Isaiah 41 — NETB
41Verse 1“Listen to me in silence, you coastlands!
Let the nations find renewed strength!
Let them approach and then speak;
let us come together for debate!
Verse 2Who stirs up this one from the east?
Who officially commissions him for service?
He hands nations over to him,
and enables him to subdue kings.
He makes them like dust with his sword,
like windblown straw with his bow.
Verse 3He pursues them and passes by unharmed;
he advances with great speed.
Verse 4Who acts and carries out decrees?
Who summons the successive generations from the beginning?
I, the Lord, am present at the very beginning,
and at the very end – I am the one.
Verse 5The coastlands see and are afraid;
the whole earth trembles;
they approach and come.
Verse 6They help one another;
one says to the other, ‘Be strong!’
Verse 7The craftsman encourages the metalsmith,
the one who wields the hammer encourages the one who pounds on the anvil.
He approves the quality of the welding,
and nails it down so it won’t fall over.”
Jacob whom I have chosen,
offspring of Abraham my friend,
Verse 9you whom I am bringing back from the earth’s extremities,
and have summoned from the remote regions –
I told you, “You are my servant.”
I have chosen you and not rejected you.
Verse 10Don’t be afraid, for I am with you!
Don’t be frightened, for I am your God!
I strengthen you –
yes, I help you –
yes, I uphold you with my saving right hand!
Verse 11Look, all who were angry at you will be ashamed and humiliated;
your adversaries will be reduced to nothing and perish.
Verse 12When you will look for your opponents, you will not find them;
your enemies will be reduced to absolutely nothing.
Verse 13For I am the Lord your God,
the one who takes hold of your right hand,
who says to you, ‘Don’t be afraid, I am helping you.’
Verse 14Don’t be afraid, despised insignificant Jacob,
men of Israel.
I am helping you,” says the Lord,
your protector, the Holy One of Israel.
Verse 15“Look, I am making you like a sharp threshing sledge,
new and double-edged.
You will thresh the mountains and crush them;
you will make the hills like straw.
Verse 16You will winnow them and the wind will blow them away;
the wind will scatter them.
You will rejoice in the Lord;
you will boast in the Holy One of Israel.
Verse 17The oppressed and the poor look for water, but there is none;
their tongues are parched from thirst.
I, the Lord, will respond to their prayers;
I, the God of Israel, will not abandon them.
Verse 18I will make streams flow down the slopes
and produce springs in the middle of the valleys.
I will turn the desert into a pool of water
and the arid land into springs.
Verse 19I will make cedars, acacias, myrtles, and olive trees grow in the wilderness;
I will make evergreens, firs, and cypresses grow together in the desert.
Verse 20I will do this so people will observe and recognize,
so they will pay attention and understand
that the Lord’s power has accomplished this,
and that the Holy One of Israel has brought it into being.”
“Produce your evidence,” says Jacob’s king.
Verse 22“Let them produce evidence! Let them tell us what will happen!
Tell us about your earlier predictive oracles,
so we may examine them and see how they were fulfilled.
Or decree for us some future events!
Verse 23Predict how future events will turn out,
so we might know you are gods.
Yes, do something good or bad,
so we might be frightened and in awe.
Verse 24Look, you are nothing, and your accomplishments are nonexistent;
the one who chooses to worship you is disgusting.
Verse 25I have stirred up one out of the north and he advances,
one from the eastern horizon who prays in my name.
He steps on rulers as if they were clay,
like a potter treading the clay.
Verse 26Who decreed this from the beginning, so we could know?
Who announced it ahead of time, so we could say, ‘He’s correct’?
Indeed, none of them decreed it!
Indeed, none of them announced it!
Indeed, no one heard you say anything!
Verse 27I first decreed to Zion, ‘Look, here’s what will happen!’
I sent a herald to Jerusalem.
Verse 28I look, but there is no one,
among them there is no one who serves as an adviser,
that I might ask questions and receive answers.
Verse 29Look, all of them are nothing,
their accomplishments are nonexistent;
their metal images lack any real substance.
Let the nations find renewed strength!
Let them approach and then speak;
let us come together for debate!
Verse 2Who stirs up this one from the east?
Who officially commissions him for service?
He hands nations over to him,
and enables him to subdue kings.
He makes them like dust with his sword,
like windblown straw with his bow.
Verse 3He pursues them and passes by unharmed;
he advances with great speed.
Verse 4Who acts and carries out decrees?
Who summons the successive generations from the beginning?
I, the Lord, am present at the very beginning,
and at the very end – I am the one.
Verse 5The coastlands see and are afraid;
the whole earth trembles;
they approach and come.
Verse 6They help one another;
one says to the other, ‘Be strong!’
Verse 7The craftsman encourages the metalsmith,
the one who wields the hammer encourages the one who pounds on the anvil.
He approves the quality of the welding,
and nails it down so it won’t fall over.”
The Lord Encourages His People
Verse 8“You, my servant Israel,Jacob whom I have chosen,
offspring of Abraham my friend,
Verse 9you whom I am bringing back from the earth’s extremities,
and have summoned from the remote regions –
I told you, “You are my servant.”
I have chosen you and not rejected you.
Verse 10Don’t be afraid, for I am with you!
Don’t be frightened, for I am your God!
I strengthen you –
yes, I help you –
yes, I uphold you with my saving right hand!
Verse 11Look, all who were angry at you will be ashamed and humiliated;
your adversaries will be reduced to nothing and perish.
Verse 12When you will look for your opponents, you will not find them;
your enemies will be reduced to absolutely nothing.
Verse 13For I am the Lord your God,
the one who takes hold of your right hand,
who says to you, ‘Don’t be afraid, I am helping you.’
Verse 14Don’t be afraid, despised insignificant Jacob,
men of Israel.
I am helping you,” says the Lord,
your protector, the Holy One of Israel.
Verse 15“Look, I am making you like a sharp threshing sledge,
new and double-edged.
You will thresh the mountains and crush them;
you will make the hills like straw.
Verse 16You will winnow them and the wind will blow them away;
the wind will scatter them.
You will rejoice in the Lord;
you will boast in the Holy One of Israel.
Verse 17The oppressed and the poor look for water, but there is none;
their tongues are parched from thirst.
I, the Lord, will respond to their prayers;
I, the God of Israel, will not abandon them.
Verse 18I will make streams flow down the slopes
and produce springs in the middle of the valleys.
I will turn the desert into a pool of water
and the arid land into springs.
Verse 19I will make cedars, acacias, myrtles, and olive trees grow in the wilderness;
I will make evergreens, firs, and cypresses grow together in the desert.
Verse 20I will do this so people will observe and recognize,
so they will pay attention and understand
that the Lord’s power has accomplished this,
and that the Holy One of Israel has brought it into being.”
The Lord Challenges the Pagan Gods
Verse 21“Present your argument,” says the Lord.“Produce your evidence,” says Jacob’s king.
Verse 22“Let them produce evidence! Let them tell us what will happen!
Tell us about your earlier predictive oracles,
so we may examine them and see how they were fulfilled.
Or decree for us some future events!
Verse 23Predict how future events will turn out,
so we might know you are gods.
Yes, do something good or bad,
so we might be frightened and in awe.
Verse 24Look, you are nothing, and your accomplishments are nonexistent;
the one who chooses to worship you is disgusting.
Verse 25I have stirred up one out of the north and he advances,
one from the eastern horizon who prays in my name.
He steps on rulers as if they were clay,
like a potter treading the clay.
Verse 26Who decreed this from the beginning, so we could know?
Who announced it ahead of time, so we could say, ‘He’s correct’?
Indeed, none of them decreed it!
Indeed, none of them announced it!
Indeed, no one heard you say anything!
Verse 27I first decreed to Zion, ‘Look, here’s what will happen!’
I sent a herald to Jerusalem.
Verse 28I look, but there is no one,
among them there is no one who serves as an adviser,
that I might ask questions and receive answers.
Verse 29Look, all of them are nothing,
their accomplishments are nonexistent;
their metal images lack any real substance.