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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Isaiah 41: LEB
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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.