Isaiah 41

1 “Listen before me in silence, you coastlands; let the nations renew their strength; let them come near and speak; let us come near together to argue a dispute.

Keep silent towards Me, O isles, And the peoples pass on [to] power, They come nigh, then they speak, 'Together — to judgment we draw near.'

2 Who has stirred up one from the east, calling him in righteousness to his service? He hands nations over to him and helps him subdue kings. He turns them to dust with his sword, like windblown stubble with his bow.

Who stirred up from the east a righteous one? He calleth him to His foot, He giveth before him nations, And kings He causeth him to rule, He giveth [them] as dust [to] his sword, As driven stubble [to] his bow.

3 He pursues them and passes by safely, by a swift path that his feet scarcely touch.

He pursueth them, he passeth over in safety A path with his feet he entereth not.

4 Who has performed and accomplished these deeds? Who has summoned the generations from the beginning? I, Yahweh, the first, and with the last ones, I am he.

Who hath wrought and done, Calling the generations from the first? I, Jehovah, the first, and with the last I [am] He.

5 The isles have seen and are afraid; the ends of the earth tremble; they approach and come.

Seen have isles and fear, ends of the earth tremble, They have drawn near, yea, they come.

6 Everyone helps his neighbor, and every one says to one another, 'Be encouraged.'

Each his neighbour they help, And to his brother he saith, 'Be strong.'

7 So the carpenter encourages the goldsmith, and he who works with the hammer encourages him who works with an anvil, saying of the welding, 'It is good.' They fasten it with nails so it will not topple over.

And strengthen doth an artisan the refiner, A smoother [with] a hammer, Him who is beating [on] an anvil, Saying, 'For joining it [is] good,' And he strengtheneth it with nails, it is not moved!

8 But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham my friend,

— And thou, O Israel, My servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, Seed of Abraham, My lover,

9 you whom I am bringing back from the ends of the earth, and whom I called from the far away places, and to whom I said, 'You are my servant;' I have chosen you and not rejected you.

Whom I have taken hold of, from the ends of the earth, And from its near places I have called thee, And I say to thee, My servant Thou [art], I have chosen thee, and not rejected thee.

10 Do not fear, for I am with you. Do not be anxious, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, and I will help you, and I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Be not afraid, for with thee I [am], Look not around, for I [am] thy God, I have strengthened thee, Yea, I have helped thee, yea, I upheld thee, With the right hand of My righteousness.

11 See, they will be ashamed and disgraced, all who have been angry with you; they will be as nothing and will perish, those who oppose you.

Lo, all those displeased with thee, They are ashamed and blush, They are as nothing, yea, perish Do the men who strive with thee.

12 You will seek and will not find those who contended with you; those who warred against you will be like nothing, absolutely nothing.

Thou seekest them, and findest them not, The men who debate with thee, They are as nothing, yea, as nothing, The men who war with thee.

13 For I, Yahweh your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, 'Do not fear; I am helping you.'

For I, Jehovah thy God, Am strengthening thy right hand, He who is saying to thee, 'Fear not, I have helped thee.'

14 Do not fear, Jacob you worm, and you men of Israel; I will help you—this is Yahweh's declaration, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

Fear not, O worm Jacob, ye men of Israel, I helped thee, an affirmation of Jehovah, Even thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

15 Look, I am making you like a sharp threshing sledge, new and two-edged; you will thresh the mountains and crush them; you will make the hills like chaff.

Lo, I have set thee for a new sharp threshing instrument, Possessing teeth, thou threshest mountains, And beatest small, and hills as chaff thou makest.

16 You will winnow them, and the wind will carry them away; the wind will scatter them. You will rejoice in Yahweh, you will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

Thou winnowest them, and a wind lifteth them up, And a whirlwind scattereth them, And thou — thou rejoicest in Jehovah, In the Holy One of Israel dost boast thyself.

17 The oppressed and needy look for water, but there is none, and their tongues are parched for thirst; I, Yahweh, will respond to their prayers; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.

The poor and the needy are seeking water, And there is none, Their tongue with thirst hath failed, I, Jehovah do answer them, The God of Israel — I forsake them not.

18 I will make streams to flow down the slopes, and springs in the middle of the valleys; I will make the desert into a pool of water, and the dry land into springs of water.

I open on high places rivers, And in midst of valleys fountains, I make a wilderness become a pond of water, And a dry land become springs of water.

19 In the wilderness I will set the cedar, the acacia, and the myrtle, and the olive tree. I will set the cypress in the desert plain, with the pines and the cypress box trees.

I give in a wilderness the cedar, Shittah, and myrtle, and oil-tree, I set in a desert the fir-pine and box-wood together.

20 I will do this so that the people may see, recognize, and understand together, that the hand of Yahweh has done this, that the Holy One of Israel has created it.

So that they see, and know, And regard, and act wisely together, For the hand of Jehovah hath done this, And the Holy One of Israel hath prepared it.

21 “Present your case,” says Yahweh, “present your best arguments for your idols,” says the King of Jacob.

Bring near your cause, saith Jehovah, Bring nigh your mighty ones, saith the king of Jacob.

22 Let them bring us their own arguments; have them come forward and declare to us what will happen, so we may know these things well. Have them tell us of earlier predictive declarations, so we can reflect on them and know how they were fulfilled.

They bring nigh, and declare to us that which doth happen, The first things — what they [are] declare ye, And we set our heart, and know their latter end, Or the coming things cause us to hear.

23 Tell things about the future, that we may know if you are gods; do something good or evil, that we may be frightened and impressed.

Declare the things that are coming hereafter, And we know that ye [are] gods, Yea, ye may do good or do evil, And we look around and see [it] together.

24 See, you idols are nothing and your deeds are nothing; the one who chooses you is detestable.

Lo, ye [are] of nothing, and your work of nought, An abomination — it fixeth on you.

25 I have raised up one from the north, and he comes; from the sun's rising I summon him who calls on my name, and he will trample the rulers like mud, like a potter who is treading on the clay.

I have stirred up [one] from the north, And he cometh, From the rising of the sun he calleth in My name, And he cometh in [on] prefects as [on] clay, And as a potter treadeth down mire.

26 Who announced this from the beginning, that we might know? Before this time, that we may say, “He is right”? Indeed none of them decreed it, yes, none heard you say anything.

Who hath declared from the first, and we know? And beforetime, and we say, 'Righteous?' yea, there is none declaring, Yea, there is none proclaiming, Yea, there is none hearing your sayings.

27 I first said to Zion, “Look here they are;” I sent a herald to Jerusalem.

First to Zion, Behold, behold them, And to Jerusalem one proclaiming tidings I give,

28 When I look, there is no one, not one among them who can give good advice, who, when I ask, can answer a word.

And I see that there is no man, Yea, of these that there is no counsellor, And I ask them, and they return word:

29 Look, all of them are nothing, and their deeds are nothing; their cast metal figures are wind and emptiness.

'Lo, all of them [are] vanity, Nought [are] their works, Wind and emptiness their molten images!'