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 isles; and let the people renew [their] strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us come near together 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 raised up the righteous [man] from the east, called him to his foot, gave the nations before him, and made [him] rule over kings? he gave [them] as the dust to his sword, [and] as driven stubble to 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 pursued them, [and] passed safely; [even] by the way [that] he had not gone with his feet.
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], calling the generations from the beginning? I the LORD, the first, and with the last; I [am] he.
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 feared; the ends of the earth were afraid, drew near, and came.
6 They encourage each other and say to each other, “Be strong!'
They helped every one his neighbor; and [every one] said to his brother, Be of good courage.
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 carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, [and] he that smootheth [with] the hammer him that smote the anvil, saying, It [is] ready for the sodering: 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 from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said to 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 will strengthen thee; yes, I will help thee; yes, I will 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, all [they that were] incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that contend with thee shall perish.
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 shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, [even] them that contended with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of naught.
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 will hold thy right hand, saying to thee, Fear not; I will 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, [and] ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the LORD, and thy Redeemer, 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 will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat [them] small, and shalt make 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 fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the LORD, [and] shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.
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.
[When] the poor and needy seek water, and [there is] none, [and] their tongue faileth for thirst, I the LORD will hear 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 rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land 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 plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah-tree, 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.
That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand 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 forth 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] forth, and show us what shall happen: let them show the former things, what they [are] that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare to us things 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!
Show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye [are] gods: yes, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold [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] of nothing, and your work of naught: an abomination [is he that] 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 raised up [one] from the north, and he shall come: from the rising of the sun shall he call upon my name: and he shall come upon princes as [upon] mortar, and as the potter treadeth 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 declared from the beginning, that we may know? and before time, that we may say, [He is] righteous? verily, [there is] none that showeth, verily, [there is] none that declareth, verily, [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 [shall say] to Zion, Behold, behold them: and I will give to Jerusalem 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.
For I beheld, and [there was] no man; even among them, and [there was] no counselor, that, when I asked of them, 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 [are] all vanity, their works [are] nothing: their molten images [are] wind and confusion.
