Isaiah 41

¹ Be silent before me, O coastlands,
and let the peoples renew their strength.
Let them approach, then let them speak;
let us come together for judgment.

² Who stirred up one from the east
whom victory meets at every step?
He gives up nations before him
and makes him trample kings;
he makes them like dust with his sword,
like driven stubble with his bow.

³ He pursues them and passes on safely,
by a path his feet have not traveled.

⁴ Who has performed and done this,
calling the generations from the beginning?
I, the LORD, am the first,
and with the last — I am he.

⁵ The coastlands saw and were afraid;
the ends of the earth trembled.
They drew near and came.

⁶ Each one helps his neighbor
and says to his brother, "Be strong!"

⁷ The craftsman strengthens the goldsmith;
the one who smooths with the hammer
strengthens the one who strikes the anvil,
saying of the soldering, "It is good";
and he fastens it with nails so it will not topple.

⁸ But you, Israel, my servant,
Jacob, whom I have chosen,
offspring of Abraham my friend —

⁹ you whom I took from the ends of the earth,
and called from its farthest corners,
and said to you, "You are my servant;
I have chosen you and not rejected you" —

¹⁰ do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

¹¹ See, all who are incensed against you
will be ashamed and disgraced;
those who contend with you
will be as nothing and will perish.

¹² You will seek them but will not find them —
those who quarrel with you.
Those who war against you
will be as nothing, as less than nothing.

¹³ For I, the LORD your God,
take hold of your right hand
and say to you, "Do not fear;
I will help you."

¹⁴ Do not fear, you worm Jacob,
you people of Israel!
I will help you — declares the LORD —
your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁵ See, I will make you into a new threshing sledge,
sharp, with many teeth.
You will thresh mountains and crush them,
and make hills like chaff.

¹⁶ You will winnow them and the wind will carry them away,
and a storm will scatter them.
But you will rejoice in the LORD;
in the Holy One of Israel you will glory.

¹⁷ The poor and needy seek water and there is none;
their tongue is parched with thirst.
I, the LORD, will answer them;
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.

¹⁸ I will open rivers on the bare heights
and springs in the midst of the valleys.
I will make the wilderness a pool of water
and the dry land springs of water.

¹⁹ I will put in the wilderness the cedar,
the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive.
I will set in the desert the cypress,
the elm, and the pine together —

²⁰ so that they may see and know,
consider and understand together,
that the hand of the LORD has done this,
and the Holy One of Israel has created it.

²¹ Present your case, says the LORD;
bring your proofs, says the King of Jacob.

²² Let them bring them forward and tell us what will happen.
The former things — what are they?
Tell us, so we may consider them
and know their outcome.
Or declare to us things to come.

²³ Tell us what is coming after,
so that we may know you are gods.
Do something — good or evil —
so that we may be dismayed and see it together.

²⁴ See — you are nothing,
and your work is less than nothing;
an abomination is the one who chooses you.

²⁵ I stirred up one from the north and he has come,
from the rising of the sun one who calls on my name.
He comes upon rulers as upon mortar,
as a potter treads clay.

²⁶ Who declared it from the beginning, so we might know,
and from beforehand, so we might say, "He is right"?
Indeed, no one declared it; indeed, no one announced it;
indeed, no one heard your words.

²⁷ I was the first to say to Zion, "Look — here they are!"
and to Jerusalem I give a bearer of good news.

²⁸ But when I look, there is no one;
among these there is no counselor
who, when I ask, can give an answer.

²⁹ See — all of them are nothing;
their works are nothing;
their metal images are wind and emptiness.