Isaiah 41
1 [Yahweh says], “You [people who live on] [APO] islands in the ocean, be silent in front of me [while I ask you some questions]! Then you can be courageous and talk to me. We will meet together and decide [which one of us is right].
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 has urged this king to come from the east? Who has enabled his [army] to righteously defeat many nations and to trample their kings under their feet? With their swords they cut [their enemies] into tiny pieces [HYP]; with their arrows they cause their enemies to scatter like [SIM] the wind scatters 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 Even though they march through areas where they have not gone previously, they pursue [their enemies] and continue to march, and nothing stops them.
He pursueth them, passeth along in safety, by a path which his feet have not gone over before.
4 Who has enabled rulers to do [DOU] mighty things like that? Who has done that throughout all generations? It is I, Yahweh; I was the first [one to do things like that], and I will be the last one [to do them].”
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 [People who live on] [PRS] islands in the ocean are afraid while they watch. People in remote areas tremble and gather together.
The isles saw it, and are afraid; the ends of the earth tremble; they draw near, and come.
6 They encourage each other and say to each other, “Be strong!'
They help one another; and each one saith to his brother, Be strong!
7 The craftsmen encourage those who make things from gold, and the men who flatten metal encourage those who hammer metal (on an anvil/into shape). They all say, “The idol has been well made!” And then they carefully nail down the idol in order that it will not topple over!
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 [Yahweh says], “[You people of] Israel [are like] my servants; you are [descendants of] Jacob, whom I chose; [you are] descendants of Abraham, who [I said is] my friend.
But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend;
9 I summoned you from very distant places [DOU] on the earth, and I said ‘I [want you to] serve me; I have chosen you, and I will not reject you.’
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 be afraid, because I will (be with/help) you. Do not be discouraged, because I am your God. I will enable you to be strong, and I will help you; I will hold you up with my powerful arm by which you will be rescued.
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 It is certain that all those who are angry with you [Israeli people] will be disgraced [DOU]. Those who oppose you will be wiped out; they will all die.
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 If you search for those who tried to conquer you, you will not find them, [because they will all have disappeared]. Those who attacked you will not exist [any more].
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 [It will be as though] I will hold you up by your right hand. I am Yahweh, your God, and I say to you, ‘Do not be afraid, [because] I will help you.’
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 Although you people of Israel [DOU] [think that you are as insignificant as] worms, do not be afraid [of your enemies], because I will help you. I am Yahweh, the one who rescues you; I am 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 [I will cause] you to be like [MET] a (threshing sledge/big piece of metal that has sharp teeth for separating grain from chaff). You will tear [your enemies to bits], causing them to be like bits of chaff on the mountains.
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 You will toss them up into the air, and a strong wind will blow them away [DOU]. [When that happens], you will rejoice about what I [have done for you]; you will praise me, the Holy One of Israel.
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 When poor and needy people need water and they have no water, and their tongues are very dry because they are very thirsty, I, Yahweh, will come and help them. I, the God to whom you Israeli people belong, will never abandon 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 cause rivers to flow for them on the barren hills. I will give them fountains in the valleys. I will fill [HYP] the desert with pools of water. Water from springs will flow into rivers, and the rivers will flow across the dry ground.
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 plant [trees] in the desert— cedar [trees], acacia [trees], myrtle [trees], olive [trees], cypress [trees], fir [trees], and pine [trees].
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 [I will do that] in order that people who see it will think about it, and they will know and understand [DOU] that it is [I], Yahweh, who have done it; it is what [I], the Holy One of Israel, have done.
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 [I], Yahweh, the true king of Israel say [to you nations], “Tell what your idols can do for you!
Produce your cause, saith the Lord: bring forward your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob.
22 Bring them here to tell us what is going to happen! Ask them to tell us what things happened long ago, in order that we may think about those things, and learn if those things that they predicted really happened. Or, ask them to tell us about the future, in order that we can know what will happen.
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 [Yes], those idols should tell us what will happen in the future. If they do that, we will know that they are really gods. Tell them to do something—either something good or something bad! Tell them to do something that will cause us to be amazed and afraid!
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 But [that is impossible, because] idols are absolutely worthless [HYP]; they can do nothing, and I detest those who decide [to worship] idols.”
Behold, ye are less than nothing, and your work less than a breath: [he that is] an abomination [alone] chooseth you.
25 “[But] I have incited/urged a ruler who will come [with his army] from the north. I have summoned him to come from [his country, which is] east [of Israel], and I have given him my authority [MTY]. I will [enable his army to conquer other rulers]; they will trample those leaders like [SIM] a man who makes clay pots first tramples the 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 told you people long ago that this would happen?/No one told you people long ago that this would happen!) [RHQ] (Who predicted it, with the result that we can say, ‘What he predicted was correct!’?/No one predicted it, with the result that we can say, ‘What he predicted was correct!’) [RHQ] No one else said that it would happen.
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 I was the first one to tell [the people of] Jerusalem, ‘Listen to this! I have appointed a messenger to tell good news to you!’
The first [was I to say] to Zion, Behold, there they are; and to Jerusalem will I give one that bringeth good tidings.
28 None of your idols told you that [DOU]. And when I asked them questions, none of them was able to give me any answers.
And I ever look, and there is no man; and among these there is no counsellor, that they could answer a word.
29 Think about it: Those idols are all useless, worthless [DOU] things. They are [as meaningless as] [MET] the wind.”
Behold, they all are naught; their works are nothing: wind and vanity are their molten images.
