Esias 41

1 Hold a feast to me, you islands: for the princes shall renew [their] strength: let them draw near and speak together: then let them declare judgment.

“Listen before me in silence, you coastlands; let the nations renew their strength; let them come near and speak; let us come near together to argue a dispute.

2 Who raised up righteousness from the east, [and] called it to his feet, so that it should go? shall appoint [it] an adversary of Gentiles, and shall dismay kings, and bury their swords in the earth, and cast forth their bows and arrows as sticks?

Who has stirred up one from the east, calling him in righteousness to his service? He hands nations over to him and helps him subdue kings. He turns them to dust with his sword, like windblown stubble with his bow.

3 And he shall pursue them; the way of his feet shall proceed in peace.

He pursues them and passes by safely, by a swift path that his feet scarcely touch.

4 Who has wrought and done these things? he has called it who called it from the generations of old; I God, the first and to [all] futurity, I AM.

Who has performed and accomplished these deeds? Who has summoned the generations from the beginning? I, Yahweh, the first, and with the last ones, I am he.

5 The nations saw, and feared; the ends of the earth drew near, and came together,

The isles have seen and are afraid; the ends of the earth tremble; they approach and come.

6 every one judging for his neighbor and [that] to assist his brother: and one will say,

Everyone helps his neighbor, and every one says to one another, 'Be encouraged.'

7 The artificer has become strong, and the coppersmith that smites with the hammer, [and] forges also: sometimes he will say, It is a piece well joined: they have fastened them with nails; they will fix them, and they shall not be moved.

So the carpenter encourages the goldsmith, and he who works with the hammer encourages him who works with an anvil, saying of the welding, 'It is good.' They fasten it with nails so it will not topple over.

8 But you, Israel, are my servant Jacob, and he whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraam, whom I have loved:

But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham my friend,

9 whom I have taken hold of from the ends of the earth, and from the high places of it I have called you, and said to you, You are my servant; I have chosen you, and I have not forsaken you.

you whom I am bringing back from the ends of the earth, and whom I called from the far away places, and to whom I said, 'You are my servant;' I have chosen you and not rejected you.

10 Fear not; for I am with you: wander not; for I am your God, who have strengthened you; and I have helped you, and have established you with my just right hand.

Do not fear, for I am with you. Do not be anxious, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, and I will help you, and I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

11 Behold, all your adversaries shall be ashamed and confounded; for they shall be as if they were not: and all your opponents shall perish.

See, they will be ashamed and disgraced, all who have been angry with you; they will be as nothing and will perish, those who oppose you.

12 You shall seek them, and you shall not find the men who shall insolently rage against you: for they shall be as if they were not, and they that war against you shall not be.

You will seek and will not find those who contended with you; those who warred against you will be like nothing, absolutely nothing.

13 For I am your God, who holds your right hand, who says to you,

For I, Yahweh your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, 'Do not fear; I am helping you.'

14 Fear not, Jacob, [and you] Israel few in number; I have helped you, says your God, he that redeems you, O Israel.

Do not fear, Jacob you worm, and you men of Israel; I will help you—this is Yahweh's declaration, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

15 Behold, I have made you as new saw-shaped threshing wheels of a waggon; and you shall thresh the mountains, and beat the hills to powder, and make [them] as chaff:

Look, I am making you like a sharp threshing sledge, new and two-edged; you will thresh the mountains and crush them; you will make the hills like chaff.

16 and you shall winnow [them], and the wind shall carry them away, and a tempest shall scatter them: but you shall rejoice in the holy ones of Israel.

You will winnow them, and the wind will carry them away; the wind will scatter them. You will rejoice in Yahweh, you will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

17 And the poor and the needy shall exult; for [when] they shall seek water, and there shall be none, [and] their tongue is parched with thirst, I the Lord God, I the God of Israel will hear, and will not forsake them:

The oppressed and needy look for water, but there is none, and their tongues are parched for thirst; I, Yahweh, will respond to their prayers; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.

18 but I will open rivers on the mountains, and fountains in the midst of plains: I will make the desert pools of water, and a thirsty land watercourses.

I will make streams to flow down the slopes, and springs in the middle of the valleys; I will make the desert into a pool of water, and the dry land into springs of water.

19 I will plant in the dry land the cedar and box, the myrtle and cypress, and white poplar:

In the wilderness I will set the cedar, the acacia, and the myrtle, and the olive tree. I will set the cypress in the desert plain, with the pines and the cypress box trees.

20 that they may see, and know, and perceive, and understand together, that the hand of the Lord has wrought these [works], and the Holy One of Israel has displayed [them].

I will do this so that the people may see, recognize, and understand together, that the hand of Yahweh has done this, that the Holy One of Israel has created it.

21 Your judgment draws near, says the Lord God; your counsels have drawn near, says the King of Jacob.

“Present your case,” says Yahweh, “present your best arguments for your idols,” says the King of Jacob.

22 Let them draw near, and declare to you what things shall come to pass; or tell [us] what things were of old, and we will apply [our] understanding, and we shall know what are the last and the future things:

Let them bring us their own arguments; have them come forward and declare to us what will happen, so we may know these things well. Have them tell us of earlier predictive declarations, so we can reflect on them and know how they were fulfilled.

23 tell us, declare you to us the things that are coming on at the last [time], and we shall know that you are gods: do good, and do evil, and we shall wonder, and see at the same time

Tell things about the future, that we may know if you are gods; do something good or evil, that we may be frightened and impressed.

24 whence you are, and whence is your works: they have chosen you an abomination out of the earth.

See, you idols are nothing and your deeds are nothing; the one who chooses you is detestable.

25 But I have raised up him that [comes] from the north, and him that [comes] from the rising of the sun: they shall be called by my name: let the princes come, and as potter's clay, and as a potter treading clay, so shall you be trodden down.

I have raised up one from the north, and he comes; from the sun's rising I summon him who calls on my name, and he will trample the rulers like mud, like a potter who is treading on the clay.

26 For who will declare the things from the beginning, that we may know also the former things, and we will say that they are true? there is no one that speaks beforehand, nor anyone that hears your words.

Who announced this from the beginning, that we might know? Before this time, that we may say, “He is right”? Indeed none of them decreed it, yes, none heard you say anything.

27 I will give dominion to Sion, and will comfort Jerusalem by the way.

I first said to Zion, “Look here they are;” I sent a herald to Jerusalem.

28 For from among the nations, behold, [there was] no one; and of their idols there was none to declare [anything]: and if I should ask them, Whence are you? they could not answer me.

When I look, there is no one, not one among them who can give good advice, who, when I ask, can answer a word.

29 For [these] are your makers, [as you think], and they that cause you to err in vain.

Look, all of them are nothing, and their deeds are nothing; their cast metal figures are wind and emptiness.