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: —
Keep silence before me, O islands; and let nations acquire new strength: let them approach, then let them speak, together let us come near to judgment.
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 waked up from the east the man whom righteousness met in his steps? he giveth up nations before him, and maketh him rule over kings; that his sword may render them as the dust, as driven stubble, his bow.
3 He pursued them passed along safely, —Upon the path of his own feet, entered he not?
He pursueth them, passeth along in safety, by a path which his feet have not gone over before.
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!
Who hath wrought and done it? he who called the generations from the beginning; I the Lord, [who am] the first, and with the latest I am the same.
5 Coastlands have seen, so they fear, The ends of the earth, are in dread, —They have drawn near, and have come:
The isles saw it, and are afraid; the ends of the earth tremble; they draw near, and come.
6 Every man, to his neighbour, giveth help, —And to his brother, saith Take courage!
They help one another; and each one saith to his brother, Be strong!
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 smith encouraged the melter, he that smootheth with the hammer him that striketh on the anvil; saying of the solder, It is good; and he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved.
8 But, thou, Israel, my Servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, —The seed of Abraham my loving one;
But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, 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,
Thou, whom I have taken hold of from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the midst of its chiefs, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant, I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away.
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.
Fear thou not, for I am with thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God; I strengthen thee, yea, I help thee, yea, I uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
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:
Behold, ashamed and confounded shall be all that were incensed against thee; they shall be as naught and perish—the men that strive with thee.
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;
Thou wilt seek them, and shalt not find them, the men that contend with thee; they shall be as naught and as nothing, the men that make war against thee.
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 thy God lay hold of thy right hand; [I am he] who saith unto thee, Fear not, I help thee.
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.
Fear not, thou worm Jacob, ye few men of Israel: I myself help thee, saith the Lord, and thy redeemer is 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:
Behold, I have rendered thee a threshing instrument, sharp, new, having many teeth: thou shalt thresh mountains, and beat them small, and shalt render the hills as chaff.
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.
Thou shalt scatter them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the storm shall disperse them; but thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, in the Holy One of Israel shalt thou glorify thyself.
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 the needy seek water, and there is none; their tongue is dried up with thirst: I the Lord will answer them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.
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 open on naked mountain-peaks rivers, and in the midst of valleys fountains; I will change the wilderness into a pool of water, and the dry land into 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 place in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia, and the myrtle, and the oil-tree; I will set in the desert the fir-tree, the pine and the box-tree 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.
In order that they may see, and know and take [it to heart], and comprehend together, that the hand of the Lord hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it.
21 Bring near your contention, Saith Yahweh, —Advance your defences, Saith the King of Jacob:
Produce your cause, saith the Lord: bring forward your strong reasons, saith 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 them bring them forward and tell us what shall happen: the former things—what are they?—tell us, that we may take it to heart, and know the result of them; or let us hear the things that are to come.
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.
Tell the events that are to happen hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be astonished, and see it together.
24 Lo! ye, are, of nought, And your work is a puff of breath, —An abomination, he that chooseth you!
Behold, ye are less than nothing, and your work less than a breath: [he that is] an abomination [alone] chooseth you.
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 waked up one from the north, and he cometh; from the rising of the sun one who will call on my name: and he shall [over-]come princes as mortar, and as the potter treadeth down the clay.
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 hath told it from the beginning, that we may know it? and aforetimes, that we may say, “it is right?” but indeed there is none that telleth, indeed there is none that letteth us hear, indeed there is none that heareth 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.
The first [was I to say] to Zion, Behold, there they are; and to Jerusalem will I give one that bringeth good tidings.
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 ever look, and there is no man; and among these there is no counsellor, that they could answer a word.
29 Lo! as to all of them, Vanity—nothingness, are their works, Wind and emptiness, their molten images!
Behold, they all are naught; their works are nothing: wind and vanity are their molten images.
