Isaiah 41
41
Chapter 41
God judges the nations
1‘You islands, be quiet as you listen to me.
The nations need to come and stand in front of me.
So they must be brave and speak to me.
We must meet together to decide who is right.
2Tell me, who has woken up that king in the east?
Who has chosen that king to serve him?
He has given that king power over many nations,
so that the kings of those nations must obey him.
He uses that king's weapons to destroy other nations.
He blows them away like dust or straw.
3That king chases quickly after them,
and nothing hurts him.
His feet do not seem to touch the ground!
4Tell me, who has caused these things to happen?
Who has decided what should happen,
from the beginning, century after century?
It is I, the Lord!
I was there at the beginning,
and I will always be there, through to the end.
5The people on the islands see what I am doing,
and they are afraid.
People all over the world shake with fear.
They join together and they come near.
6They help each other,
and they say to one another, “Be strong!” ’
7The man who makes things with wood speaks to the man who works with gold and the man who works with iron. They help each other to work well. They say, ‘We have done a good job.’ Then they use nails to fix the idol that they have made, so that it does not fall over!
8‘But you, Israel, are my servant.
Yes, I have chosen you, descendants of Jacob.
You are descendants of my friend, Abraham.
9I led you back from the ends of the earth.
I called you to come from places far away.
I have said to you, “You are my servant.
I have chosen you. I have not thrown you away.
10I am with you,
so do not be afraid.
I am your God,
so do not be upset.
I will make you strong
and I will help you.
My powerful right hand will keep you safe.”
11Listen to this! Everyone who has been angry with you
will now become completely ashamed.
Those who have attacked you will disappear and die.
12Even if you look for your enemies,
you will not find them.
They will all disappear!
13Yes, I am the Lord, your God.
I will hold on to your right hand.
I say to you, “Do not be afraid. I will help you.”
14Do not be afraid, you Israelites, descendants of Jacob.
You may seem unimportant, like a worm,
but I myself will help you.’
That is what the Lord says.
He is your Redeemer, the Holy God of Israel.
15‘Look at this! I will cause you to destroy your enemies,
like a heavy weight that threshes grain. #41:15 ‘thresh’ means to hit hard, to remove seeds from wheat or other crops.
You will have new sharp metal points that are like teeth.
You will thresh the mountains
and you will break them into pieces.
You will make the hills become like straw.
16You will throw them into the air,
and the wind will blow them away in all directions!
You will be happy with what the Lord has done for you.
You will boast that the Holy God of Israel is your God.
17Poor and helpless people look for water to drink,
but there is none.
They are so thirsty that their tongues are dry.
But I, the Lord, will answer their prayers.
I, the God of Israel, will not leave them alone.
18I will make rivers run over the dry hills.
I will make springs of water in the valleys.
I will make pools of water in the desert.
The dry land will become a place of streams.
19Many trees will grow in the wilderness.
Cedar, acacia, myrtle and olive trees will grow there.
In the dry valleys
there will be pine, fir and cypress trees. #41:19 These kinds of trees do not usually grow together in the same place.
20I will do this so that people see it happen.
They will watch carefully and they will understand.
They will know that the Lord's power
has caused it to happen.
They will know that the Holy God of Israel
has created it.’
False gods have no power
21The Lord, Israel's King, says,
‘Come and show me what you can do!
Tell me clearly what power you have!
22Bring your idols into court.
Let them tell us what will happen in future years.
Let them tell us what happened in the past.
Then we can think about those things.
We will understand what happened in the end.
Or ask them to tell us about future events!
23If they can tell us what will happen in future years,
we will know that they really are gods.
Tell them to do something,
a good thing or a bad thing.
That would really surprise us,
or even frighten us!
24But no! Your idols are useless.
There is nothing that they can do.
Anybody who chooses to worship them
has turned against God!
25I have woken up a ruler,
who is coming with his army from the north.
He comes from a land in the east, where the sun rises,
and he will use my name to call to me.
He will walk over rulers of other nations
as if they are mud.
He will push them down with his feet,
like a potter who prepares his clay.
26Tell me, who decided in the beginning,
that all these things must happen?
Who told us about them before they happened?
Then we could say, “He was right!”
None of your idols said anything about it!
Nobody heard them say a word!
27I, the Lord, was the first person
to tell the good news to Zion.
I sent someone to Jerusalem to say,
“Look, they have arrived!”
28I looked among your idols,
to see who might be a good advisor.
But none of them could help.
None of them could answer my questions.
29Look! All the idols are useless.
They can do nothing.
Their images are as weak as a breath of wind.’
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Isaiah 41: EASY
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Isaiah 41
41
1“Keep silent before me, islands,
and let the peoples renew their strength.
Let them come near,
then let them speak.
Let’s meet together for judgment.
2Who has raised up one from the east?
Who called him to his feet in righteousness?
He hands over nations to him
and makes him rule over kings.
He gives them like the dust to his sword,
like the driven stubble to his bow.
3He pursues them
and passes by safely,
even by a way that he had not gone with his feet.
4Who has worked and done it,
calling the generations from the beginning?
I, Yahweh, the first, and with the last, I am he.”
5The islands have seen, and fear.
The ends of the earth tremble.
They approach, and come.
6Everyone helps his neighbor.
They say to their brothers, “Be strong!”
7So the carpenter encourages the goldsmith.
He who smooths with the hammer encourages him who strikes the anvil,
saying of the soldering, “It is good;”
and he fastens it with nails, that it might not totter.
8“But you, Israel, my servant,
Jacob whom I have chosen,
the offspring of Abraham my friend,
9you whom I have taken hold of from the ends of the earth,
and called from its corners,
and said to you, ‘You are my servant. I have chosen you and have not cast you away.’
10Don’t you be afraid, for I am with you.
Don’t be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you.
Yes, I will help you.
Yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness.
11Behold, all those who are incensed against you will be disappointed and confounded.
Those who strive with you will be like nothing, and shall perish.
12You will seek them, and won’t find them,
even those who contend with you.
Those who war against you will be as nothing,
as a nonexistent thing.
13For I, Yahweh your God, will hold your right hand,
saying to you, ‘Don’t be afraid.
I will help you.’
14Don’t be afraid, you worm Jacob,
and you men of Israel.
I will help you,” says Yahweh.
“Your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
15Behold, I have made you into a new sharp threshing instrument with teeth.
You will thresh the mountains,
and beat them small,
and will make the hills like chaff.
16You will winnow them,
and the wind will carry them away,
and the whirlwind will scatter them.
You will rejoice in Yahweh.
You will glory in the Holy One of Israel.
17The poor and needy seek water, and there is none.
Their tongue fails for thirst.
I, Yahweh, will answer them.
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
18I will open rivers on the bare heights,
and springs in the middle of the valleys.
I will make the wilderness a pool of water,
and the dry land springs of water.
19I will put cedar, acacia, myrtle, and oil trees in the wilderness.
I will set cypress trees, pine, and box trees together in the desert;
20that they may see, know, consider, and understand together,
that Yahweh’s hand has done this,
and the Holy One of Israel has created it.
21Produce your cause,” says Yahweh.
“Bring out your strong reasons!” says the King of Jacob.
22“Let them announce and declare to us what will happen!
Declare the former things, what they are,
that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them;
or show us things to come.
23Declare the things that are to come hereafter,
that we may know that you are gods.
Yes, do good, or do evil,
that we may be dismayed,
and see it together.
24Behold, you are nothing,
and your work is nothing.
He who chooses you is an abomination.
25“I have raised up one from the north, and he has come,
from the rising of the sun, one who calls on my name,
and he shall come on rulers as on mortar,
and as the potter treads clay.
26Who has declared it from the beginning, that we may know?
and before, that we may say, ‘He is right’?
Surely, there is no one who declares.
Surely, there is no one who shows.
Surely, there is no one who hears your words.
27I am the first to say to Zion, ‘Behold, look at them;’
and I will give one who brings good news to Jerusalem.
28When I look, there is no man,
even among them there is no counselor who, when I ask, can answer a word.
29Behold, all of their deeds are vanity and nothing.
Their molten images are wind and confusion.
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