Isaiah 41

1 Be silent [and hearken] unto me, O ye Coastlands, And let the Races of Men renew their strength, —Let them approach, then, let them speak, Together, for controversy, let us draw near: —

Come quietly before me, O sea-lands, and let the peoples get together their strength: let them come near; then let them say what they have to say: let us put forward our cause against one another.

2 Who roused up one from the East, In righteousness, called him to his feet, —Set before him nations And over kings, caused him to rule, His sword, made [them] like dust, His bow like driven chaff:

Who sent out from the east one who is right wherever he goes? he gives the nations into his hands, and makes him ruler over kings; he gives them as the dust to his sword, as dry stems before the wind to his bow.

3 He pursued them passed along safely, —Upon the path of his own feet, entered he not?

He goes after them safely, not touching the road with his feet.

4 Who hath wrought and performed, Calling the generations, in advance? I, Yahweh, [who am] First, And with them who are last, I, am the Same!

Whose purpose and work was it? His who sent out the generations from the start. I the Lord, the first, and with the last, I am he.

5 Coastlands have seen, so they fear, The ends of the earth, are in dread, —They have drawn near, and have come:

The sea-lands saw it, and were in fear; the ends of the earth were shaking: they came near.

6 Every man, to his neighbour, giveth help, —And to his brother, saith Take courage!

They gave help everyone to his neighbour; and everyone said to his brother, Take heart!

7 So, the carver, hath encouraged, the goldsmith, he that maketh smooth with the hammer, him that smiteth the anvil, —Saying of the welding, It is, good, Then hath he fastened it with nails—it must not totter!

So the metal-worker put heart into the gold-worker, and he who was hammering the metal smooth said kind words to the iron-worker, saying of the plate, It is ready: and he put it together with nails, so that there might be no slipping.

8 But, thou, Israel, my Servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, —The seed of Abraham my loving one;

But as for you, Israel, my servant, and you, Jacob, whom I have taken for myself, the seed of Abraham my friend:

9 Thou whom I have taken hold of from the ends of the earth, And from the extremities thereof, have called thee, —And said to thee, My Servant, thou! I have chosen thee and not cast thee off,

You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and sent for from its farthest parts, saying to you, You are my servant, whom I have taken for myself, and whom I have not given up:

10 Do not fear, for with thee, I am! Look not around, for, I, am thy God, —I have emboldened thee, Yea I have helped thee, Yea I have upheld thee with my righteous right-hand.

Have no fear, for I am with you; do not be looking about in trouble, for I am your God; I will give you strength, yes, I will be your helper; yes, my true right hand will be your support.

11 Lo! they shall turn pale and be ashamed—All they who have been incensed against thee, —They shall become as nothing and perish—The men who have been thine accusers:

Truly, all those who are angry with you will be made low and put to shame: those desiring to do you wrong will come to nothing and never again be seen.

12 Thou shalt seek them, but shalt not find them—The men who have contended with thee, They shall become as nothing, and as a thing of nought—The men who have warred against thee;

You will make search for your haters but they will not be there; those who make war against you will be as nothing and will come to destruction.

13 For I, Yahweh thy God am firmly grasping thy right-hand, —Who am saying unto thee Do not fear! I, have become thy helper!

For I, the Lord your God, have taken your right hand in mine, saying to you, Have no fear; I will be your helper.

14 Do not fear, Thou worm Jacob, Ye men of Israel, —I, have become thy helper, Declareth Yahweh, And thy redeemer The Holy One of Israel.

Have no fear, you worm Jacob, and you men of Israel; I will be your helper, says the Lord, even he who takes up your cause, the Holy One of Israel.

15 Lo! I have made of thee a new pointed threshing sledge, owning teeth, —Thou shalt thresh mountains and crush them, And, hills—like chaff, shalt thou make:

See, I will make you like a new grain-crushing instrument with teeth, crushing the mountains small, and making the hills like dry stems.

16 Thou shalt fan them and, a wind, shall carry them away, And, a whirlwind, scatter, them, —But, thou, shalt exult in Yahweh, And, in the Holy One of Israel, shalt thou boast thyself.

You will send the wind over them, and it will take them away; they will go in all directions before the storm-wind: you will have joy in the Lord, and be glad in the Holy One of Israel.

17 As for the oppressed and the needy. Seeking water when there is none, Their tongue with thirst being parched I—Yahweh, will answer them, The God of Israel, I will not forsake them:

The poor and crushed are looking for water where no water is, and their tongue is dry for need of it: I the Lord will give ear to their prayer, I the God of Israel will not give them up.

18 I will open, On bare hills rivers, and In the midst of plains, fountains, —I will make The desert, a lake of water, and Parched land, springs of water;

I will make rivers on the dry mountain-tops, and fountains in the valleys: I will make the waste land a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.

19 I will set in the desert! Cedar, acacia, and myrtle, and oil-tree, —I will place, in the waste plain, Cypress, holm-oak, and sherbin-cedar, together

I will put in the waste land the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive-tree; and in the lowland will be planted the fir-tree, the plane, and the cypress together:

20 That men may see and observe and consider and understand at once, That, the hand of Yahweh, hath done this, That the Holy One of Israel hath created it.

So that they may see and be wise and give their mind to it, and that it may be clear to them all that the hand of the Lord has done this, and that the Holy One of Israel has made it.

21 Bring near your contention, Saith Yahweh, —Advance your defences, Saith the King of Jacob:

Put forward your cause, says the Lord; let your strong argument come out, says the King of Jacob.

22 Let them advance them, and tell us, What shall happen, —Things known in advance—what they were, tell ye, That we may lay them to our heart and mark the after-story of them, Or, things yet to come, let us hear:

Let the future be made clear to us: give us news of the past things, so that we may give thought to them; or of the things to come, so that we may see if they are true.

23 Tell ye the events which shall be here-after, That we may perceive that gods, ye are, —Surely ye must do something—good or bad, That we may be amazed and behold it, at once.

Give us word of what will be after this, so that we may be certain that you are gods: yes, do good or do evil, so that we may all see it and be surprised.

24 Lo! ye, are, of nought, And your work is a puff of breath, —An abomination, he that chooseth you!

But you are nothing, and your work is of no value: foolish is he who takes you for his gods.

25 I have roused up one from the North, and he hath come, From the rising of the sun, calleth he on my Name, —And he hath come, on deputies, as though they were mortar, And as a potter treadeth clay.

I have sent for one from the north, and from the dawn he has come; in my name he will get rulers together and go against them; they will be like dust, even as the wet earth is stamped on by the feet of the potter.

26 Who hath told in advance, that we might know, And beforetime, that we might say Right! Nay, there is none who can tell. Nay, there is none who can let us hear, Nay, there is none who can understand what ye utter.

Who has given knowledge of it from the first, so that we may be certain of it? and from the start, so that we may say, His word is true? There is no one who gives news, or says anything, or who gives ear to your words.

27 He who is First, [can say], To Zion, Lo! there they are! And to Jerusalem, A herald of good-tidings, do I give.

I was the first to give word of it to Zion, and I gave the good news to Jerusalem.

28 So I look, And there is not, a Man! Even among these And there is none to advise, —That, when I ask them, can answer a word.

And I saw that there was no man, even no wise man among them, who might give an answer to my questions.

29 Lo! as to all of them, Vanity—nothingness, are their works, Wind and emptiness, their molten images!

Truly they are all nothing, their works are nothing and of no value: their metal images are of no more use than wind.