Isaiah 41

1 Keep silence before Me, O coasts; and peoples shall renew strength; let them come near; then let them speak; let us come near together for judgment.

2 Who raised up the righteous one from the east, called him to His foot, gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings? He gave them as the dust to his sword, and as driven stubble to his bow.

3 He pursued them; he passed on in peace. He does not go by the way of his feet.

4 Who has planned and done it, calling forth the generations from the beginning? I, Jehovah, am the first and the last; I am He.

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

6 They each one helped his neighbor, and said to his brother, Be strong.

7 So the artisan strengthens the refiner, and he smoothing with the hammer, him who struck the anvil, saying of soldering, It is good. And he made it strong with nails; it will not totter.

8 But you, Israel, are My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham, My friend;

9 whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called you from its sides. And I said to you, You are My servant; I have chosen you, and not cast you away.

10 Do not fear; for I am with you; be not dismayed; for I am your God. I will make you strong; yes, I will help you; yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of My righteousness.

11 Behold, all those who were angered against you shall be ashamed and confounded; they shall be as nothing. And those who fight with you shall perish.

12 You shall seek them, and shall not find them; men warring against you shall be as nothing, and as ceasing.

13 For I, Jehovah your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, Do not fear; I will help you.

14 Do not fear, worm of Jacob and men of Israel; I will help you, says Jehovah, and your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

15 Behold, I make you a new sharp threshing instrument, a master of teeth; you shall thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shall make the hills like chaff.

16 You shall winnow them, and the wind shall carry them away, and a tempest shall scatter them. And you shall rejoice in Jehovah and shall glory in the Holy One of Israel.

17 The poor and needy seek water, and there is none; their tongue fails for thirst, I Jehovah will hear them, I the God of Israel will not leave them.

18 I will open rivers in high places, and fountains 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 plant the cedar in the wilderness, the acacia tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree. I will set the fir tree in the desert, and the pine, and the box tree together;

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

21 Bring near your cause, says Jehovah; bring out your strong reasons, says the King of Jacob.

22 Let them bring them out, and tell us what shall happen; let them reveal the former things, what they are, that we may look on them and know the final end of them; or declare to us things to come.

23 Reveal the near things after this, so that we may know that you are gods. Yes, do good, or do evil, so that we may be amazed and see together.

24 Behold, you are of nothing, and your work of nothing. He who chooses you is an abomination.

25 I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come from the sunrise; he will call on My name. And he shall come on rulers as on mortar, and as the potter tramples clay.

26 Who has declared from the beginning, that we may know? And beforetime, that we may say, He is righteous? Yea, no one declares; yea, no one proclaims; yea, no one hears your words.

27 I first shall say to Zion, Behold! Behold them! And I will give to Jerusalem one who bears good news.

28 For I looked, and there was no man; and of these no counselor was, that I might ask and they could answer.

29 Behold, they are all evil; their works are nothing; their images are wind and vanity.