Isaiah, 41

1. Coasts and islands, fall silent before me, and let the peoples renew their strength, let them come forward and speak; let us assemble for judgement.

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

2. 'Who has raised from the east him whom saving justice summons in its train, him to whom Yahweh delivers up the nations and subjects kings, him who reduces them to dust with his sword, and to driven stubble with his bow,

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.

3. him who pursues them and advances unhindered, his feet scarcely touching the road?

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

4. Who has acted thus, who has done this? He who calls each generation from the beginning: I, Yahweh, who am the first and till the last I shall still be there.'

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.

5. The coasts and islands have seen and taken fright, the remotest parts of earth are trembling: they are approaching, they are here!

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

6. People help one another, they say to each other, 'Take heart!'

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

7. The woodworker encourages the smelter, the polisher encourages the hammerer, saying of the soldering, 'It is sound'; and he fastens it with nails to keep it steady.

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.

8. But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, descendant of Abraham my friend,

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

9. whom I have taken to myself, from the remotest parts of the earth and summoned from countries far away, to whom I have said, 'You are my servant, I have chosen you, I have not rejected you,'

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

10. do not be afraid, for I am with you; do not be alarmed, for I am your God. I give you strength, truly I help you, truly I hold you firm with my saving right hand.

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.

11. Look, all those who rage against you will be put to shame and humiliated; those who picked quarrels with you will be reduced to nothing and will perish.

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

12. You will look for them but will not find them, those who used to fight you; they will be destroyed and brought to nothing, those who made war on you.

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.

13. For I, Yahweh, your God, I grasp you by your right hand; I tell you, 'Do not be afraid, I shall help you.'

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

14. Do not be afraid, Jacob, you worm! You little handful of Israel! I shall help you, declares Yahweh; your redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.

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.

15. Look, I am making you into a threshing-sledge, new, with double teeth; you will thresh and beat the mountains to dust and reduce the hills to straw.

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.

16. You will winnow them and the wind will carry them off, the gale will scatter them; whereas you will rejoice in Yahweh, will glory in the Holy One of Israel.

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.

17. The oppressed and needy search for water, and there is none, their tongue is parched with thirst. I, Yahweh, shall answer them, I, the God of Israel, shall not abandon them.

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.

18. I shall open up rivers on barren heights and water-holes down in the ravines; I shall turn the desert into a lake and dry ground into springs of water.

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 shall plant the desert with cedar trees, acacias, myrtles and olives; in the wastelands I shall put cypress trees, plane trees and box trees side by side;

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, [and] the pine, and the box tree together:

20. so that people may see and know, so that they may all observe and understand that the hand of Yahweh has done this, that the Holy One of Israel has created it.

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.

21. 'Present your case,' says Yahweh, 'Produce your arguments,' says Jacob's king.

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

22. 'Let them produce and reveal to us what is going to happen. What happened in the past? Reveal it so that we can consider it and know what the outcome will be. Or tell us about the future,

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

23. reveal what is to happen next, and then we shall know that you are gods. At least, do something, be it good or bad, so that we may feel alarm and fear.

23. Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye [are] gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold [it] together.

24. Look, you are less than nothingness, and what you do is less than nothing; to choose you is an outrage.'

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

25. I have raised him from the north and he has come, from the east he has been summoned by name. He tramples on rulers like mud, like a potter treading clay.

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.

26. Who revealed this from the beginning for us to know, and in the past for us to say, 'That is right'? No one in fact revealed it, no one proclaimed it, no one has heard you speak.

26. Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know? and beforetime, that we may say, [He is] righteous? yea, [there is] none that sheweth, yea, [there is] none that declareth, yea, [there is] none that heareth your words.

27. First-fruits of Zion, look, here they come! I send a messenger to Jerusalem,

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

28. and I look -- no one, not a single counsellor among them who, if I asked, could give an answer.

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.

29. Taken altogether they are nothingness, what they do is nothing, their statues, wind and emptiness.

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