Isaiah 41

1 Let the islands keep silence before me, and the nations take new strength: let them come near, and then speak, let us come near to judgment together.

Keep silence, and hear me, ye distant lands. Ye nations, gather your strength! Let them come near; then let them speak; Let us go together into judgment.

2 Who hath raised up the just one from the east, hath called him to follow him? he shall give the nations in his sight, and he shall rule over kings: he shall give them as the dust to his sword, as stubble driven by the wind, to his bow.

Who hath raised up from the region of the East Him whom victory meeteth in his march? Who hath subdued nations before him, And given him dominion over kings? Who made their swords like dust, And their bows like driven stubble?

3 He shall pursue them, he shall pass in peace, no path shall appear after his feet.

He pursued them, and passed in safety, By a path which his foot had never trodden.

4 Who hath wrought and done these things, calling the generations from the beginning? I the Lord, I am the first and the last.

Who hath wrought and done it? I, who have called the generations from the beginning, I, Jehovah, the first; And with the last also am I.

5 The islands saw it, and feared, the ends of the earth were astonished, they drew near, and came.

Distant nations saw it, and were afraid; The ends of the earth, and trembled; They drew near, and came together.

6 Every one shall help his neighbour, and shall say to his brother: Be of good courage.

One helped another, And said to him, “Be of good courage!”

7 The coppersmith striking with the hammer encouraged him that forged at that time, saying: It is ready for soldering: and he strengthened it with nails, that it should not be moved.

The carpenter encouraged the smith, He that smoothed with the hammer him that smote on the anvil, And said, “The soldering is good,” And he fastened it with nails that it might not fall.

8 But thou Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend:

But thou, O Israel, my servant, Thou, Jacob, whom I have chosen, Offspring of Abraham, my friend!

9 In whom I have taken thee from the ends of the earth, and from the remote parts thereof have called thee, and said to thee: Thou art my servant, I have chosen thee, and have not cast thee away.

Thou, whom I have led by the hand from the ends of the earth, And called from the extremities thereof, And said to thee, “Thou art my servant, I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away!”

10 Fear not, for I am with thee: turn not aside, for I am thy God: I have strengthened thee, and have helped thee, and the right hand of my just one hath upheld thee.

Fear not, for I am with thee; Faint not, for I, thy God, will strengthen thee; I will help thee, and sustain thee, with my right hand of salvation!

11 Behold all that fight against thee shall be confounded and ashamed, they shall be as nothing, and the men shall perish that strive against thee.

Behold, all who are enraged against thee Shall be ashamed and confounded; All that contend with thee Shall come to nothing and perish.

12 Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find the men that resist thee: they shall be as nothing: and as a thing consumed the men that war against thee.

Thou shalt seek and not find Them that contend with thee; They shall come to nothing, and be no more, Who make war against thee.

13 For I am the Lord thy God, who take thee by the hand, and say to thee: Fear not, I have helped thee.

For I, Jehovah, am thy God, that holdeth thee by the right hand, That saith to thee, “Fear not, I am thy helper!”

14 Fear not, thou worm of Jacob, you that are dead of Israel: I have helped thee, saith the Lord: and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel.

Fear not, thou worm Jacob, thou feeble people of Israel! I am thy helper, saith Jehovah; Thy redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.

15 I have made thee as a new thrashing wain, with teeth like a saw: thou shall thrash the mountains, and break them in pieces: and shalt make the hills as chaff.

Behold, I will make thee a thrashing-wain, sharp and new, With double edges; Thou shalt thrash the mountains, and beat them small, And make the hills as chaff.

16 Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, in the Holy One of Israel thou shalt be joyful.

Thou shalt winnow them, and the wind shall carry them away, And the whirlwind shall scatter them. But thou shalt rejoice in Jehovah, And glory in the Holy One of Israel.

17 The needy and the poor seek for waters, and there are none: their tongue hath been dry with thirst. I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.

When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, And their tongue is parched with thirst, I, Jehovah, will hear them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.

18 I will open rivers in the high bills, and fountains in the midst of the plains: I will turn the desert into pools of waters, and the impassable land into streams of waters.

I will open rivers upon the bare hills, 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 in the wilderness the cedar, and the thorn, and the myrtle, and the olive tree: I will set in the desert the fir tree, the elm, and the box tree together:

I will plant in the wilderness the cedar and the acacia, The myrtle and the olive-tree; I will place in the desert the cypress, The plane-tree and the larch together.

20 That they may see and know, and consider, and understand together that the hand of the Lord hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it.

That they may see, and know, And consider, and understand together, That the hand of Jehovah hath done this, And that the Holy One of Israel hath created it.

21 Bring your cause near, saith the Lord: bring hither, if you have any thing to allege, saith the King of Jacob.

Bring forward your cause, saith Jehovah; Produce your strong reasons, saith the king of Jacob.

22 Let them come, and tell us all things that are to come: tell us the former things what they were: and we will set our heart upon them, and shall know the latter end of them, and tell us the things that are to come.

Let them produce them, and show us what shall happen! Tell us what ye have predicted in times past, That we may consider, and know its fulfilment! Or declare to us things that are to come!

23 Shew the things that are to come hereafter, and we shall know that ye are gods. Do ye also good or evil, if you can: and let us speak, and see together.

Let us hear what shall happen in future times, That we may know whether ye are gods; Do something, be it good or evil, That we may be astonished, and see it together!

24 Behold, you are of nothing, and your work of that which hath no being: he that hath chosen you is an abomination.

Behold, ye are less than nothing, And your work is less than naught; An abomination is he that chooseth you!

25 I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come from the rising of the sun: he shall call upon my name, and he shall make princes to be as dirt, and as the potter treading clay.

I have raised up one from the north, and he cometh; From the rising of the sun he calleth upon my name; He trampleth upon princes as upon mortar; As the potter treadeth down the clay.

26 Who bath declared from the beginning, that we may know: and from time of old, that we may say: Thou art just. There is none that sheweth, nor that foretelleth, nor that heareth your words.

Who hath declared this from the beginning, that we might know it, And long ago, that we might say, It is true? There was not one that foretold it, not one that declared it, Not one that heard your words.

27 The first shall say to Sion: Behold they are here, and to Jerusalem I will give an evangelist.

I first said to Zion, Behold! behold them! And I gave to Jerusalem a messenger of glad tidings.

28 And I saw, and there was no one even among them to consult, or who, when I asked, could answer a word.

I looked, but there was no man; Even among them, but there was none that gave counsel; I inquired of them that they might give an answer;

29 Behold they are all in the wrong, and their works are vain: their idols are wind and vanity.

But behold, they are all vanity; Their works are nothing; Wind and emptiness are their molten images.