Isaiah 41:14–20

^41:14Don’t be afraid, despised insignificant Jacob,²⁷

men of²⁸ Israel.

I am helping you,” says the Lord,

your protector,²⁹ the Holy One of Israel.³⁰

^41:15“Look, I am making you like³¹ a sharp threshing sledge,

new and double-edged.³²

You will thresh the mountains and crush them;

you will make the hills like straw.³³

^41:16You 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.

^41:17The 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;³⁴

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

^41:18I 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.

^41:19I will make cedars, acacias, myrtles, and olive trees grow in the wilderness;

I will make evergreens, firs, and cypresses grow together in the desert.

^41:20I will do this so³⁵ people³⁶ will observe and recognize,

so they will pay attention and understand

that the Lord’s power³⁷ has accomplished this,

and that the Holy One of Israel has brought it into being.”³⁸