Isaiah 41:14–20

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.