Isa 41:9-29 | ESV | STEP | you 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 ;

9 you whom I took from the ends of the earth,
and called ^afrom its farthest corners,
saying to you, “You are ^bmy servant,
^cI have chosen you and not cast you off”;
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 ^dmy righteous right hand.
11 ^eBehold, 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.
12 ^fYou shall seek those who contend with you,
but you shall not find them;
^gthose who war against you
shall be as nothing at all.
13 For I, the Lord your God,
hold your right hand;
it is I who say to you, “Fear not,
I am the one who helps you.”
14 Fear not, you ^hworm Jacob,
you men of Israel!
I am the one who helps you, declares the Lord;
your ⁱRedeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
15 ^jBehold, I make of you a threshing sledge,
new, sharp, and having teeth;
you shall thresh ^kthe mountains and crush them,
and you shall make the hills like chaff;
16 ^lyou shall winnow them, and ^mthe wind shall carry them away,
and the tempest shall scatter them.
ⁿAnd you shall rejoice in the Lord;
in the Holy One of Israel you shall glory.
17 ^oWhen 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.
18 ^pI will open rivers on the bare heights,
and fountains in the midst of the valleys.
^qI will make the wilderness a pool of water,
and the dry land springs of water.
19 ^rI will put in the wilderness the cedar,
the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive.
I will set in the desert ^sthe cypress,
the plane and the pine together,
20 that they may see and know,
may consider and understand together,
that ^tthe hand of the Lord has done this,
the Holy One of Israel has created it.

The Futility of Idols

21 Set forth your case, says the Lord;
bring your proofs, says the King of Jacob.
22 Let them bring them, and ^utell 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.
23 ^vTell us what is to come hereafter,
that we may know that you are gods;
^wdo good, or do harm,
that we may be dismayed and terrified. ^{▼▼Or that we may both be dismayed and see}
24 Behold, ^yyou are nothing,
and your work is less than nothing;
an abomination is he who chooses you.
25 ^zI stirred up one from the north, and he has come,
^aafrom the rising of the sun, ^aband he shall call upon my name;
he shall trample on rulers as on mortar,
as the potter treads clay.
26 ^acWho declared it from the beginning, that we might know,
and beforehand, that we might say, “He is right”?
There was none who declared it, none who proclaimed,
none who heard your words.
27 ^adI was the first to say ^{▼▼Or Formerly I said} to Zion, “Behold, here they are!”
and ^afI give to Jerusalem a herald of good news.
28 ^agBut when I look, there is no one;
among these there is no counselor
who, when I ask, gives an answer.
29 ^ahBehold, they are all a delusion;
their works are nothing;
their metal images are empty wind.