Isaiah 41

Israel Assured of God’s Help

1 # Isa 34.1; 40.31; 43.26; Zech 2.13 Listen to me in silence, O coastlands;

let the peoples renew their strength;

let them approach, then let them speak;

let us together draw near for judgment.

2 # 2 Chr 36.23; Isa 29.5; 40.24; 42.6; 45.1–3; 46.11 Who has roused a victor from the east,

summoned him to his service?

He delivers up nations to him

and tramples kings under foot;

he makes them like dust with his sword,

like driven stubble with his bow.

3He pursues them and passes on safely,

scarcely touching the path with his feet.

4 # Isa 43.10; 44.6, 7; 46.10; Rev 1.17; 22.13 Who has performed and done this,

calling the generations from the beginning?

I, the Lord, am first

and will be with the last.

5 # Ps 67.7 The coastlands have seen and are afraid;

the ends of the earth tremble;

they have drawn near and come.

6 # Isa 40.19 Each one helps the other,

saying to one another, “Take courage!”

7 # Isa 40.19, 20 The artisan encourages the goldsmith,

and the one who smooths with the hammer encourages the one who strikes the anvil,

saying of the soldering, “It is good,”

and they fasten it with nails so that it cannot be moved.

8 # 2 Chr 20.7; Isa 44.1; Jas 2.23 But you, Israel, my servant,

Jacob, whom I have chosen,

the offspring of Abraham, my friend;

9 # Ps 135.4; Isa 11.11; 42.1; 43.5–7 you whom I took from the ends of the earth

and called from its farthest corners,

saying to you, “You are my servant;

I have chosen you and not cast you off”;

10 # Isa 43.5; 44.2; Rom 8.31 do not fear, for I am with you;

do not be afraid, for I am your God;

I will strengthen you; I will help you;

I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.

11 # Isa 17.13; 45.24 All who are incensed against you

shall be ashamed and disgraced;

those who strive against you

shall be as nothing and shall perish.

12 # Isa 17.14; 29.20 You shall seek those who contend with you,

but you shall not find them;

those who war against you

shall be as nothing at all.

13 # v 10 ; Isa 42.6For I, the Lord your God,

hold your right hand;

it is I who say to you, “Do not fear,

I will help you.”

14 # Job 25.6; Isa 43.14 Do not fear, you worm Jacob,

you maggot#41.14 Cn: Heb men of Israel!

I will help you, says the Lord;

your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.

15 # Mic 4.13 I will make of you a threshing sledge,

sharp, new, and having teeth;

you shall thresh the mountains and crush them,

and you shall make the hills like chaff.

16 # Isa 45.25; Jer 51.2 You shall winnow them, and the wind shall carry them away,

and the tempest shall scatter them.

Then you shall rejoice in the Lord;

in the Holy One of Israel you shall glory.

17 # Isa 30.19; 42.16; 43.20 When the poor and needy seek water,

and there is none,

and their tongue is parched with thirst,

I the Lord will answer them,

I the God of Israel will not forsake them.

18 # Isa 35.6, 7; 43.19 I will open rivers on the bare heights

and fountains in the midst of the valleys;

I will make the wilderness a pool of water

and the dry land springs of water.

19I will put in the wilderness the cedar,

the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive;

I will set in the desert the cypress,

the plane and the pine together,

20 # Job 12.9; Isa 40.5 so that all may see and know,

all may consider and understand,

that the hand of the Lord has done this,

the Holy One of Israel has created it.

The Futility of Idols

21 # v 1 ; Isa 43.15Set forth your case, says the Lord;

bring your proofs, says the King of Jacob.

22 # Isa 43.9; 45.21 Let them bring them and tell us

what is to happen.

Tell us the former things, what they were,

so that we may consider them

and that we may know their outcome

or declare to us the things to come.

23 # Isa 42.9; 44.7, 8; 45.3; Jer 10.5; Jn 13.19 Tell us what is to come hereafter,

that we may know that you are gods;

do good, or do harm,

that we may be afraid and terrified.

24 # v 29 ; Ps 115.8; Isa 44.9; 1 Cor 8.4You, indeed, are nothing,

and your work is nothing at all;

whoever chooses you is an abomination.

25 # v 2 ; Isa 10.6I stirred up one from the north, and he has come,

from the rising of the sun he was summoned by name.#41.25 Compare Q ms Gk: MT he shall call on my name

He shall trample#41.25 Cn: Heb come on rulers as on mortar,

as the potter treads clay.

26 # Isa 44.7; 45.21; Hab 2.18, 19 Who declared it from the beginning, so that we might know,

and beforehand, so that we might say, “He is right”?

There was no one who declared it, none who proclaimed,

none who heard your words.

27 # v 4 ; Isa 40.9I first have declared it to Zion,#41.27 Cn Compare Q ms: Heb First to Zion—Behold, behold them

and I give to Jerusalem a herald of good tidings.

28 # Isa 40.13, 14; 46.7; 63.5 But when I look there is no one;

among these there is no counselor

who, when I ask, gives an answer.

29 # v 24 ; Isa 44.9; Jer 5.13No, they are all a delusion;

their works are nothing;

their images are empty wind.

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Isaiah 41: NRSVUE

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Isaiah 41

God's Assurance to Israel

1God says,

“Be silent and listen to me, you distant lands!

Get ready to present your case in court;

you will have your chance to speak.

Let us come together to decide who is right.

2“Who was it that brought the conqueror from the east,#41.2 the conqueror from the east: Cyrus, the emperor of Persia (see 45.1).

and makes him triumphant wherever he goes?

Who gives him victory over kings and nations?

His sword strikes them down as if they were dust.

His arrows scatter them like straw before the wind.

3He follows in pursuit and marches safely on,

so fast that he hardly touches the ground!

4Who was it that made this happen?

Who has determined the course of history?

I, the LORD, was there at the beginning,

and I, the LORD, will be there at the end.

5“The people of distant lands have seen what I have done;

they are frightened and tremble with fear.

So they all assemble and come.

6The craftsmen help and encourage one another.

7The carpenter says to the goldsmith, ‘Well done!’

The man who beats the idol smooth

encourages the one who nails it together.

They say, ‘The soldering is good’ —

and they fasten the idol in place with nails.

8 # 2 Chr 20.7; Jas 2.23 “But you, Israel my servant,

you are the people that I have chosen,

the descendants of Abraham, my friend.

9I brought you from the ends of the earth;

I called you from its farthest corners

and said to you, ‘You are my servant.’

I did not reject you, but chose you.

10Do not be afraid — I am with you!

I am your God — let nothing terrify you!

I will make you strong and help you;

I will protect you and save you.

11“Those who are angry with you

will know the shame of defeat.

Those who fight against you will die

12and will disappear from the earth.

13I am the LORD your God;

I strengthen you and say,

‘Do not be afraid; I will help you.’ ”

14The LORD says,

“Small and weak as you are, Israel,

don't be afraid; I will help you.

I, the holy God of Israel, am the one who saves you.

15I will make you like a threshing board,

with spikes that are new and sharp.

You will thresh mountains and destroy them;

hills will crumble into dust.

16You will toss them in the air;

the wind will carry them off,

and they will be scattered by the storm.

Then you will be happy because I am your God;

you will praise me, the holy God of Israel.

17“When my people in their need look for water,

when their throats are dry with thirst,

then I, the LORD, will answer their prayer;

I, the God of Israel, will never abandon them.

18I will make rivers flow among barren hills

and springs of water run in the valleys.

I will turn the desert into pools of water

and the dry land into flowing springs.

19I will make cedars grow in the desert,

and acacias and myrtles and olive trees.

Forests will grow in barren land,

forests of pine and juniper and cypress.

20People will see this and know

that I, the LORD, have done it.

They will come to understand

that Israel's holy God has made it happen.”

The LORD's Challenge to False Gods

21The LORD, the king of Israel, has this to say:

“You gods of the nations, present your case.

Bring the best arguments you have!

22Come here and predict what will happen,

so that we will know it when it takes place.

Explain to the court the events of the past,

and tell us what they mean.

23Tell us what the future holds —

then we will know that you are gods!

Do something good or bring some disaster;

fill us with fear and awe!

24You and all you do are nothing;

those who worship you are disgusting!

25“I have chosen a man who lives in the east;#41.25 a man who lives in the east: See 41.2.

I will bring him to attack from the north.

He tramples on rulers as if they were mud,

like a potter trampling clay.

26Which of you predicted that this would happen,

so that we could say that you were right?

None of you said a word about it;

no one heard you say a thing!

27I, the LORD, was the first to tell Zion the news;

I sent a messenger to Jerusalem to say,

‘Your people are coming! They are coming home!’#41.27 Verse 27 in Hebrew is unclear.

28When I looked among the gods,

none of them had a thing to say;

not one could answer the questions I asked.

29All these gods are useless;

they can do nothing at all —

these idols are weak and powerless.”

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