Isaiah 41
1 Iles, be stille to me, and folkis chaunge strengthe; neiye thei, and thanne speke thei; neiye we togidere to doom.
Come quietly before me, O sea-lands, and let the peoples get together their strength: let them come near; then let them say what they have to say: let us put forward our cause against one another.
2 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.
Who sent out from the east one who is right wherever he goes? he gives the nations into his hands, and makes him ruler over kings; he gives them as the dust to his sword, as dry stems before the wind to his bow.
3 He schal pursue hem, he schal go in pees; a path schal not appere in hise feet.
He goes after them safely, not touching the road with his feet.
4 Who wrouyte and dide these thingis? clepynge generaciouns at the bigynnyng. Y am the Lord; and Y am the firste and the laste.
Whose purpose and work was it? His who sent out the generations from the start. I the Lord, the first, and with the last, I am he.
5 Ilis sien, and dredden; the laste partis of erthe were astonyed; thei camen niy, and neiyiden.
The sea-lands saw it, and were in fear; the ends of the earth were shaking: they came near.
6 Ech man schal helpe his neiybore, and schal seie to his brother, Be thou coumfortid.
They gave help everyone to his neighbour; and everyone said to his brother, Take heart!
7 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.
So the metal-worker put heart into the gold-worker, and he who was hammering the metal smooth said kind words to the iron-worker, saying of the plate, It is ready: and he put it together with nails, so that there might be no slipping.
8 And thou, Israel, my seruaunte, Jacob, whom Y chees, the seed of Abraham, my frend, in whom Y took thee;
But as for you, Israel, my servant, and you, Jacob, whom I have taken for myself, the seed of Abraham my friend:
9 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.
You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and sent for from its farthest parts, saying to you, You are my servant, whom I have taken for myself, and whom I have not given up:
10 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.
Have no fear, for I am with you; do not be looking about in trouble, for I am your God; I will give you strength, yes, I will be your helper; yes, my true right hand will be your support.
11 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.
Truly, all those who are angry with you will be made low and put to shame: those desiring to do you wrong will come to nothing and never again be seen.
12 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.
You will make search for your haters but they will not be there; those who make war against you will be as nothing and will come to destruction.
13 For Y am thi Lord God, takynge thin hond, and seiynge to thee, Drede thou not, Y helpide thee.
For I, the Lord your God, have taken your right hand in mine, saying to you, Have no fear; I will be your helper.
14 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.
Have no fear, you worm Jacob, and you men of Israel; I will be your helper, says the Lord, even he who takes up your cause, the Holy One of Israel.
15 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.
See, I will make you like a new grain-crushing instrument with teeth, crushing the mountains small, and making the hills like dry stems.
16 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.
You will send the wind over them, and it will take them away; they will go in all directions before the storm-wind: you will have joy in the Lord, and be glad in the Holy One of Israel.
17 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.
The poor and crushed are looking for water where no water is, and their tongue is dry for need of it: I the Lord will give ear to their prayer, I the God of Israel will not give them up.
18 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.
I will make rivers on the dry mountain-tops, and fountains in the valleys: I will make the waste land a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.
19 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.
I will put in the waste land the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive-tree; and in the lowland will be planted the fir-tree, the plane, and the cypress together:
20 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.
So that they may see and be wise and give their mind to it, and that it may be clear to them all that the hand of the Lord has done this, and that the Holy One of Israel has made it.
21 Make ye niy youre doom, seith the Lord; brynge ye, if in hap ye han ony thing, seith the kyng of Jacob.
Put forward your cause, says the Lord; let your strong argument come out, says the King of Jacob.
22 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.
Let the future be made clear to us: give us news of the past things, so that we may give thought to them; or of the things to come, so that we may see if they are true.
23 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.
Give us word of what will be after this, so that we may be certain that you are gods: yes, do good or do evil, so that we may all see it and be surprised.
24 Lo! ye ben of nouyt, and youre werk is of that that is not; he that chees you, is abhomynacioun.
But you are nothing, and your work is of no value: foolish is he who takes you for his gods.
25 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.
I have sent for one from the north, and from the dawn he has come; in my name he will get rulers together and go against them; they will be like dust, even as the wet earth is stamped on by the feet of the potter.
26 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.
Who has given knowledge of it from the first, so that we may be certain of it? and from the start, so that we may say, His word is true? There is no one who gives news, or says anything, or who gives ear to your words.
27 The firste schal seie to Sion, Lo! Y am present; and Y schal yyue a gospellere to Jerusalem.
I was the first to give word of it to Zion, and I gave the good news to Jerusalem.
28 And Y siy, and noon was of these, that token councel, and he that was axid, answeride a word.
And I saw that there was no man, even no wise man among them, who might give an answer to my questions.
29 Lo! alle men ben vniust, and her werkis ben wynd and veyn; the symylacris of hem ben wynd, and voide thing.
Truly they are all nothing, their works are nothing and of no value: their metal images are of no more use than wind.
