Isaiah 41
41
The Lord versus the Nations’ Gods
1“Be silent before Me, islands! # Is 11:11; Hab 2:20; Zch 2:13
And let peoples renew their strength.
Let them approach, then let them testify;
let us come together for the trial.
2Who has stirred him up from the east? # Is 41:25; 45:1-3; 46:11; Rv 16:12
He calls righteousness to his feet. # Hb obscure # Is 42:6
The Lord hands nations over to him, # 2Ch 36:23; Ezr 1:2
and he subdues kings.
He makes them like dust with his sword,
like wind-driven stubble with his bow.
3He pursues them, going on safely,
hardly touching the path with his feet.
4Who has performed and done this,
calling the generations from the beginning?
I, Yahweh, am the first,
and with the last # Is 43:10; 44:6; Rv 1:8,17; 22:13 — I am He.” # Is 43:13; 46:4; 48:12
5The islands see and are afraid,
the whole earth trembles. # Ps 67:7
They approach and arrive.
6Each one helps the other,
and says to another, “Take courage! ”
7The craftsman encourages the metalworker; # Is 40:19
the one who flattens with the hammer
supports the one who strikes the anvil,
saying of the soldering, “It is good.”
He fastens it with nails so that it will not fall over. # Is 40:20; 46:7
8But you, Israel, My servant, # Is 42:19; 43:10; 44:1-2,21; 45:4; 48:20; 49:3; 54:17; Ezk 28:25; 37:25; Lk 1:54
Jacob, whom I have chosen, # Is 42:1; 43:10,20; 44:1-2; 45:4; 49:7; 65:9,15,22
descendant of Abraham, My friend # 2Ch 20:7; Jms 2:23 —
9I brought # Or seized you from the ends of the earth
and called you from its farthest corners.
I said to you: You are My servant;
I have chosen you and not rejected you. # Is 43:5-7
10Do not fear, for I am with you; # Gn 26:24; 28:15; Is 43:5; Jr 1:19; 15:20; 42:11
do not be afraid, for I am your God. # Ezk 34:31
I will strengthen you; I will help you;
I will hold on to you with My righteous right hand. # Ex 15:6,12; Ps 18:35; 48:10; 63:8; 138:7; 139:10
11Be sure that all who are enraged against you
will be ashamed and disgraced; # Is 45:24
those who contend with you
will become as nothing and will perish.
12You will look for those who contend with you,
but you will not find them.
Those who war against you
will become absolutely nothing.
13For I, Yahweh your God, # Is 43:3
hold your right hand
and say to you: Do not fear,
I will help you.
14Do not fear, you worm Jacob, # Jb 25:6; Ps 22:6
you men # LXX reads small number ; DSS read dead ones of Israel:
I will help you —
this is the Lord’s declaration.
Your Redeemer # Is 43:14; 44:6,24; 47:4; 48:17; 49:7,26; 54:5,8; 59:20; 60:16; 63:16 is the Holy One of Israel. # Is 1:4
15See, I will make you into a sharp threshing board,
new, with many teeth.
You will thresh mountains and pulverize them
and make hills into chaff. # Mc 4:13; Hab 3:12
16You will winnow them # Jr 51:2
and a wind will carry them away,
a gale will scatter them.
But you will rejoice in the Lord;
you will boast in the Holy One of Israel.
17The poor and the needy seek water, but there is none;
their tongues are parched with thirst.
I, Yahweh, will answer them; # Is 43:20; 44:3; 49:10; 55:1
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
18I will open rivers on the barren heights, # Is 30:25
and springs in the middle of the plains.
I will turn the desert into a pool of water
and dry land into springs of water. # Ps 107:35; Is 35:6-7; 43:19
19I will plant cedars in the desert,
acacias, myrtles, and olive trees. # Is 35:1; 55:13; 60:13
I will put juniper trees in the desert,
elms and cypress trees together,
20so that all may see and know,
consider and understand,
that the hand of the Lord has done this, # Jb 12:9; Is 66:14
the Holy One of Israel has created # Is 4:5 it.
21“Submit your case,” says the Lord.
“Present your arguments,” says Jacob’s King.
22“Let them come and tell us
what will happen. # Is 44:7-8; 45:21; 46:10
Tell us the past events,
so that we may reflect on them
and know the outcome,
or tell us the future.
23Tell us the coming events, # Is 42:9; 45:3; Jn 13:19
then we will know that you are gods.
Indeed, do something good or bad,
then we will be in awe # DSS read we may hear and perceive.
24Look, you are nothing # Ps 115:8; Is 44:9; 1Co 8:4
and your work is worthless.
Anyone who chooses you is detestable.
25“I have raised up one from the north, # Jr 50:3 and he has come,
one from the east # Is 41:2; 46:11 who invokes My # DSS read his name. # Ezr 1:2-4
He will march over rulers as if they were mud,
like a potter who treads the clay.
26Who told about this from the beginning,
so that we might know,
and from times past,
so that we might say: He is right?
No one announced it,
no one told it,
no one heard your words.
27I was the first to say to Zion: # Lit First to Zion
Look! Here they are!
And I gave a herald of good news to Jerusalem. # Is 40:9; 44:28; 52:7; Nah 1:15
28When I look, there is no one;
there is no counselor among them;
when I ask them, they have nothing to say. # Is 46:7
29Look, all of them are a delusion; # DSS, Syr read are nothing
their works are nonexistent;
their images are wind and emptiness.
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Isaiah 41: HCSB
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Isaiah 41
41
1Listen 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.
2Who stirred up one from the east
whom victory meets at every step?
He gives up nations before him,
so that he 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,
by paths his feet have not trod.
4Who has performed and done this,
calling the generations from the beginning?
I, the Lord, the first,
and with the last; I am He.
5The coastlands have seen and are afraid,
the ends of the earth tremble;
they have drawn near and come.
6Every one helps his neighbor,
and says to his brother, “Take courage!”
7The craftsman encourages the goldsmith,
and he who smooths with the hammer him who strikes the anvil,
saying of the soldering, “It is good”;
and they fasten it with nails so that it cannot be moved.
8 #
Jas 2.23. #Lk 1.54; Heb 2.16. But you, Israel, my servant,
Jacob, whom I have chosen,
the offspring of Abraham, my friend;
9you 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 #
Acts 18.10. fear not, for I am with you,
be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.
11Behold, all who are incensed against you
shall be put to shame and confounded;
those who strive against you
shall be as nothing and shall perish.
12You shall seek those who contend with you,
but you shall not find them;
those who war against you
shall be as nothing at all.
13For I, the Lord your God,
hold your right hand;
it is I who say to you, “Fear not,
I will help you.”
14Fear not, you worm Jacob,
you men of Israel!
I will help you, says the Lord;
your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
15Behold, I will make of you a threshing sledge,
new, sharp, and having teeth;
you shall thresh the mountains and crush them,
and you shall make the hills like chaff;
16you shall winnow them and the wind shall carry them away,
and the tempest shall scatter them.
And you shall rejoice in the Lord;
in the Holy One of Israel you shall glory.
17When 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.
18I 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;
20that men may see and know,
may consider and understand together,
that the hand of the Lord has done this,
the Holy One of Israel has created it.
21Set forth your case, says the Lord;
bring your proofs, says the King of Jacob.
22Let them bring them, and tell us what is to happen.
Tell us the former things, what they are,
that we may consider them,
that we may know their outcome;
or declare to us the things to come.
23Tell us what is to come hereafter,
that we may know that you are gods;
do good, or do harm,
that we may be dismayed and terrified.
24Behold, you are nothing,
and your work is naught;
an abomination is he who chooses you.
25I stirred up one from the north, and he has come,
from the rising of the sun, and he shall call on my name;
he shall trample#41.25 Cn: Heb come on rulers as on mortar,
as the potter treads clay.
26Who declared it from the beginning, that we might know,
and beforetime, that we might say, “He is right”?
There was none who declared it, none who proclaimed,
none who heard your words.
27I first have declared it to Zion,#41.27 Cn: Heb first to Zion, Behold, behold them
and I give to Jerusalem a herald of good tidings.
28But when I look there is no one;
among these there is no counselor
who, when I ask, gives an answer.
29Behold, they are all a delusion;
their works are nothing;
their molten images are empty wind.
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