Isaiah 41
41
Victor from the east
1Be quiet before me, coastlands.
Let the nations renew their strength.
Let them approach and speak.
Let’s draw near for a judgment.
2Who has awakened one from the east
and has authority to summon him to serve—
giving him nations,
conquering kings,
making them like dust with his sword,
like scattered straw with his bow?
3He pursues them and passes untouched,
needing no path for his feet.
4Who has acted and who has done this,
calling upon generation after generation since the beginning?
I, the LORD, was first,
and I will be the last!
5The coastlands see and fear;
the ends of the earth tremble;
they draw near and arrive.
6Each helps the other,
each saying to the other, “Take courage!”
7The craftsman encourages the metalworker;
the one who smoothes with the hammer
encourages the one who strikes the anvil,
saying of the welding, “That’s good,”
and strengthening it with nails so it won’t move.
Israel as God’s servant
8But you, Israel my servant,
Jacob, whom I have chosen,
offspring of Abraham, whom I love,
9you whom I took from the ends of the earth
and called from its farthest corners,
saying to you, “You are my servant;
I chose you and didn’t reject you”:
10Don’t fear, because I am with you;
don’t be afraid, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you,
I will surely help you;
I will hold you
with my righteous strong hand.
11All who rage against you will be shamed and disgraced.
Those who contend with you
will be as nothing and will perish.
12You will look for your opponents,
and won’t find them.
Those who fight you will be of no account and will die.
13I am the LORD your God,
who grasps your strong hand,
who says to you,
Don’t fear; I will help you.
14Don’t fear, worm of Jacob,
people of Israel!
I will help you, says the LORD.
The holy one of Israel is your redeemer.
15Look, I’ve made you
into a new threshing tool with sharp teeth.
You will thresh mountains and pulverize them;
you will reduce hills to straw.
16When you winnow them,
the wind will carry them off;
the tempest will scatter them.
You will rejoice in the LORD
and take pride in the holy one of Israel.
17The poor and the needy seek water, and there is none;
their tongues are parched with thirst.
I, the LORD, will respond to them;
I, the God of Israel, won’t abandon them.
18I will open streams on treeless hilltops
and springs in valleys.
I will make the desert into ponds
and dry land into cascades of water.
19I will plant in the desert cedar, acacia, myrtle, and olive trees;
I will put in the wilderness cypress, elm, and pine as well,
20so that they will see and know
and observe and comprehend
that the LORD’s hand has done this,
and the holy one of Israel has created it.
Other gods challenged
21Present your case, says the LORD.
Bring forward your evidence, says Jacob’s king.
22Let the idols#41.22 Or them approach
and tell us what will happen.
The prior things—what are they?
Announce them, and we’ll think about them
and know their significance.
Or proclaim to us what is to come!
23Report things that will happen in the future,
then we’ll know that you are gods.
Do good! Or do bad!
Then we will all be afraid and fearful.
24Look! You are nobody, and your deeds are nothing.
Whoever chooses you is disgusting.
25I woke up one from the north and he came;
from the east, one who calls my name.
He tramples governors like mud,
as a potter treads clay.
26Who announced this from the start
so that we would know;
from an earlier time
so we would say, “That’s right”?
Truly, no one announced it,
no one proclaimed it,
and no one heard your words.
27I first said it to Zion, “Look, here they are”;
to Jerusalem I now send a herald.
28But I look, and there’s no one
among them, no counselor;
and when I ask,
no one can answer.
29Look, all of them are frauds;
their deeds amount to nothing;
their images are a total delusion.
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Isaiah 41: CEB
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Isaiah 41
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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