Isaiah 41 — AAB
God’s Help to Israel
41Verse 1“Be silent before Me, O islands,+and let the peoples renew their strength.Let them come forward and testify;let us together draw near for judgment.Verse 2Who has aroused one from the eastand called him to his feet in righteousness+?He hands nations over to himand subdues kings before him.He turns them to dust with his sword,to windblown chaff with his bow.Verse 3He pursues them, going on safely,hardly touching the path with his feet.Verse 4Who has performed this and carried it out,calling forth the generations from the beginning?I, the LORD—the first and the last—I am He.”Verse 5The islands see and fear;the ends of the earth tremble.They approach and come forward.Verse 6Each one helps the otherand says to his brother, “Be strong!”Verse 7The craftsman encourages the goldsmith,and he who wields the hammer
cheers him who strikes the anvil,saying of the welding, “It is good.”He nails it down so it will not be toppled.Verse 8“But you, O Israel, My servant,Jacob, whom I have chosen,
descendant of Abraham My friend—Verse 9I brought you from the ends of the earthand called you from its farthest corners.I said, ‘You are My servant.’I have chosen and not rejected you.Verse 10Do not fear, for I am with you;do not be afraid, for I am your God.I will strengthen you; I will surely help you;I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.Verse 11Behold, all who rage against youwill be ashamed and disgraced;those who contend with youwill be reduced to nothing and will perish.Verse 12You will seek them but will not find them.Those who wage war against you will come to nothing.Verse 13For I am the LORD your God,who takes hold of your right handand tells you: Do not fear,I will help you.Verse 14Do not fear, O Jacob, you worm,O few men of Israel.I will help you,” declares the LORD.“Your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.Verse 15Behold, I will make you into a threshing sledge,new and sharp, with many teeth.You will thresh the mountains and crush them,and reduce the hills to chaff.Verse 16You will winnow them, and a wind will carry them away;a gale will scatter them.But you will rejoice in the LORD;you will glory in the Holy One of Israel.Verse 17The poor and needy seek water, but there is none;their tongues are parched with thirst.I, the LORD, will answer them;I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.Verse 18I will open rivers on the barren heights,and fountains in the middle of the valleys.I will turn the desert into a pool of water,and the dry land into flowing springs.Verse 19I will plant cedars in the wilderness,acacias, myrtles, and olive trees.I will set cypresses+in the desert,elms and boxwood together,Verse 20so that all may see and know,may consider and understand,that the hand of the LORD has done thisand the Holy One of Israel has created it.”
Meaningless Idols
Verse 21“Present your case,” says the LORD.“Submit your arguments,” says the King of Jacob.Verse 22“Let them come and tell us what will happen.Tell the former things,so that we may reflect on them and know the outcome.Or announce to us what is coming.Verse 23Tell us the things that are to come,so that we may know that you are gods.Yes, do something good or evil,that we may look on together in dismay.Verse 24Behold, you are nothingand your work is of no value.Anyone who chooses you is detestable.Verse 25I have raised up one from the north, and he has come—one from the east who calls on My name.He will march over rulers as if they were mortar,like a potter who treads the clay.Verse 26Who has declared this from the beginning,so that we may know,and from times past,so that we may say: ‘He was right’?No one announced it, no one foretold it,no one heard your words.Verse 27I was the first to tell Zion:+‘Look, here they are!’And I gave to Jerusalema herald of good news.Verse 28When I look, there is no one;there is no counselor among them;when I ask them,they have nothing to say.Verse 29See, they are all a delusion;their works amount to nothing;
their images are as empty as the wind.