Isaiah 41

Israel Encouraged

1aListen to Me bin silence, you coastlands,
And let the peoples cgain new strength;
dLet them come forward, then let them speak;
eLet’s come together for judgment.
2fWho has stirred one from the east
Whom He gcalls in righteousness to His
Lit foot
feet?
He iturns nations over to him
And subdues kings.
He makes them like jdust with his sword,
Like the wind-driven kchaff with his bow.
3 “He pursues them, passing on in safety,
By a way he had not been
Lit going
traversing with his feet.
4mWho has performed and accomplished it,
Summoning the generations from the beginning?
nI, the Lord, am the first, and with the last. oI am He.’”

5 The pcoastlands have seen and are afraid;
The qends of the earth tremble;
They have approached and have come.
6 Each one helps his neighbor
And says to his brother, “Be strong!”
7 So the rcraftsman encourages the ssmelter,
And he who smooths metal with the hammer encourages him who beats the anvil,
Saying of the soldering, “It is good”;
And he fastens it with nails,
tSo that it will not totter.
8 “But you, Israel, uMy servant,
Jacob whom I have chosen,
Descendant of vAbraham My wfriend,
9 You whom I have
Lit seized
,
ytaken from the ends of the earth
And called from its zremotest parts,
And said to you, ‘You are aaMy servant,
I have abchosen you and have not rejected you.
10 ‘Do not acfear, for I am with you;
Do not be afraid, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, adI will also help you,
I will also uphold you with My righteous aeright hand.’
11 “Behold, afall those who are angered at you will be shamed and dishonored;
agThose who contend with you will be as nothing and will perish.
12ahYou will seek those who quarrel with you, but will not find them,
Those who war with you will be as nothing and non-existent.
13 “For I am the Lord your God aiwho takes hold of your right hand,
Who says to you, ‘ ajDo not fear, I will help you.’
14 “Do not fear, you akworm Jacob, you people of Israel;
I will help you,” declares the Lord, “and alyour
Or Redeemer, the Holy One
Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
15 “Behold, I turned you into a new, sharp threshing sledge with double edges;
anYou will thresh the aomountains and pulverize them,
And make the hills like chaff.
16 “You will apwinnow them, and the wind will carry them away,
And the storm will scatter them;
But you will aqrejoice in the Lord,
You will boast in the Holy One of Israel.

17 “The poor and needy are seeking arwater, but there is none,
And their tongues are parched with thirst.
I, the Lord, aswill answer them Myself;
As the God of Israel I atwill not abandon them.
18 “I will open aurivers on the bare heights,
And springs in the midst of the valleys;
I will make avthe wilderness a pool of water,
And the dry land fountains of water.
19 “I will put the cedar in the wilderness,
The acacia, the awmyrtle, and the olive tree;
I will place the axjuniper in the desert,
Together with the elm tree and the cypress,
20 So that aythey may see and recognize,
And consider and gain insight as well,
That the azhand of the Lord has done this,
And the Holy One of Israel has created it.

21
Lit Bring near
Present your case,” the Lord says.
Bring forward your evidence,”
The bbKing of Jacob says.
22 bcLet them bring them forward and declare to us what is going to take place;
As for the bdformer events, declare what they were,
So that we may consider them and know their outcome.
Or announce to us what is coming;
23 beDeclare the things that are going to come afterward,
So that we may know that you are gods;
Indeed, bfdo good or evil, that we may be afraid and fear together.
24 Behold, bgyou are less than nothing,
And bhyour work is less than nothing!
He who chooses you is an biabomination.

25 “I have put bjone from the north into motion, and he has come;
From the rising of the sun he will call on My name;
And he will come upon rulers as upon
I.e., the building material
,
blmortar,
As the potter treads on clay.”
26 Who has bmdeclared this from the beginning, that we might know?
Or from former times, that we may say, “He is right!”?
There was bnno one at all who declared,
There was no one at all who proclaimed,
There was no one at all who heard your words.
27boPreviously I said to Zion, ‘Behold, here they are.’
And to Jerusalem, ‘I will give a bpmessenger of good news.’
28 “But bqwhen I look, there is no one,
And there is no brcounselor
Lit out of those
among them
Who, if I ask, can btgive an answer.
29 “Behold, all of them are
Another reading is nothing
false;
Their bvworks are bwnothing,
Their cast metal images are bxwind and emptiness.
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