Isaiah 41

1 Keep silence before me, O isles; and let the people renew their strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us come near together to judgment.

Hold a feast to me, you islands: for the princes shall renew [their] strength: let them draw near and speak together: then let them declare judgment.

2 Who raised up the righteous man 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.

Who raised up righteousness from the east, [and] called it to his feet, so that it should go? shall appoint [it] an adversary of Gentiles, and shall dismay kings, and bury their swords in the earth, and cast forth their bows and arrows as sticks?

3 He pursued them, and passed safely; even by the way that he had not gone with his feet.

And he shall pursue them; the way of his feet shall proceed in peace.

4 Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he.

Who has wrought and done these things? he has called it who called it from the generations of old; I God, the first and to [all] futurity, I AM.

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

The nations saw, and feared; the ends of the earth drew near, and came together,

6 They helped every one his neighbour; and every one said to his brother, Be of good courage.

every one judging for his neighbor and [that] to assist his brother: and one will say,

7 So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he that smootheth with the hammer him that smote the anvil, saying, It is ready for the sodering: and he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved.

The artificer has become strong, and the coppersmith that smites with the hammer, [and] forges also: sometimes he will say, It is a piece well joined: they have fastened them with nails; they will fix them, and they shall not be moved.

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

But you, Israel, are my servant Jacob, and he whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraam, whom I have loved:

9 Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from its chief men, and said to thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away.

whom I have taken hold of from the ends of the earth, and from the high places of it I have called you, and said to you, You are my servant; I have chosen you, and I have not forsaken you.

10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

Fear not; for I am with you: wander not; for I am your God, who have strengthened you; and I have helped you, and have established you with my just right hand.

11 Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that contend with thee shall perish.

Behold, all your adversaries shall be ashamed and confounded; for they shall be as if they were not: and all your opponents shall perish.

12 Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought.

You shall seek them, and you shall not find the men who shall insolently rage against you: for they shall be as if they were not, and they that war against you shall not be.

13 For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying to thee, Fear not; I will help thee.

For I am your God, who holds your right hand, who says to you,

14 Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the LORD, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

Fear not, Jacob, [and you] Israel few in number; I have helped you, says your God, he that redeems you, O Israel.

15 Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff.

Behold, I have made you as new saw-shaped threshing wheels of a waggon; and you shall thresh the mountains, and beat the hills to powder, and make [them] 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, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.

and you shall winnow [them], and the wind shall carry them away, and a tempest shall scatter them: but you shall rejoice in the holy ones of Israel.

17 When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the LORD will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.

And the poor and the needy shall exult; for [when] they shall seek water, and there shall be none, [and] their tongue is parched with thirst, I the Lord God, I the God of Israel will hear, and will not forsake 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.

but I will open rivers on the mountains, and fountains in the midst of plains: I will make the desert pools of water, and a thirsty land watercourses.

19 I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, the pine, and the box tree together:

I will plant in the dry land the cedar and box, the myrtle and cypress, and white poplar:

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 perceive, and understand together, that the hand of the Lord has wrought these [works], and the Holy One of Israel has displayed [them].

21 Produce your cause, saith the LORD; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob.

Your judgment draws near, says the Lord God; your counsels have drawn near, says the King of Jacob.

22 Let them bring them forth, and show us what shall happen: let them show the former things, what they are, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare to us things to come.

Let them draw near, and declare to you what things shall come to pass; or tell [us] what things were of old, and we will apply [our] understanding, and we shall know what are the last and the future things:

23 Show the things that are to come after this, that we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together.

tell us, declare you to us the things that are coming on at the last [time], and we shall know that you are gods: do good, and do evil, and we shall wonder, and see at the same time

24 Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work of nought: an abomination is he that chooseth you.

whence you are, and whence is your works: they have chosen you an abomination out of the earth.

25 I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come: from the rising of the sun shall he call upon my name: and he shall come upon princes as upon morter, and as the potter treadeth clay.

But I have raised up him that [comes] from the north, and him that [comes] from the rising of the sun: they shall be called by my name: let the princes come, and as potter's clay, and as a potter treading clay, so shall you be trodden down.

26 Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know? and in times past, that we may say, He is righteous? verily, there is none that showeth, verily, there is none that declareth, verily, there is none that heareth your words.

For who will declare the things from the beginning, that we may know also the former things, and we will say that they are true? there is no one that speaks beforehand, nor anyone that hears your words.

27 The first shall say to Zion, Behold, behold them: and I will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings.

I will give dominion to Sion, and will comfort Jerusalem by the way.

28 For I beheld, and there was no man; even among them, and there was no counsellor, that, when I asked of them, could answer a word.

For from among the nations, behold, [there was] no one; and of their idols there was none to declare [anything]: and if I should ask them, Whence are you? they could not answer me.

29 Behold, they are all vanity; their works are nothing: their molten images are wind and confusion.

For [these] are your makers, [as you think], and they that cause you to err in vain.