Isaiah 41–64

41ST CHAPTER

The Nations Chose Idols, but the Lord Chose Israel

¹“Be silent and listen to me, you coastlands. 

Let the people gain new strength. 

Let them come near and speak. 

Let us come together for judgment. 

²“Who has raised up from the east 

someone to whom the Lord gives victory with every step he takes? 

Nations are handed over to him. 

He defeats kings. 

With his sword he turns them into dust. 

With his bow he turns them into straw blown by the wind. 

³He chases them, marching by safely 

on a path his feet have never traveled before. 

⁴Who has accomplished this? 

Who has determined the course of history from the beginning? 

I, the Lord, was there first, and I will be there to the end. 

I am the one!” 

⁵The coastlands have seen him and are afraid. 

The ends of the earth tremble. 

They have come near and gathered together. 

⁶People help their neighbors 

and say to their relatives, “Be brave!” 

⁷Craftsmen encourage goldsmiths. 

Metalsmiths encourage blacksmiths who work at their anvils. 

They say that their soldering is good. 

And they fasten things with nails so they won’t move. 

⁸“But you are my servant Israel, 

Jacob, whom I have chosen, 

the descendant of Abraham, my dear friend. 

⁹I have taken you from the ends of the earth 

and called you from its most distant places. 

I said to you, ‘You are my servant. 

I’ve chosen you; I haven’t rejected you.’ 

¹⁰Don’t be afraid, because I am with you. 

Don’t be intimidated; I am your God. 

I will strengthen you. 

I will help you. 

I will support you with my victorious right hand. 

¹¹“Everyone who is angry with you 

will be ashamed and disgraced. 

Those who oppose you 

will be reduced to nothing and disappear. 

¹²You will search for your enemies, 

but you will not find them. 

Those who are at war with you 

will be reduced to nothing and no longer exist. 

¹³I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand 

and say to you, ‘Don’t be afraid; I will help you.’ 

¹⁴Don’t be afraid, Jacob, you worm. 

You people of Israel, I will help you,” 

declares the Lord, your Defender, the Holy One of Israel. 

¹⁵“I am going to make you into a new threshing^asledge 

with sharp, double-edged teeth. 

You will thresh the mountains and crush them to dust. 

You will turn the hills into straw. 

¹⁶You will winnow^bthem. 

The wind will carry them away. 

The windstorm will scatter them. 

But you will find joy in the Lord 

and praise the Holy One of Israel. 

¹⁷“The poor and needy are looking for water, but there is none. 

Their tongues are parched with thirst. 

I, the Lord, will answer them. 

I, the God of Israel, will not abandon them. 

¹⁸I will make rivers flow on bare hilltops. 

I will make springs flow through valleys. 

I will turn deserts into lakes. 

I will turn dry land into springs. 

¹⁹I will plant cedar, acacia, myrtle, and wild olive trees in the desert. 

I will place cedar, fir, and cypress trees together in the wilderness. 

²⁰People will see and know. 

Together they will consider and understand 

that the Lord’s power has done this, 

that the Holy One of Israel has created it. 

²¹“Present your case,” says the Lord. 

“Bring forward your best arguments,” says Jacob’s king. 

²²“Bring ⸤your idols⸥ so they can tell us what’s going to happen. 

Explain past events that your idols told you about 

so that we may consider them 

and know what their outcome will be. 

Tell us about future events. 

²³Tell us what’s going to happen 

so that we may know that you are gods. 

Yes, do something, good or evil, 

to intimidate us and make us afraid. 

²⁴You are nothing! 

You can’t do anything! 

Whoever chooses you is disgusting. 

²⁵“I have raised up someone from the north, and he has come. 

He will call on my name from the east. 

He will attack rulers as if they were mud, 

as if he were treading on clay like a potter. 

²⁶Who revealed this from the beginning so that we could know it? 

Who revealed this from the past so that we could say that he was right? 

No one revealed it. 

No one announced it. 

No one heard your words. 

²⁷I was the first to tell Zion, ‘Look, here they are.’ 

I gave Jerusalem a messenger with the good news. 

²⁸When I look, there is no one. 

There is no one to advise them. 

When I ask them a question, 

will they give an answer? 

²⁹All of them are nothing.^c

They can’t do anything. 

Their statues are nothing but air.” 

42ND CHAPTER

The Lord’s Servant Will Bring Righteousness to the World

¹Here is my servant, whom I support. 

Here is my chosen one, with whom I am pleased. 

I have put my Spirit on him. 

He will bring justice to the nations. 

²He will not cry out or raise ⸤his voice⸥. 

He will not make his voice heard in the streets. 

³He will not break off a damaged cattail. 

He will not even put out a smoking wick. 

He will faithfully bring about justice. 

⁴He will not be discouraged or crushed 

until he has set up justice on the earth. 

The coastlands will wait for his teachings. 

⁵The Lord God created the heavens and stretched them out. 

He shaped the earth and all that comes from it. 

He gave life to the people who are on it 

and breath to those who walk on it. 

This is what the Lord God says: 

⁶I, the Lord, have called you to do what is right. 

I will take hold of your hand. 

I will protect you. 

I will appoint you as my promise^ato the people, 

as my light to the nations. 

⁷You will give sight to the blind, 

bring prisoners out of prisons, 

and bring those who live in darkness 

out of dungeons. 

⁸I am the Lord; that is my name. 

I will not give my glory to anyone else 

or the praise I deserve to idols. 

⁹What I said in the past has come true. 

I will reveal new things before they happen. 

A Song about the Lord, the Warrior

¹⁰Sing a new song to the Lord. 

Sing his praise from the ends of the earth, 

you people who sail on the seas 

and all the creatures that live in them, 

you coastlands and all who live on them. 

¹¹Let those who live in the desert and its cities raise their voices. 

Let those who live in the settlements of Kedar praise him. 

Let those who live in Sela sing for joy. 

Let them shout from the tops of the mountains. 

¹²Let them give glory to the Lord 

and announce his praise on the coastlands. 

¹³The Lord marches out like a warrior. 

He prepares himself for battle like a soldier. 

He shouts, gives the battle cry, and overpowers his enemies. 

¹⁴I have been silent for a long time. 

I kept quiet and held myself back. 

But like a woman in childbirth I will cry out. 

I will gasp and pant. 

¹⁵I will lay waste to mountains and hills. 

I will dry up all their vegetation. 

I will turn rivers into islands. 

I will dry up ponds. 

¹⁶I will lead the blind on unfamiliar roads. 

I will lead them on unfamiliar paths. 

I will turn darkness into light in front of them. 

I will make rough places smooth. 

These are the things I will do for them, 

and I will never abandon them. 

¹⁷Then those who trust idols 

and those who say to statues, 

“You are our gods” 

will be turned away and put to shame. 

The Lord Will Bring Israel Home

¹⁸Listen, you deaf people. 

Look, you blind people, so that you can see. 

¹⁹Who is blind except my servant 

or deaf like the messenger I send? 

Who is blind like the one who has my trust 

or blind like the servant of the Lord? 

²⁰You have seen much, but you do not observe anything. 

Your ears are open, but you hear nothing. 

²¹The Lord is pleased because he does what is right. 

He praises the greatness of his teachings and makes them glorious. 

²²But these people are robbed and looted. 

They are all trapped in pits and hidden in prisons. 

They have become prey with no one to rescue them. 

They have become loot with no one to say, “Give it back.” 

²³Who among you will listen to this? 

Is there anyone who will pay attention and listen in the future? 

²⁴Who gave Jacob away as loot 

and handed Israel over to robbers? 

Wasn’t it the Lord, against whom we have sinned? 

They didn’t want to live his way. 

They didn’t obey his teachings. 

²⁵So he poured out his burning anger and the horrors of war on them. 

It engulfed them in flames, but they did not understand. 

It burned them, but they did not take it to heart. 

43RD CHAPTER

¹The Lord created Jacob and formed Israel. Now, this is what the Lord says: 

Do not be afraid, because I have reclaimed you. 

I have called you by name; you are mine. 

²When you go through the sea, I am with you. 

When you go through rivers, they will not sweep you away. 

When you walk through fire, you will not be burned, 

and the flames will not harm you. 

³I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. 

Egypt is the ransom I exchanged for you. 

Sudan and Seba are the price I paid for you. 

⁴Since you are precious to me, you are honored and I love you. 

I will exchange others for you. 

Nations will be the price I pay for your life. 

⁵Do not be afraid, because I am with you. 

I will bring your descendants from the east 

and gather you from the west. 

⁶I will say to the north, “Give them up,” 

and to the south, “Do not keep them.” 

Bring my sons from far away 

and my daughters from the ends of the earth. 

⁷Bring everyone who is called by my name, 

whom I created for my glory, 

whom I formed and made. 

⁸Bring the people who are blind but still have eyes, 

the people who are deaf but still have ears. 

⁹All nations have gathered together, and people have assembled. 

Who among them could have revealed this? 

Who among them could have foretold this to us? 

They should bring their witnesses to prove that they were right. 

Let the people hear them. Then they will say that it is true. 

¹⁰“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord. 

“I have chosen you as my servant 

so that you can know and believe in me 

and understand that I am the one ⸤who did this⸥. 

No god was formed before me, 

and there will be none after me. 

¹¹I alone am the Lord, 

and there is no savior except me. 

¹²I have revealed it to you, I have saved you, 

and I have announced it to you. 

There was no foreign ⸤god⸥ among you. 

You are my witnesses that I am God,” declares the Lord. 

¹³“From the ⸤first⸥ day I was the one ⸤who did this⸥. 

No one can rescue people from my power. 

When I do something, who can undo it?” 

¹⁴This is what the Lord, your Defender, the Holy…