< Isaiah 41 >

1 Keep silence, and hear me, ye distant lands. Ye nations, gather your strength! Let them come near; then let them speak; Let us go together into judgment.
Hold a feast to me, ye islands: for the princes shall renew [their] strength: let them draw nigh and speak together: then let them declare judgment.
2 Who hath raised up from the region of the East Him whom victory meeteth in his march? Who hath subdued nations before him, And given him dominion over kings? Who made their swords like dust, And their bows like driven stubble?
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 pursued them, and passed in safety, By a path which his foot had never trodden.
And he shall pursue them; the way of his feet shall proceed in peace.
4 Who hath wrought and done it? I, who have called the generations from the beginning, I, Jehovah, the first; And with the last also am I.
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 Distant nations saw it, and were afraid; The ends of the earth, and trembled; They drew near, and came together.
The nations saw, and feared; the ends of the earth drew nigh, and came together,
6 One helped another, And said to him, “Be of good courage!”
every one judging for his neighbor and [that] to assist his brother: and one will say,
7 The carpenter encouraged the smith, He that smoothed with the hammer him that smote on the anvil, And said, “The soldering is good,” And he fastened it with nails that it might not fall.
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 But thou, O Israel, my servant, Thou, Jacob, whom I have chosen, Offspring of Abraham, my friend!
But thou, Israel, art my servant Jacob, and he whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraam, whom I have loved:
9 Thou, whom I have led by the hand from the ends of the earth, And called from the extremities thereof, And said to thee, “Thou art my servant, I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away!”
whom I have taken hold of from the ends of the earth, and from the high places of it I have called thee, and said to thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and I have not forsaken thee.
10 Fear not, for I am with thee; Faint not, for I, thy God, will strengthen thee; I will help thee, and sustain thee, with my right hand of salvation!
Fear not; for I am with thee: wander not; for I am thy God, who have strengthened thee; and I have helped thee, and have established thee with my just right hand.
11 Behold, all who are enraged against thee Shall be ashamed and confounded; All that contend with thee Shall come to nothing and perish.
Behold, all thine adversaries shall be ashamed and confounded; for they shall be as if they were not: and all thine opponents shall perish.
12 Thou shalt seek and not find Them that contend with thee; They shall come to nothing, and be no more, Who make war against thee.
Thou shalt seek them, and thou shalt not find the men who shall insolently rage against thee: for they shall be as if they were not, and they that war against thee shall not be.
13 For I, Jehovah, am thy God, that holdeth thee by the right hand, That saith to thee, “Fear not, I am thy helper!”
For I am thy God, who holdeth thy right hand, who saith to thee,
14 Fear not, thou worm Jacob, thou feeble people of Israel! I am thy helper, saith Jehovah; Thy redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
Fear not, Jacob, [and thou] Israel few in number; I have helped thee, saith thy God, he that redeems thee, O Israel.
15 Behold, I will make thee a thrashing-wain, sharp and new, With double edges; Thou shalt thrash the mountains, and beat them small, And make the hills as chaff.
Behold, I have made thee as new saw-shaped threshing wheels of a waggon; and thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat the hills to powder, and make [them] as chaff:
16 Thou shalt winnow them, and the wind shall carry them away, And the whirlwind shall scatter them. But thou shalt rejoice in Jehovah, And glory in the Holy One of Israel.
and thou shalt winnow [them], and the wind shall carry them away, and a tempest shall scatter them: but thou shalt rejoice in the holy ones of Israel.
17 When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, And their tongue is parched with thirst, I, Jehovah, will hear them; I, the God of Israel, will 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 will open rivers upon the bare hills, And fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, And the dry land 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 will plant in the wilderness the cedar and the acacia, The myrtle and the olive-tree; I will place in the desert the cypress, The plane-tree and the larch together.
I will plant in the dry land the cedar and box, the myrtle and cypress, and white poplar:
20 That they may see, and know, And consider, and understand together, That the hand of Jehovah hath done this, And that the Holy One of Israel hath 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 forward your cause, saith Jehovah; Produce your strong reasons, saith the king of Jacob.
Your judgment draws nigh, saith the Lord God; your counsels have drawn nigh, saith the King of Jacob.
22 Let them produce them, and show us what shall happen! Tell us what ye have predicted in times past, That we may consider, and know its fulfilment! Or declare to us things that are to come!
Let them draw nigh, 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 Let us hear what shall happen in future times, That we may know whether ye are gods; Do something, be it good or evil, That we may be astonished, and see it together!
tell us, declare ye to us the things that are coming on at the last [time], and we shall know that ye are gods: do good, and do evil, and we shall wonder, and see at the same time
24 Behold, ye are less than nothing, And your work is less than naught; An abomination is he that chooseth you!
whence ye are, and whence is your works: they have chosen you an abomination out of the earth.
25 I have raised up one from the north, and he cometh; From the rising of the sun he calleth upon my name; He trampleth upon princes as upon mortar; As the potter treadeth down the clay.
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 ye be trodden down.
26 Who hath declared this from the beginning, that we might know it, And long ago, that we might say, It is true? There was not one that foretold it, not one that declared it, Not one that heard your words.
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 I first said to Zion, Behold! behold them! And I gave to Jerusalem a messenger of glad tidings.
I will give dominion to Sion, and will comfort Jerusalem by the way.
28 I looked, but there was no man; Even among them, but there was none that gave counsel; I inquired of them that they might give an answer;
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 ye? they could not answer me.
29 But behold, they are all vanity; Their works are nothing; Wind and emptiness are their molten images.
For [these] are your makers, [as ye think], and they that cause you to err in vain.

< Isaiah 41 >