Isaiah 41
41
The Lord Helps Israel
1The Lord says, “People who live on the islands,
come and stand quietly in front of me.
Let the nations gain new strength
in order to state their case.
Let them come forward and speak.
Let us go to court and find out who is right.
2“Who has stirred up a king from the east?
Who has helped him win his battles?
I hand nations over to him.
I bring kings under his control.
He turns them into dust with his sword.
With his bow he turns them into straw blowing in the wind.
3He hunts them down. Then he moves on unharmed.
He travels so fast that his feet
don’t seem to touch the ground.
4Who has made that happen? Who has carried it out?
Who has created all the people who have ever lived?
I, the Lord, have done it.
I was with the first of them.
And I will be with the last of them.”
5The people on the islands have seen that king coming.
And it has made them afraid.
People tremble with fear from one end of the earth to the other.
They come and gather together.
6They help one another.
They say to one another, “Be strong!”
7One skilled worker makes a statue of a god.
Another covers it with gold.
The first worker says to the second,
“You have done a good job.”
Another worker smooths out the metal with a hammer.
Still another gives the statue its final shape.
The one who hammers says to the one who shapes,
“You have done a good job.”
Then they nail the statue down so it won’t fall over.
8The Lord says, “People of Israel, you are my servants.
Family of Jacob, I have chosen you.
You are the children of my friend Abraham.
9I gathered you from one end of the earth to the other.
From the farthest places on earth I brought you together.
I said, ‘You are my servants.’
I have chosen you.
I have not turned my back on you.
10So do not be afraid. I am with you.
Do not be terrified. I am your God.
I will make you strong and help you.
I will hold you safe in my hands.
I always do what is right.
11“All those who are angry with you will be put to shame.
And they will be dishonored.
Those who oppose you will be destroyed.
And they will vanish.
12You might search for your enemies.
But you will not find them.
Those who go to war against you
will completely disappear.
13I am the Lord your God.
I take hold of your right hand.
I say to you, ‘Do not be afraid.
I will help you.’
14Family of Jacob, you are as weak as a worm.
But do not be afraid.
People of Israel, there are only a few of you.
But do not be afraid.
I myself will help you,” announces the Lord.
He is the one who sets his people free.
He is the Holy One of Israel.
15He says, “I will make you into a threshing sled.
It will be new and sharp.
It will have many teeth.
You will grind the mountains down and crush them.
You will turn the hills into nothing but straw.
16You will toss them in the air.
A strong wind will catch them and blow them away.
You will be glad because I will make that happen.
You will praise me.
I am the Holy One of Israel.
17“Those who are poor and needy search for water.
But there isn’t any.
Their tongues are dry because they are thirsty.
But I will help them. I am the Lord.
I will not desert them.
I am Israel’s God.
18I will make streams flow on the bare hilltops.
I will make springs come up in the valleys.
I will turn the desert into pools of water.
I will turn the dry and cracked ground into flowing springs.
19I will make trees grow in the desert.
I will plant cedar and acacia trees there.
I will plant myrtle and olive trees there.
I will make juniper trees grow in the dry and empty desert.
I will plant fir and cypress trees there.
20Then people will see and know
that my powerful hand has done it.
They will consider and understand
that I have created it.
I am the Holy One of Israel.”
21The Lord says to the nations and their gods,
“State your case.”
Jacob’s King says to them,
“Prove your case to me.
22Tell us, you false gods,
what is going to happen.
Tell us what happened in the past.
Then we can check it out
and see if it is really true.
Or announce to us the things that will take place.
23Tell us what will happen in the days ahead.
Then we will know that you are gods.
Do something. It does not matter whether it is good or bad.
Then we will be terrified and filled with fear.
24But you false gods are less than nothing.
Your actions are completely worthless.
I hate it when people worship you.
25“I have stirred up a king
who will come from the north.
He lives in the east.
He will bring honor to me.
He walks all over rulers as if they were mud.
He steps on them just as a potter stomps on clay.
26Which one of you false gods said those things
would happen before they did?
Who told us about them
so we could know them?
Who told us ahead of time?
Who told us so we could say,
‘You are right’?
None of you false gods told us about them.
None of you told us ahead of time.
In fact, no one heard you say anything at all.
27I was the first to tell Zion.
I said, ‘Look! The people of Israel are coming back!’
I sent a messenger to Jerusalem with the good news.
28I look, but there is no one
among the gods that can give me advice.
None of them can answer
when I ask them the simplest question.
29So they are not really gods at all.
What they do does not amount to anything.
They are as useless as wind.
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Isaiah 41: NIrV
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Isaiah 41
41
The Lord versus the Nations’ Gods
1“Be silent before me, coasts and islands!#Is 11:11; Hab 2:20; Zch 2:13
And let peoples renew their strength.
Let them approach; let them testify;
let’s come together for the trial.
2Who has stirred up someone from the east?#Is 41:25; 45:1–3; 46:11; Rv 16:12
In righteousness he calls him to serve.#41:2 Or Righteousness calls him to serve#41:2 Lit to his foot#Is 42:6
The Lord hands nations over to him,#2Ch 36:23; Ezr 1:2
and he subdues kings.
He makes them like dust with his sword,
like wind-driven stubble with his bow.
3He pursues them, going on safely,
hardly touching the path with his feet.
4Who has performed and done this,
calling the generations from the beginning?
I am the Lord, the first
and with the last#Is 43:10; 44:6; Rv 1:8,17; 22:13 — I am he.”#Is 43:13; 46:4; 48:12
5The coasts and islands see and are afraid,
the whole earth trembles.#Ps 67:7
They approach and arrive.
6Each one helps the other,
and says to another, “Take courage!”
7The craftsman encourages the metalworker;#Is 40:19
the one who flattens with the hammer
encourages the one who strikes the anvil,
saying of the soldering, “It is good.”
He fastens it with nails so that it will not fall over.#Is 40:20; 46:7
8But you, Israel, my servant,#Is 42:19; 43:10; 44:1–2,21; 45:4; 48:20; 49:3; 54:17; Ezk 28:25; 37:25; Lk 1:54
Jacob, whom I have chosen,#Is 42:1; 43:10,20; 44:1–2; 45:4; 49:7; 65:9,15,22
descendant of Abraham, my friend#2Ch 20:7; Jms 2:23 —
9I brought#41:9 Or seized you from the ends of the earth
and called you from its farthest corners.
I said to you: You are my servant;
I have chosen you; I haven’t rejected you.#Is 43:5–7
10Do not fear, for I am with you;#Gn 26:24; 28:15; Is 43:5; Jr 1:19; 15:20; 42:11
do not be afraid, for I am your God.#Ezk 34:31
I will strengthen you; I will help you;
I will hold on to you with my righteous right hand.#Ex 15:6,12; Ps 18:35; 48:10; 63:8; 138:7; 139:10
11Be sure that all who are enraged against you
will be ashamed and disgraced;#Is 45:24
those who contend with you
will become as nothing and will perish.
12You will look for those who contend with you,
but you will not find them.
Those who war against you
will become absolutely nothing.
13For I am the Lord your God,#Is 43:3
who holds your right hand,
who says to you, “Do not fear,
I will help you.
14Do not fear, you worm Jacob,#Jb 25:6; Ps 22:6
you men#41:14 LXX reads small number; DSS read dead ones of Israel.
I will help you” —
this is the Lord’s declaration.
Your Redeemer#Is 43:14; 44:6,24; 47:4; 48:17; 49:7,26; 54:5,8; 59:20; 60:16; 63:16 is the Holy One of Israel.#Is 1:4
15See, I will make you into a sharp threshing board,
new, with many teeth.
You will thresh mountains and pulverize them
and make hills into chaff.#Mc 4:13; Hab 3:12
16You will winnow them#Jr 51:2
and a wind will carry them away,
a whirlwind will scatter them.
But you will rejoice in the Lord;
you will boast in the Holy One of Israel.
17The poor and the needy seek water, but there is none;
their tongues are parched with thirst.
I will answer them.#Is 43:20; 44:3; 49:10; 55:1
I am the Lord, the God of Israel. I will not abandon them.
18I will open rivers on the barren heights,#Is 30:25
and springs in the middle of the plains.
I will turn the desert into a pool
and dry land into springs.#Ps 107:35; Is 35:6–7; 43:19
19I will plant cedar, acacia, myrtle, and olive trees
in the wilderness.#Is 35:1; 55:13; 60:13
I will put juniper, elm, and cypress trees together
in the desert,
20so that all may see and know,
consider and understand,
that the hand of the Lord has done this,#Jb 12:9; Is 66:14
the Holy One of Israel has created#Is 4:5 it.
21“Submit your case,” says the Lord.
“Present your arguments,” says Jacob’s King.
22“Let them come and tell us
what will happen.#Is 44:7–8; 45:21; 46:10
Tell us the past events,
so that we may reflect on them
and know the outcome,
or tell us the future.
23Tell us the coming events,#Is 42:9; 45:3; Jn 13:19
then we will know that you are gods.
Indeed, do something good or bad,
then we will be in awe#41:23 DSS read we may hear when we see it.
24Look, you are nothing#Ps 115:8; Is 44:9; 1Co 8:4
and your work is worthless.
Anyone who chooses you is detestable.
25“I have stirred up one from the north,#Jr 50:3 and he has come,
one from the east#Is 41:2; 46:11 who invokes my#41:25 DSS read his name.#Ezr 1:2–4
He will march over rulers as if they were mud,
like a potter who treads the clay.
26Who told about this from the beginning,
so that we might know,
and from times past,
so that we might say, ‘He is right’?
No one announced it,
no one told it,
no one heard your words.
27I was the first to say to Zion,#41:27 Lit First to Zion
‘Look! Here they are!’
And I gave Jerusalem a herald with good news.#Is 40:9; 44:28; 52:7; Nah 1:15
28When I look, there is no one;
there is no counselor among them;
when I ask them, they have nothing to say.#Is 46:7
29Look, all of them are a delusion;#41:29 DSS, Syr read are nothing
their works are nonexistent;
their images are wind and emptiness.
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