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.
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Isaiah 41: TEG
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Translated by Rev John Jones (Ioan Tegid).Published at Oxford in 1830, second edition 1842.
Isaias (Isaiah) 41
41
1LET the islands keep silence before me, and the nations take new strength. Let them come near, and then speak: let us come near to judgment together.
2Who hath raised up the just one from the east, hath called him to follow him? He shall give the nations in his sight, and he shall rule over kings: he shall give them as the dust to his sword, as stubble driven by the wind, to his bow.
3He shall pursue them, he shall pass in peace: no path shall appear after his feet.
4Who hath wrought and done these things, calling the generations from the beginning? I, the Lord. I am the first and the last.
5The islands saw it, and feared: the ends of the earth were astonished; they drew near, and came.
6Every one shall help his neighbour, and shall say to his brother: Be of good courage.
7The coppersmith striking with the hammer encouraged him that forged at that time, saying: It is ready for soldering. And he strengthened it with nails, that it should not be moved.
8But thou Israel art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend:
9In whom I have taken thee from the ends of the earth, and from the remote parts thereof have called thee, and said to thee: Thou art my servant, I have chosen thee and have not cast thee away.
10Fear not, for I am with thee: turn not aside, for I am thy God. I have strengthened thee and have helped thee: and the right hand of my just one hath upheld thee.
11Behold, all that fight against thee shall be confounded and ashamed: they shall be as nothing; and the men shall perish that strive against thee.
12Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find the men that resist thee. They shall be as nothing: and as a thing consumed the men that war against thee.
13For I am the Lord thy God, who take thee by the hand, and say to thee: Fear not. I have helped thee.
14Fear not, thou worm of Jacob, you that are dead of Israel. I have helped thee, saith the Lord, and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel.
15I have made thee as a new thrashing wain, with teeth like a saw. Thou shall thrash the mountains, and break them in pieces: and shalt make the hills as chaff.
16Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them. And thou shalt rejoice in the Lord: in the Holy One of Israel thou shalt be joyful.
17The needy and the poor seek for waters, and there are none: their tongue hath been dry with thirst. I the Lord will hear them. I the God of Israel will not forsake them.
18I will open rivers in the high hills, and fountains in the midst of the plains: I will turn the desert into pools of waters, and the impassable land into streams of waters.
19I will plant in the wilderness the cedar and the thorn and the myrtle and the olive-tree: I will set in the desert the fir-tree, the elm, and the box-tree together:
20That they may see and know, and consider, and understand together that the hand of the Lord hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it.
21Bring your cause near, saith the Lord: bring hither, if you have any thing to allege, saith the King of Jacob.
22Let them come and tell us all things that are to come, tell us the former things what they were: and we will set our heart upon them, and shall know the latter end of them. And tell us the things that are to come.
23Shew the things that are to come hereafter: and we shall know that ye are gods. Do ye also good or evil, if you can: and let us speak and see together.
24Behold, you are of nothing, and your work of that which hath no being: he that hath chosen you is an abomination.
25I have raised up one from the north: and he shall come from the rising of the sun. He shall call upon my name: and he shall make princes to be as dirt, and as the potter treading clay.
26Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know? And from time of old, that we may say: Thou art just? There is none that sheweth, nor that foretelleth, nor that heareth your words.
27The first shall say to Sion: Behold, they are here, and to Jerusalem I will give an evangelist.
28And I saw: and there was no one even among them to consult, or who, when I asked, could answer a word.
29Behold, they are all in the wrong, and their works are vain: their idols are wind and vanity.
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An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.