Isa 41
1
Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the peoples renew their strength: let them
come near; then let them speak; let us come near together to judgment.
2
Who has raised up one from the east, whom he calls" in righteousness to his foot?
he gives nations before him, and makes him rule over kings; he gives them as the dust
to his sword, as the driven stubble to his bow.
3
He pursues them, and passes on safely, even by a way that he had not gone with his
feet.
4
Who has wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I, YHWH,
the first, and with the last, I am he.
5
The isles have seen, and fear; the ends of the earth tremble; they draw near, and
come.
6
They help every one his neighbor; and [every one] says to his brother, Be of good
courage.
7
So the carpenter encourages the goldsmith, [and] he who smooths with the hammer him
whom smites the anvil, saying of the soldering, It is good; and he fastens it with
nails, that is should not be moved.
8
But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend,
9
you whom I have taken hold of from the ends of the earth, and called from the corners
thereof, and said to you, You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you away;
10
Fear you not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen
you; yea, I will help you; yea, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness.
11
Behold, all they that are incensed against you shall be put to shame and confounded:
they that strive with you shall be as nothing, and shall perish.
12
You shall seek them, and shall not find them, even them that contend with you: they
that war against you shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nothing.
13
For I, YHWH your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, Fear not; I will help
you.
14
Fear not, you worm Jacob, and you men of Israel; I will help you, says YHWH, and your
Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
15
Behold, I have made you [to be] a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth; you
shall thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shall make the hills as chaff.
16
You shall winnow them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall
scatter them; and you shall rejoice in YHWH, you shall glory in the Holy One of Israel.
17
The poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue fails for thirst;
I, YHWH, will answer them, I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
18
I will open rivers on the bare heights, 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 put 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
that they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand
of YHWH has done this, and the Holy One of Israel has created it.
21
Produce your cause, says YHWH; bring forth your strong reasons, says the King of Jacob.
22
Let them bring forth, and declare to us what shall happen: declare you the former
things, what they are, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them;
or show us things to come.
23
Declare the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods:
yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together.
24
Behold, you are of nothing, and your work is of nothing; an abomination is he who
chooses you.
25
I have raised up one from the north, and he is come; from the rising of the sun one
that calls" upon my name: and he shall come upon rulers as upon mortar, and as the
potter treads clay.
26
Who has declared it from the beginning, that we may know? and beforetime, that we
may say, [He is] right? yea, there is none that declares, yea, there is none that
shows, yea, there is none that hears your words.
27
[I am the] first [that says] to Zion, Behold, behold them; and I will give to Jerusalem
one that brings good tidings.
28
And when I look, there is no man: even among them there is no counselor, that, when
I ask of them, can answer a word.
29
Behold, all of them, their works are vanity [and] nothing; their molten images are
wind and confusion.