Isaiah 41
41
The Liberator of Israel
1Keep silence before me, O coastlands;#Earlier prophets had spoken of the Assyrians and Babylonians as the Lord’s instruments for the punishment of Israel’s sins; here the Lord is described as raising up and giving victory to a foreign ruler in order to deliver Israel from the Babylonian exile. The ruler is Cyrus (44:28; 45:1), king of Anshan in Persia, a vassal of the Babylonians. He rebelled against the Babylonian overlords in 556 B.C., and after a series of victories, entered Babylon as victor in 539; the following year he issued a decree which allowed the Jewish captives to return to their homeland (2 Chr 36:22–23; Ezr 1:1–4). For Second Isaiah, the meteoric success of Cyrus was the work of the Lord to accomplish the deliverance promised by earlier prophets.
let the nations renew their strength.
Let them draw near and speak;
let us come together for judgment.
2Who has stirred up from the East the champion of justice,
and summoned him to be his attendant?
To him he delivers nations
and subdues kings;
With his sword he reduces them to dust,
with his bow, to driven straw.
3He pursues them, passing on without loss,
by a path his feet scarcely touch.
4Who has performed these deeds?
Who has called forth the generations from the beginning?#Is 44:7; 46:10.
I, the Lord, am the first,
and at the last#The first…the last: God as the beginning and end encompasses all reality. The same designation is used in 44:6 and 48:12. I am he.
5The coastlands see, and fear;
the ends of the earth tremble:
they approach, they come on.
6Each one helps his neighbor,
one says to the other, “Courage!”
7The woodworker encourages the goldsmith,
the one who beats with the hammer, him who strikes on the anvil,
Saying of the soldering, “It is good!”
then fastening it with nails so it will not totter.
8But you, Israel, my servant,#Is 44:1–2, 21; 45:4.
Jacob, whom I have chosen,
offspring of Abraham my friend—
9You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth
and summoned from its far-off places,
To whom I have said, You are my servant;
I chose you, I have not rejected you—
10Do not fear: I am with you;
do not be anxious: I am your God.
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.
11Yes, all shall be put to shame and disgrace
who vent their anger against you;
Those shall be as nothing and perish
who offer resistance.
12You shall seek but not find
those who strive against you;
They shall be as nothing at all
who do battle with you.
13For I am the Lord, your God,
who grasp your right hand;
It is I who say to you, Do not fear,
I will help you.
14Do not fear, you worm Jacob,
you maggot Israel;
I will help you—oracle of the Lord;
the Holy One of Israel is your redeemer.#Redeemer: in Hebrew, go’el, one who frees others from slavery and avenges their sufferings; cf. Lv 25:48; Dt 19:6, 12. Cf. note on Ru 2:20.
15I will make of you a threshing sledge,
sharp, new, full of teeth,
To thresh the mountains and crush them,
to make the hills like chaff.
16When you winnow them, the wind shall carry them off,
the storm shall scatter them.
But you shall rejoice in the Lord;
in the Holy One of Israel you shall glory.
17The afflicted and the needy seek water in vain,
their tongues are parched with thirst.
I, the Lord, will answer them;
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
18I will open up rivers on the bare heights,
and fountains in the broad valleys;
I will turn the wilderness into a marshland,
and the dry ground into springs of water.
19In the wilderness I will plant the cedar,
acacia, myrtle, and olive;
In the wasteland I will set the cypress,
together with the plane tree and the pine,
20That all may see and know,
observe and understand,
That the hand of the Lord has done this,
the Holy One of Israel has created it.
21Present your case, says the Lord;#This indictment of Babylonian gods is patterned on a legal trial, in which they are challenged to prove power over events of history and so justify their status as gods (vv. 21–24). Israel’s God, on the other hand, has foretold and now brings to pass Israel’s deliverance (vv. 25–27). The accused are unable to respond (vv. 28–29). By such polemics (see also 43:12) the prophet declares that all gods other than the Lord are nonexistent; this implicit claim of monotheism later becomes explicit (see 43:10–11; 45:5–7, 14, 18, 21–22; 46:9; and note on 44:6).
bring forward your arguments, says the King of Jacob.
22Let them draw near and foretell to us
what it is that shall happen!
What are the things of long ago?
Tell us, that we may reflect on them
and know their outcome;
Or declare to us the things to come,#Things of long ago…things to come: there are no predictions attributed to idols that have since been fulfilled. Second Isaiah makes frequent reference to “things of long ago,” sometimes in conjunction with “things to come” or “new things” in connection with the Lord’s activity (cf. 42:9; 43:9, 18; 46:9–10; 48:3–8); both the old things (e.g., creation, exodus) and the new things (release from exile) God brings to pass (cf. 51:9–11), which is why he can declare them beforehand.
23tell what is to be in the future,
that we may know that you are gods!
Do something, good or evil,
that will put us in awe and in fear.
24Why, you are nothing
and your work is nought;
to choose you is an abomination!
25I have stirred up one from the north, and he comes;
from the east I summon him#I summon him: Cyrus. by name;
He shall trample the rulers down like mud,
like a potter treading clay.
26Who announced this from the beginning, that we might know;
beforehand, that we might say, “True”?
Not one of you foretold it, not one spoke;
not one heard you say,
27“The first news for Zion: here they come,”
or, “I will give Jerusalem a herald of good news.”
28When I look, there is not one,
not one of them to give counsel,
to make an answer when I question them.
29Ah, all of them are nothing,
their works are nought,
their idols, empty wind!
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Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc
Yeshayah (Isaiah) 41
41
1“Be silent before Me, you coastlands, and let peoples renew their power! Let them come near, then let them speak. Let us come together for right-ruling.
2“Who raised up the righteous one from the east, called him to His foot, gave the nations before him, and made sovereigns submit to him? He gave them as the dust to his sword, as driven stubble to his bow.
3“He pursued them, passed over in safety, by a path that he had not gone with his feet.
4“Who has performed and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? ‘I, יהוה, am the first, and with the last I am He.’ ”
5Coastlands see it and fear, the ends of the earth are afraid – they draw near and come.
6Everyone helps his neighbour, and says to his brother, “Be strong!”
7And the craftsman strengthens the goldsmith. He who smooths with the hammer inspires him who strikes the anvil, saying of the joining, “It is good.” And he strengthens it with nails, so it does not totter.
8“But you, Yisra’ĕl, are My servant, Ya‛aqoḇ, whom I have chosen, the descendants of Aḇraham who loved Me,
9whom I have strengthened from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest parts, and said to You, ‘You are My servant, I have chosen you and have not rejected you.
10Do not fear, for I am with you. Do not look around, for I am your Elohim. I shall fortify you, I shall also help you, I shall also uphold you with the right hand of My righteousness.’
11“See, all those who raged against you are ashamed and blush, they are as non-existent. And the men who strive with you perish.
12“You seek them but do not find them, those who struggle with you. Those who fight you are as non-existent, as naught.
13“For I, יהוה your Elohim, am strengthening your right hand, saying to you, ‘Do not fear, I shall help you.’
14“Do not fear, you worm Ya‛aqoḇ, you men of Yisra’ĕl! I shall help you,” declares יהוה and your Redeemer, the Set-apart One of Yisra’ĕl.
15“See, I shall make you into a new threshing sledge with sharp teeth, let you thresh mountains and beat them small, and make hills like chaff.
16“You winnow them, the wind lifts them up, and the whirlwind scatters them; but you, you rejoice in יהוה, and boast in the Set-apart One of Yisra’ĕl.
17“When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongues have failed for thirst, I, יהוה, do answer them; I, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, do not forsake them.
18“I open rivers on bare hills, and fountains in the midst of valleys; I make a wilderness become a pool of water, and a dry land springs of water.
19“I set in the wilderness cedar, acacia and myrtle and oil tree; I place in the desert cypress, pine and box tree together.
20“So that they see and know, and consider and understand together, that the hand of יהוה has done this, and the Set-apart One of Yisra’ĕl has created it.
21“Present your case,” says יהוה. “Let your strong ones come near,” says the Sovereign of Ya‛aqoḇ.
22“Let them draw near and declare to us what is going to take place; let them declare the former events, what they were, and we consider them, and know the latter end of them; or announce to us what is coming.
23“Declare the events that are going to come hereafter, and we know that you are mighty ones; yes, do good or do evil, and let us be amazed and see it together.
24“See, you are of naught, and your work a breath; he who chooses you is an abomination.
25“I have stirred up one from the north, and he comes; from the rising of the sun he calls on My Name. And he comes against princes as though mortar, as the potter treads clay.
26“Who has declared from the beginning, and we know? and former times, and we say, ‘He is righteous’? No, no one is declaring; no, no one is proclaiming; no, no one is hearing your words.
27“He who is First said to Tsiyon, ‘See, see them!’ And to Yerushalayim I give one who brings good news.
28“And I see that there is no man, and of these, there is no counsellor, who, when I ask of them, answers a word.
29“See, all of them are useless, their works are naught, their moulded images are wind and confusion.
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