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.

Be silent [and hearken] unto me, O ye Coastlands, And let the Races of Men renew their strength, —Let them approach, then, let them speak, Together, for controversy, let us draw near: —

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 roused up one from the East, In righteousness, called him to his feet, —Set before him nations And over kings, caused him to rule, His sword, made [them] like dust, His bow like driven chaff:

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

He pursued them passed along safely, —Upon the path of his own feet, entered he not?

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 performed, Calling the generations, in advance? I, Yahweh, [who am] First, And with them who are last, I, am the Same!

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

Coastlands have seen, so they fear, The ends of the earth, are in dread, —They have drawn near, and have come:

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

Every man, to his neighbour, giveth help, —And to his brother, saith Take 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.

So, the carver, hath encouraged, the goldsmith, he that maketh smooth with the hammer, him that smiteth the anvil, —Saying of the welding, It is, good, Then hath he fastened it with nails—it must not totter!

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

But, thou, Israel, my Servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, —The seed of Abraham my loving one;

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 taken hold of from the ends of the earth, And from the extremities thereof, have called thee, —And said to thee, My Servant, thou! I have chosen thee and not cast thee off,

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.

Do not fear, for with thee, I am! Look not around, for, I, am thy God, —I have emboldened thee, Yea I have helped thee, Yea I have upheld thee with my righteous right-hand.

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.

Lo! they shall turn pale and be ashamed—All they who have been incensed against thee, —They shall become as nothing and perish—The men who have been thine accusers:

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 them, but shalt not find them—The men who have contended with thee, They shall become as nothing, and as a thing of nought—The men who have warred 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, Yahweh thy God am firmly grasping thy right-hand, —Who am saying unto thee Do not fear! I, have become 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.

Do not fear, Thou worm Jacob, Ye men of Israel, —I, have become thy helper, Declareth Yahweh, And thy redeemer 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.

Lo! I have made of thee a new pointed threshing sledge, owning teeth, —Thou shalt thresh mountains and crush them, And, hills—like chaff, shalt thou make:

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 fan them and, a wind, shall carry them away, And, a whirlwind, scatter, them, —But, thou, shalt exult in Yahweh, And, in the Holy One of Israel, shalt thou boast thyself.

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.

As for the oppressed and the needy. Seeking water when there is none, Their tongue with thirst being parched I—Yahweh, will answer them, The God of Israel, I 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, On bare hills rivers, and In the midst of plains, fountains, —I will make The desert, a lake of water, and Parched 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 set in the desert! Cedar, acacia, and myrtle, and oil-tree, —I will place, in the waste plain, Cypress, holm-oak, and sherbin-cedar, 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 men may see and observe and consider and understand at once, That, the hand of Yahweh, hath done this, 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 near your contention, Saith Yahweh, —Advance your defences, 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 advance them, and tell us, What shall happen, —Things known in advance—what they were, tell ye, That we may lay them to our heart and mark the after-story of them, Or, things yet to come, let us hear:

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.

Tell ye the events which shall be here-after, That we may perceive that gods, ye are, —Surely ye must do something—good or bad, That we may be amazed and behold it, at once.

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

Lo! ye, are, of nought, And your work is a puff of breath, —An abomination, 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 roused up one from the North, and he hath come, From the rising of the sun, calleth he on my Name, —And he hath come, on deputies, as though they were mortar, And as a potter treadeth 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 told in advance, that we might know, And beforetime, that we might say Right! Nay, there is none who can tell. Nay, there is none who can let us hear, Nay, there is none who can understand what ye utter.

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

He who is First, [can say], To Zion, Lo! there they are! And to Jerusalem, A herald of good-tidings, do I give.

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

So I look, And there is not, a Man! Even among these And there is none to advise, —That, when I ask them, can answer a word.

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

Lo! as to all of them, Vanity—nothingness, are their works, Wind and emptiness, their molten images!