Isaiah 41:21–29

²¹The Lord says to the nations and their gods,

“State your case.”

Jacob’s King says to them,

“Prove your case to me.

²²Show me your facts. Tell me and my people

what is going to happen.

Tell us what happened in the past.

Then we can check it out

and see if it is really true.

Or announce to us the things that will take place.

²³Tell us what will happen in the days ahead.

Then we will know that you are gods.

Do something. It does not matter whether it is good or bad.

Then we will be terrified and filled with fear.

²⁴But you are less than nothing.

Your actions are completely worthless.

I hate it when people worship you.

²⁵“I have stirred up a king

who will come from the north.

He lives in the east.

He will bring honor to me.

He walks all over rulers as if they were mud.

He steps on them just as a potter stomps on clay.

²⁶Which one of you gods said those things

would happen before they did?

Who told us about them

so we could know them?

Who told us ahead of time?

Who told us so we could say,

‘You are right’?

None of you told us about them.

None of you told us ahead of time.

In fact, no one heard you say anything at all.

²⁷I was the first to tell Zion.

I said, ‘Look! The people of Israel are coming back!’

I sent a prophet to Jerusalem with the good news.

²⁸I look, but there is no one

among the gods that can give me advice.

None of them can answer

when I ask them the simplest question.

²⁹So they are not really gods at all.

What they do does not amount to anything.

They are as useless as wind.