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].
Iles, be stille to me, and folkis chaunge strengthe; neiye thei, and thanne speke thei; neiye we togidere to doom.
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 reiside the iust man fro the eest, and clepide hym to sue hym silf? He schal yyue folkis in his siyt, and he schal welde kyngis; he schal yyue as dust to his swerd, and as stobil `that is rauyschid of the wynd, to his bowe.
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 schal pursue hem, he schal go in pees; a path schal not appere in hise 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 wrouyte and dide these thingis? clepynge generaciouns at the bigynnyng. Y am the Lord; and Y am the firste and the laste.
5 [People who live on] [PRS] islands in the ocean are afraid while they watch. People in remote areas tremble and gather together.
Ilis sien, and dredden; the laste partis of erthe were astonyed; thei camen niy, and neiyiden.
6 They encourage each other and say to each other, “Be strong!'
Ech man schal helpe his neiybore, and schal seie to his brother, Be thou coumfortid.
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!
A smyth of metal smytynge with an hamer coumfortide him that polischyde, ethir made fair, in that tyme, seiynge, It is good, to glu; and he fastenede hym with nailis, that he schulde not be mouyd.
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.
And thou, Israel, my seruaunte, Jacob, whom Y chees, the seed of Abraham, my frend, in whom Y took thee;
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.’
fro the laste partis of erthe, and fro the fer partis therof Y clepide thee; and Y seide to thee, Thou art my seruaunt; Y chees thee, and castide not awei thee.
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.
Drede thou not, for Y am with thee; boowe thou not awei, for Y am thi God. Y coumfortide thee, and helpide thee; and the riythond of my iust man vp took thee.
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.
Lo! alle men schulen be schent, and schulen be aschamed, that fiyten ayens thee; thei schulen be as if thei ben not, and men schulen perische, that ayen seien 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 schalt seke hem, and thou schalt not fynde thi rebel men; thei schulen be, as if thei ben not, and as the wastyng of a man fiytynge ayens 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 Y am thi Lord God, takynge thin hond, and seiynge to thee, Drede thou not, Y helpide 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.
Nyle thou, worm of Jacob, drede, ye that ben deed of Israel. Y helpide thee, seith the Lord, and thin ayen biere, the hooli 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.
Y haue set thee as a newe wayn threischynge, hauynge sawynge bilis; thou schalt threische mounteyns, and schalt make smal, and thou schalt sette litle hillis as dust.
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 schalt wyndewe hem, and the wynd schal take hem awei, and a whirlewynd schal scatere hem; and thou schalt make ful out ioie in the Lord, and thou schalt be glad in the hooli 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.
Nedi men and pore seken watris, and tho ben not; the tunge of hem driede for thirst. Y the Lord schal here hem, I God of Israel schal not forsake hem.
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.
Y schal opene floodis in hiy hillis, and wellis in the myddis of feeldis; Y schal sette the desert in to poondis of watris, and the lond without weie in to ryuers of watris.
19 I will plant [trees] in the desert— cedar [trees], acacia [trees], myrtle [trees], olive [trees], cypress [trees], fir [trees], and pine [trees].
Y schal yyue in wildirnesse a cedre, and a thorn, and a myrte tre, and the tre of an olyue; Y schal sette in the desert a fir tre, an elm, and a box tre togidere.
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 thei se, and knowe, and bithenke, and vndurstonde togidere; that the hond of the Lord dide this thing, and the hooli of Israel made that of nouyt.
21 [I], Yahweh, the true king of Israel say [to you nations], “Tell what your idols can do for you!
Make ye niy youre doom, seith the Lord; brynge ye, if in hap ye han ony thing, seith the kyng 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.
Neiy tho, and telle to vs, what euer thingis schulen come; telle ye the formere thingis that weren, and we schulen sette oure herte, and schulen wite; schewe ye to vs the laste thingis of hem, and tho thingis that schulen 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!
Telle ye what thingis schulen come in tyme to comynge, and we schulen wite, that ye ben goddis; al so do ye wel, ethir yuele, if ye moun; and speke we, and see we togidere.
24 But [that is impossible, because] idols are absolutely worthless [HYP]; they can do nothing, and I detest those who decide [to worship] idols.”
Lo! ye ben of nouyt, and youre werk is of that that is not; he that chees you, is abhomynacioun.
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 reiside fro the north, and he schal come fro the risyng of the sunne; he schal clepe my name. And he schal brynge magistratis as cley, and as a pottere defoulynge erthe.
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 tolde fro the bigynnyng, that we wite, and fro the bigynnyng, that we seie, Thou art iust? noon is tellynge, nether biforseiynge, nether herynge youre wordis.
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 firste schal seie to Sion, Lo! Y am present; and Y schal yyue a gospellere to Jerusalem.
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 Y siy, and noon was of these, that token councel, and he that was axid, answeride a word.
29 Think about it: Those idols are all useless, worthless [DOU] things. They are [as meaningless as] [MET] the wind.”
Lo! alle men ben vniust, and her werkis ben wynd and veyn; the symylacris of hem ben wynd, and voide thing.
