye [are] of nothing, and your work of nought, An abomination — it fixeth on you.

25 I haue raised vp from the North, and he shall come: from the East sunne shall he cal vpon my Name, and shall come vpon princes as vpon clay, and as the potter treadeth myre vnder the foote.

I have stirred up [one] from the north, And he cometh, From the rising of the sun he calleth in My name, And he cometh in [on] prefects as [on] clay, And as a potter treadeth down mire.

26 Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may knowe? or before time, that we may say, He is righteous? Surely there is none that sheweth: surely there is none that declareth: surely there is none that heareth your wordes.

Who hath declared from the first, and we know? And beforetime, and we say, 'Righteous?' yea, there is none declaring, Yea, there is none proclaiming, Yea, there is none hearing your sayings.

27 I am the first, that saieth to Zion, Beholde, beholde them: and I will giue to Ierusalem one that shall bring good tidings.

First to Zion, Behold, behold them, And to Jerusalem one proclaiming tidings I give,

28 But when I behelde, there was none, and when I inquired of them, there was no counsellor, and when I demaunded of them, they answered not a woorde.

And I see that there is no man, Yea, of these that there is no counsellor, And I ask them, and they return word:

29 Beholde, they are all vanitie: their worke is of nothing, their images are wind and confusion.

'Lo, all of them [are] vanity, Nought [are] their works, Wind and emptiness their molten images!'