Isaiah 41

Israel Encouraged

1 “ ^aListen 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.
2 “ ^fWho 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.
4 “ ^mWho 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.
12 “ ^ahYou 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.
27 “ ^boPreviously 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.