Isaiah 41
41
Israel Encouraged
1“Coastlands, listen to Me in silence,
And let the peoples gain new strength;
Let them come forward, then let them speak;
Let us come together for judgment.
2Who has aroused one from the east
Whom He calls in righteousness to His feet?
He delivers up nations before him
And subdues kings.
He makes them like dust with his sword,
As the wind-driven chaff with his bow.
3He pursues them, passing on in safety,
By a way he had not been traversing with his feet.
4Who has performed and accomplished it,
Calling forth the generations from the beginning?
‘I, the Lord, am the first, and with the last. I am He.’ ”
5The coastlands have seen and are afraid;
The ends of the earth tremble;
They have drawn near and have come.
6Each one helps his neighbor
And says to his brother, “Be strong!”
7So the craftsman encourages the smelter,
And he who smooths metal with the hammer encourages him who beats the anvil,
Saying of the soldering, “It is good”;
And he fastens it with nails,
So that it will not totter.
8“But you, Israel, My servant,
Jacob whom I have chosen,
Descendant of Abraham My friend,
9You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth,
And called from its remotest parts
And said to you, ‘You are My servant,
I have chosen you and not rejected you.
10Do not fear, for I am with you;
Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, surely I will help you,
Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’
11Behold, all those who are angered at you will be shamed and dishonored;
Those who contend with you will be as nothing and will perish.
12You will seek those who quarrel with you, but will not find them,
Those who war with you will be as nothing and non-existent.
13For I am the Lord your God, who upholds your right hand,
Who says to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.’
14Do not fear, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel;
I will help you,” declares the Lord, “and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
15Behold, I have made you a new, sharp threshing sledge with double edges;
You will thresh the mountains and pulverize them,
And will make the hills like chaff.
16You will winnow them, and the wind will carry them away,
And the storm will scatter them;
But you will rejoice in the Lord,
You will glory in the Holy One of Israel.
17“The afflicted and needy are seeking water, but there is none,
And their tongue is parched with thirst;
I, the Lord, will answer them Myself,
As the God of Israel I will not forsake them.
18I will open rivers on the bare heights
And springs in the midst of the valleys;
I will make the wilderness a pool of water
And the dry land fountains of water.
19I will put the cedar in the wilderness,
The acacia and the myrtle and the olive tree;
I will place the juniper in the desert
Together with the box tree and the cypress,
20That they may see and recognize,
And consider and gain insight as well,
That the hand of the Lord has done this,
And the Holy One of Israel has created it.
21“Present your case,” the Lord says.
“Bring forward your strong arguments,”
The King of Jacob says.
22Let them bring forth and declare to us what is going to take place;
As for the former events, declare what they were,
That we may consider them and know their outcome.
Or announce to us what is coming;
23Declare the things that are going to come afterward,
That we may know that you are gods;
Indeed, do good or evil, that we may anxiously look about us and fear together.
24Behold, you are of no account,
And your work amounts to nothing;
He who chooses you is an abomination.
25“I have aroused one from the north, and he has come;
From the rising of the sun he will call on My name;
And he will come upon rulers as upon mortar,
Even as the potter treads clay.”
26Who has declared this from the beginning, that we might know?
Or from former times, that we may say, “He is right!”?
Surely there was no one who declared,
Surely there was no one who proclaimed,
Surely there was no one who heard your words.
27“Formerly I said to Zion, ‘Behold, here they are.’
And to Jerusalem, ‘I will give a messenger of good news.’
28But when I look, there is no one,
And there is no counselor among them
Who, if I ask, can give an answer.
29Behold, all of them are #Another reading is nothingfalse;
Their works are worthless,
Their molten images are wind and emptiness.
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Isaiah 41: NASB1995
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Isaiah 41
41
The Lord Controls Human Events
1Be silent and listen,
every island in the sea.
Have courage and come near,
every one of you nations.
Let's settle this matter!
2Who appointed this ruler
from the east?#41.2 ruler from the east: Probably Cyrus (see 44.28; 45.1; 48.14).
Who puts nations and kings
in his power?#41.2 Who puts … power: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
His sword and his arrows
turn them to dust
blown by the wind.
3He goes after them so quickly
that his feet
barely touch the ground—
he doesn't even get hurt.
4Who makes these things happen?
Who controls human events?
I do! I am the Lord.
I was there at the beginning;
I will be there at the end.
5Islands and foreign nations
saw what I did and trembled
as they came near.
What Can Idols Do?
6Worshipers of idols
comfort each other,
saying, “Don't worry!”
7Woodcarvers, goldsmiths,
and other workers#41.7 and other workers: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
encourage one another and say,
“We've done a great job!”
Then they nail the idol down,
so it won't fall over.
The Lord's Chosen Servant
8 #
2 Ch 20.7; Jas 2.23. Israel, you are my servant.
I chose you, the family
of my friend Abraham.
9From far across the earth
I brought you here and said,
“You are my chosen servant.
I haven't forgotten you.”
10Don't be afraid. I am with you.
Don't tremble with fear.
I am your God.
I will make you strong,
as I protect you with my arm
and give you victories.
11Everyone who hates you
will be terribly disgraced;
those who attack
will vanish into thin air.
12You will look around
for those brutal enemies,
but you won't find them—
they will be gone.
13I am the Lord your God.
I am holding your hand,
so don't be afraid.
I am here to help you.
14People of Israel, don't worry,
though others may say,
“Israel is only a worm!”
I am the holy God of Israel,
who saves and protects you.
15I will let you be like a log
covered with sharp spikes.#41.15 I will let … sharp spikes: In ancient times a heavy object was sometimes dragged over wheat or barley to separate the grain from the husk. This was called threshing.
You will grind and crush
every mountain and hill#41.15 mountain and hill: These stand for the power and pride of Israel's enemies.
until they turn to dust.
16A strong wind will scatter them
in all directions.
Then you will celebrate
and praise me, your Lord,
the holy God of Israel.
The Lord Helps the Poor
17When the poor and needy
are dying of thirst
and cannot find water,
I, the Lord God of Israel,
will come to their rescue.
I won't forget them.
18I will make rivers flow
on mountain peaks.
I will send streams
to fill the valleys.
Dry and barren land
will flow with springs
and become a lake.
19I will fill the desert
with all kinds of trees—
cedars, acacias, and myrtles;
olive and cypress trees;
fir trees and pines.
20Everyone will see this
and know that I,
the holy Lord God of Israel,
created it all.
Idols Are Useless
21I am the Lord,
the King of Israel!
Come argue your case with me.
Present your evidence.
22Come near me, you idols.#41.22 Come near … idols: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
Tell us about the past,
and we will think about it.
Tell us about the future,
so we will know
what is going to happen.
23Prove that you are gods
by making your predictions
come true.
Do something good or evil,
so we can be amazed
and terrified.#41.23 and terrified: Or “when we see it.”
24You idols are nothing,
and you are powerless.#41.24 powerless: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
To worship you
would be disgusting.
25I, the Lord, appointed a ruler
in the north;
now he comes from the east
to honor my name.
He tramples#41.25 tramples: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. kings like mud,
as potters trample clay.#41.25 trample clay: This was done to soften the clay and make it easier to shape.
26Did any of you idols predict
what would happen?
Did any of you get it right?
None of you told about this
or even spoke a word.
27I was the first to tell
the people of Jerusalem,
“Look, it's happening!”#41.27 Look … happening: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
I was the one who announced
this good news to Zion.
28None of these idols
are able to give advice
or answer questions.
29They are nothing,#41.29 nothing: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
and they can do nothing—
they are merely
a passing breeze.
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