Isaiah 41
41
1Listen to me in silence, you people who live in lands beyond the sea. Let the nations regain their strength. Then let them come and speak, and let us join together for judgment.#41:1. From what follows, and the context of previous verses, this chapter appears to be a call to decide between the true God and idols.
2Who has encouraged this one from the east who is called into God's service#41:2. “Into God's service”: literally, “to his feet.” to do what is right?#41:2. The prophecy is usually taken to refer to King Cyrus. He gives him nations, and helps him trample kings underfoot. He makes them like dust with his sword, and turns them into chaff with his bow, blown before him on the wind. 3He chases them down, and goes on unharmed, not following the usual routes. 4Who has achieved and done this, calling into existence each generation from the beginning of time? I, the Lord, the first and the last, I am the one.
5The islands watch in fear, the distant lands tremble. They get together and consult. 6They all help each other, encouraging one another to “Be strong!” 7The craftsman encourages the goldsmith; the one who beats out the metal with a hammer encourages the one hitting the anvil, saying the soldering is good. They nail the idol down so it won't fall over.
8But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, the ones I have chosen, descendants of my friend Abraham, 9I brought you back from distant lands, I called you back from faraway places, telling you, “You are my servants.” I have chosen you, and I have not abandoned you. 10Don't be afraid, for I am with you! Don't be frightened for I, your God, will make you strong, and I will certainly help you. I will support you with my strong hand, acting for what is right.
11See—everyone who is angry with you will be ashamed and disgraced. Those who fight against you will end up as nothing and die. 12Even though you look for your enemies, you won't find them. Those who attack you will become absolutely nothing. 13For I the Lord will grab you by the hand and tell you, “Don't be afraid! I myself will help you. 14Don't be frightened, Jacob, you little worm, you people of Israel, for I will help you,” declared the Lord your Savior, the Holy One of Israel. 15Look! I will make you into a new and sharp threshing device,#41:15. “Threshing device”: used for processing grain. with many pointed teeth. You will thresh the mountains and crush the hills, turning them into chaff. 16You will throw them into the air, the wind will carry them away, and a storm will scatter them. Then you will be happy in the Lord, and boast about the Holy One of Israel.
17The poor and needy search for water, but don't find any—their tongues are dry with thirst. I, the Lord, will respond to them; I, the God of Israel, won't abandon them. 18I will open up rivers in the desolate highlands and springs in the valleys. I will make pools in the wilderness and springs in the desert. 19I will plant cedars, acacias, myrtles, and olive trees in the desert. I will place evergreens in the desert, firs and box trees together. 20In this way everyone can see and know, they can think about it and draw the conclusion that it is the Lord who has done this, that the Holy One of Israel made it happen.
21“Now you submit your case,”#41:21. Regarding the abilities of idols in contrast to the evidence of the actions of God already mentioned says the Lord. “Present your evidence,” says the King of Jacob. 22“Let them#41:22. Referring to the idols, the false gods. come and tell us what's about to happen. Let them explain the things of the past, so that we can think about them and discover the final outcome. Or they can tell us about the future. 23Predict what's coming so we can know for sure that you are gods. At least do something, good or bad, to impress us when we see it. 24But look at you! You're nothing, and you can't do anything! Anyone who chooses you is disgusting!
25I have encouraged the one who comes from the north. He is from the east,#41:25. If this prophecy is taken to refer to Cyrus (see verse 2), then he comes from the east (literally “the rising sun”), but his entrance into Palestine would be from the north. and will respect me.#41:25. “Respect me”: literally, “call on my name,” often associated with the idea of worship. He will tread on rulers as if they were mortar, like a potter treading on clay.#41:25. Both mortar and clay were mixed using the feet.
26Who announced this beforehand so that we could know about it? Who let us know in the past, so that now we could say: ‘He was right’? None of you announced it, none of you predicted it, and nobody heard you say a word!#41:26. Referring to the inability of idols to predict the future. 27I was the first to announce to Zion: ‘Look, here they are!’ I was the one who brought to Jerusalem the good news. 28I look at these idols, and find there is no one who can say anything.#41:28. Expanded for clarity. None of them can give advice; when I ask them something, they can't even answer. 29Look at them! They're all evil, deceptive things. They can't do anything! They're just idols full of hot air!#41:29. “Hot air”: literally, “wind and emptiness.””
Currently Selected:
Isaiah 41: FBV
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com
Isaiah 41
41
XLI
1Keep silence before me, O Islands;
And let the nations renew their strength:
Let them draw near; then let them speak;
Let us come near together to judgment.
2Who hath stirred up from the east him,
Whom justice met at his feet?
Who hath given up the nations before him, that he should rule over kings?
Hath made as the dust, his sword;
As chaff driven by the wind, his bow?
3He hath pursued them, he hath passed safely,
By a way which no man had ever gone with his feet.
4Who hath wrought and done it,
Calling the generations from the beginning?
I Jehovah, the first;
And with the last, I am the same.
5The isles saw it, and feared;
The ends of the earth were terrified:
They drew near, they came together.
6They helped every one his neighbour,
And everyone said to his brother, Be of good courage.
7So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith,
And he that smootheth with the hammer him that smiteth on the anvil:
Saying of the soldering, It is good;
And he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved.
8But thou, O Israel, my servant,
O Jacob, whom I have chosen,
The seed of Abraham my friend;
9Thou, whom I have taken from the ends of the earth,
And called thee from the extremities thereof;
And said unto thee, Thou art my servant;
I have chosen thee, and will not reject thee.
10Fear not, for I am with thee;
Be not dismayed, for I am thy God.
I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee;
Yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
11Behold, all they that were enraged against thee shall be ashamed and confounded:
They that contended with thee shall become as nothing, and shall utterly perish.
12Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even the men that strove with thee:
They shall become as nothing, and as mere nought, even the men that opposed thee in battle.
13For I Jehovah thy God, hold thee fast by thy right hand,
Saying unto thee, Fear not: I am thy helper.
14Fear not, thou worm Jacob; ye mortals of Israel;
I will help thee, saith Jehovah;
And thy Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
15Behold, I have made thee a new sharp threshing wain, armed with pointed teeth:
Thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small;
And shalt make the hills as chaff.
16Thou shalt winnow them, and the wind shall carry them away,
And the whirlwind shall scatter them:
But thou shalt rejoice in Jehovah,
And shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.
17The poor and needy who seek for water, and there is none;
Whose tongue is parched with thirst:
I Jehovah will hear them;
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
18I will open rivers in the high places,
And fountains in the midst of the valleys:
I will make the wilderness a pool of water,
And the dry land springs of waters.
19I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia,
And the myrtle, and the oil-tree;
I will set in the desert the fir-tree,
The plane-tree, and the box together:
20That they might see, and know,
And consider, and understand together,
That the hand of Jehovah hath done this,
And the Holy One of Israel hath created it.
21Bring forward your cause, saith Jehovah:
Produce your strong arguments, saith the King of Jacob,
22Let them approach, and tell us the things that shall happen;
The things that shall first happen, what they are, let them tell us;
That we may consider them, and know the event of them:
Or declare to us things to come hereafter.
23Tell us the things that will come to pass in the later times,
That we may know if ye be gods:
Yea, do good, or do evil,
That we may look around us, and behold together.
24Lo, ye are worse than nothing;
And your work is less than nought:
An abomination is he that maketh choice of you.
25I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come;
From the rising of the sun shall he call upon my name:
And he shall trample on princes, as on mortar;
And as the potter treadeth down the clay.
26Who hath declared this from the beginning, that we should know it?
And beforehand, that we should say, It is right?
Yea, there was not one that declared it; yea, not one who had spread the report;
Yea, there was not one that heard your words.
27I am the first who said unto Zion, Behold, behold them I
And gave to Jerusalem a messenger of glad tidings.
28And I looked, but there was no man;
Even among these, but there was no counsellor;
And I inquired of them, but there was no one that could return an answer.
29Behold, they are all of them vanity;
Their works are nought:
Mere wind and emptiness are their molten images.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Translated by Rev John Jones (Ioan Tegid).Published at Oxford in 1830, second edition 1842.