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
Isaiah 41
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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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.