Isaiah 41

God Promises to Help Israel

1“You lands of the sea, stand silent before me! # 41:1 Or “hold a feast to me” (LXX).

Let the people renew their strength!

Let them approach me and state their case.

Let’s come together to decide who is right.

2Who raised up the conqueror from the east? # 41:2 See Isa. 46:11.

Who commissioned him for his righteous purpose? # 41:2 Or “Righteousness summoned him to his foot.” Some see King Cyrus as the conqueror mentioned here; others, Abraham. This can also be viewed as a prophecy of the Lord Jesus. He is the Mighty One who conquers nations with his love.

The Lord hands nations over to him # 41:2 See Gen. 12:1–3; Ps. 2:8; Rev. 2:26–29.

to trample kings under his feet, # 41:2 See Ps. 149:6–9.

to make them like dust with his sword # 41:2 See Eph. 6:17–18; Heb. 4:12.

and like windblown chaff with his bow. # 41:2 See Rev. 6:1–2.

3Swiftly he pursues them and advances unscathed

as he passes over unfamiliar land. # 41:3 Or “No shackle is placed on his feet” (Old Aramaic).

4Who achieved all this and made it happen?

Who guides the destiny of each generation

from the first until now? # 41:4 Or “calling nations [to be formed] from the beginning.”

I am the one! I am Yahweh, the first,

the unchanging one who will be there in the end!”

5The islands see it and panic;

the ends of the earth tremble;

they approach and draw near.

6The idol-makers all bolster one another up,

saying, “Take courage!”

7The woodworker encourages the metalsmith;

the one who flattens with the hammer

spurs on the one who strikes the anvil,

saying of the welding, “Looks good!”

They nail down the idol so it won’t topple.

8 # 41:8–20 Yahweh sings three poems of comfort in this chapter: to his chosen servant, Israel (vv. 8–13), to his redeemed warrior-bride (vv. 14–16), and to the poor and needy (vv. 17–20). “But you—my servant, Israel,

Jacob, whom I’ve chosen,

seed of my beloved friend Abraham # 41:8 See James 2:23. —

9I drew you to myself from the ends of the earth

and called you from its farthest corner.

I say to you:

‘You are my servant; I have chosen you.

I have not rejected you!

10Do not yield to fear, for I am always near.

Never turn your gaze from me, # 41:10 Or “Don’t be frightened.” The Hebrew root word shāʿah means “to gaze, to look around.” for I am your faithful God.

I will infuse you with my strength

and help you in every situation. # 41:10 See Deut. 31:6–8.

I will hold you firmly with my victorious right hand.’

11“All who rage against you will be ashamed and disgraced.

All who contend with you will perish and disappear.

12You will look for your enemies in vain;

those who war against you will vanish without a trace!

13I am Yahweh, your mighty God!

I grip your right hand and won’t let you go!

I whisper to you:

‘Don’t be afraid; I am here to help you!’

14“Jacob, although you feel like a grub worm, # 41:14 David used this term to prophetically point to Jesus as he was being crucified. See Ps. 22:6. The Hebrew word is tola, which is a species of worm found in the Middle East (Coccus ilicus) that reproduces itself when the female fastens herself to a tree and lays eggs between her body and the tree. When the eggs hatch, the baby worms feed on her living body. When the eggs emerge, the blood remains on the tree as a crimson stain. When Jesus died on the cross (tree), his blood left a crimson stain, and he gave birth to the church. He nourishes us and sustains us with his body and blood. have no fear!

O men of Israel, I am here to help you!

I am your Kinsman-Redeemer, # 41:14 A kinsman-redeemer (go’el) is a male relative who was culturally responsible to act on behalf of a relative who was in trouble or danger, needed to be redeemed from slavery, or was in need of rescue. He became like a “savior” or “family protector” for his next of kin. Jesus, our next of kin, is our Kinsman-Redeemer. The Hebrew verb ga’al (“to act as redeemer”) is found more than one hundred times in the Hebrew Bible. See Ruth 2:20.

the Holy One of Israel! # 41:14 Although God is holy, he stoops to tenderly help those who feel unholy.

15I am making you into a powerful threshing instrument, # 41:15 Or “a threshing sledge,” a board with iron studs like teeth that is driven over wheat to grind the chaff off the grain, which is then winnowed.

with teeth new and sharp! # 41:15 Or “the owner of two mouths.” The Word of God is like a “two-mouthed sword” (Heb. 4:12), for it is spoken from God’s mouth and is released in power as it is spoken from our mouths. We will become God’s two-mouthed threshing instrument!

You will reduce hills to chaff and crush mountains # 41:15 Mountains are a frequent biblical metaphor for kingdoms and nations. into dust!

16You will winnow them, and the stormy wind will blow them away!

Then you will spin and dance with rejoicing # 41:16 The Hebrew word for “rejoice” (giyl) implies “twirling,” “spinning,” or “shouting with delight and joy.” in Yahweh,

boasting with admiration in the Holy One of Israel! # 41:16 Or “You will rejoice among the holy things of Israel.”

17“I, Yahweh, will respond to the cry of the poor and needy

when they are thirsty and their tongues are parched with thirst!

When they seek a drink of water but there is none,

I, the God of Israel, will not abandon them.

18I will open up refreshing streams # 41:18 See John 7:37–39. on the barren hills

and springing fountains in the valleys. # 41:18 See Ps. 84:6.

I will make the desert a pleasant pool # 41:18 See Isa. 35:1–10.

and the dry land springs of water. # 41:18 See Ps. 78:15–16.

19I will plant in the treeless desert cedars and acacias, # 41:19 Acacia wood was used extensively in the tabernacle and was used to form the ark of the covenant.

myrtle # 41:19 “Myrtle” is the Hebrew word hadassah, Esther’s Jewish name. and olive trees. # 41:19 Or “trees of oil” (the Holy Spirit).

I will set in the wilderness evergreens, # 41:19 Or “fir trees.”

together with many elms and cypresses. # 41:19 These seven trees speak of the fullness of new creation life. Compare them to the seven branches of the lampstand and the seven Spirits of God.

20Everyone will see

and know that I, Yahweh, with my mighty hands have done this.

They will consider and comprehend

that the Holy One of Israel has created it.” # 41:20 That is, the Lord created the unity of this forest. God is the one who makes us one.

Pagan Gods Are Nothing

21Yahweh says, “Present your case.”

“Let’s hear your arguments,” says the King of Jacob’s tribes.

22“Come, you idols, and let’s hear your prophecy for the future.

Tell us, tell us about your former prophecies

so we can test them and see if they were fulfilled,

or decree some future event for us.

23Prophesy what the future holds

to prove to us that you are gods.

Do something—anything! # 41:23 Or “Do good, do harm.”

Frighten us or put us in awe!

24But you are nothing at all! What have you ever accomplished?

Whoever chooses to worship you is disgusting!

25“I stirred up one from the north,

who comes from the rising of the sun.

He will call on my name. # 41:25 Or “He is summoned in my name.” Some believe that Cyrus fulfilled this prophecy, for he came from the east (Persia) and descended on Israel from the north. Others believe this is the Messiah, who came from the north (see Ps. 48:2) and is the Dayspring (the rising of the sun).

He will trample rulers into the mud as a potter treads clay.

26Which of you foretold this from the start?

Who prophesied it from long ago that we can say, ‘He is right’?

None of you prophesied it!

None of you announced it ahead of time!

No one heard you say a thing about it!

27I was the first to decree to Zion, ‘Look, this is what’s about to happen!’ # 41:27 Fulfilled prophecy is one of many evidences that God is real and powerful and that he knows all things.

I am bringing a messenger to Jerusalem with good news.

28But when I look, I find no one who is capable to counsel me!

There is no one who can respond to me with the right answer!

Who could I even ask?

29Look, all these gods are nothingness!

What have they ever accomplished?

Their metal images are nothing but empty wind and confusion!

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Isaiah 41: TPT

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Isaiah 41

God Helps Israel

1Listen to me in silence, coastlands,

and let nations renew their strength.

Let them approach, then let them speak;

let us draw near together for judgment.

2Who has roused salvation from the east,

summoned#Or “called” him to his foot,

gives nations in his presence,#Literally “before his face”

and subjugates kings?

He makes#Or “gives” them like the dust with his sword,

like scattered stubble with his bow.

3He pursues them and passes on in peace;

he does not enter the path with his feet.

4Who has accomplished and done this,

calling the generations from the beginning?#Literally “head”

I, Yahweh, am first;

and I am the one with the last.

5The coastlands have seen and are afraid;

the ends of the earth tremble.

They have drawn near,

and they have come.

6Each one helps#Hebrew “help” his neighbor;

he says to his brother, “Take courage!”

7And the artisan encourages the goldsmith,#Literally “refiner”

the one who makes smooth with the hammer encourages the one who strikes the anvil,

saying of the soldering, “It is good!”

And they strengthen it with nails so it cannot be knocked over.

8But#Or “And” you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen,

you, the offspring#Literally “seed” of Abraham my friend,#Literally “beloved”

9you whom I grasped from the ends of the earth

and called from its remotest parts

and told, “You are my servant;

I have chosen you and I have not rejected you.”

10You must not fear, for I am with you;

you must not be afraid, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you, indeed I will help you,

indeed I will take hold of you with the right hand of my salvation.

11Look! All those who are angry with you shall be ashamed and humiliated;

your opponents#Literally “the men of your strife” shall be like nothing and shall become lost.

12You shall seek them,

but#Or “and” you shall not find them;

your opponents#Literally “the men of your strife” shall be like nothing,

and the men of your war like nothing.

13For I, Yahweh your God, am grasping your right hand;

it is I who say#Literally “the sayer” to you,

“You must not fear;

I myself, I will help you.

14You must not fear, O worm of Jacob;

people of Israel, I myself, I will help you,”

declares#Literally “declaration of” Yahweh,

“and your redeemer is the holy one of Israel.

15Look! I will make you into a new sharp threshing sledge,

with#Literally “owner of” sharp edges.

You shall thresh and crush the mountains,

and you shall make the hills like chaff.

16You shall winnow them and the wind shall carry them,

and the tempest shall scatter them.

And you yourself shall rejoice in Yahweh;

you shall boast in the holy one of Israel.

17The poor and the needy are seeking water and there is none;

their tongue is dried up with thirst.

I, Yahweh, will answer them;

I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.

18I will open rivers on the barren heights

and fountains in the midst of the valleys.

I will make the wilderness like a pool of water

and the land of dryness like springs of water.

19I will put#Literally “give” the cedar, acacia, myrtle, and olive oil tree in the wilderness;

I will set the cypress, elm, and box tree together in the desert

20so that they may see and know,

and take to heart and understand together

that the hand of Yahweh has done this,

and the holy one of Israel has created it.”

21“Present your legal case,” says Yahweh.

“Bring your evidence,” says the king of Jacob.

22Let them bring them,

and let them tell us what will happen.

Tell us what the former things are

so that#Or “And” we may take them to our heart

and know their outcome.#Or “end”

Declare to us the things to come;

23tell us the things coming hereafter,#Literally “later”

that#Or “and” we may know that you are gods.

Indeed, do good or#Or “and” do evil,

that#Or “and” we may be afraid and see#Following the reading tradition (Qere); the written text (Kethib) has “fear” together.

24Look! you are nothing,

and your work is something worthless;

whoever chooses you is an abomination.

25I stirred up one from the north,

and he has come from the rising of the sun.

He shall call on my name,

and he shall come on officials as on mortar,

and as the potter#Literally “creator” treads clay.

26Who declared it from the beginning#Literally “head” so that#Or “and” we might know,

and beforehand#Literally “from before faces” so that#Or “and” we might say, “He is right!”#Literally “righteous”

Indeed, there was no one who declared it;

Indeed, there was no one who proclaimed it.

Indeed there was no one who heard your words.

27First to Zion, look! Look at them!

And I give a herald#Or “bringer” of good tidings to Jerusalem.

28But#Or “And” I look and there is no man,

and I look among these and there is no counselor,

that#Or “and” I might ask them and they might answer a word.

29Look! All of them are deception;

their works are nothing;

their images are wind and emptiness.

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