Isaiah 41

1 Keep silent toward Me, O islands, And the peoples pass on [to] power, They come near, then they speak, “Together we draw near to judgment.”

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.

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

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?

3 He pursues them, he passes over in safety A path he does not enter with his feet.

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

4 Who has worked and done, Calling the generations from the first? I, YHWH, the first, and with the last I [am] He.

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.

5 Islands have seen and fear, The ends of the earth tremble, They have drawn near, indeed, they come.

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

6 They each help his neighbor, And to his brother he says, “Be strong.”

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

7 And an artisan strengthens the refiner, A smoother [with] a hammer, Him who is beating [on] an anvil, saying, “For joining it [is] good,” And he strengthens it with nails, it is not moved!

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.

8 And you, O Israel, My servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, Seed of Abraham, My lover,

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

9 Whom I have taken hold of, from the ends of the earth, And from its near places I have called you, And I say to you, You [are] My servant, I have chosen you, and not rejected you.

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.

10 Do not be afraid, for I [am] with you, do not look around, for I [am] your God, I have strengthened you, Indeed, I have helped you, indeed, I upheld you, With the right hand of My righteousness.

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.

11 Behold, all those displeased with you, They are ashamed and blush, They are as nothing, indeed, The men who strive with you perish.

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

12 You seek them, and do not find them, The men who debate with you, They are as nothing, indeed, as nothing, The men who war with you.

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.

13 For I, your God YHWH, Am strengthening your right hand, He who is saying to you, “Do not fear, I have helped you.”

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

14 Do not fear, O worm Jacob, You men of Israel, I helped you, a declaration of YHWH, Even your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

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

15 Behold, I have set you for a new sharp threshing instrument, Possessing teeth, you thresh mountains, And beat small, and make hills as chaff.

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:

16 You winnow them, and a wind lifts them up, And a whirlwind scatters them, And you rejoice in YHWH, [And] boast yourself in the Holy One of Israel.

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.

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

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:

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

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.

19 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.

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

20 So that they see, and know, And regard, and act wisely together, For the hand of YHWH has done this, And the Holy One of Israel has created it.

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].

21 Bring your cause near, says YHWH, Bring your mighty ones near, says the King of Jacob.

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

22 They bring [them] near, and declare to us that which happens, Declare the first things—what they [are], And we set our heart, and know their latter end, Or cause us to hear the coming things.

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:

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

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

24 Behold, you [are] of nothing, and your work of nothing, An abomination—it fixes on you.

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

25 I have stirred up [one] from the north, And he comes, From the rising of the sun he calls in My Name, And he comes in [on] prefects as [on] clay, And as a potter treads down mire.

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.

26 Who has declared from the first, and we know? And formerly, and we say, “Righteous?” Indeed, there is none declaring, Indeed, there is none proclaiming, Indeed, there is none hearing your sayings.

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.

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

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

28 And I see that there is no man, Indeed, of these that there is no counselor, And I ask them, and they return word:

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.

29 “Behold, all of them [are] vanity, Their works [are] nothing, Their molten images [are] wind and emptiness!”

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