Isaiah 41

The Helper of Israel

41“Be silentⁿ before me, you islands!^o

Let the nations renew their strength!^p

Let them come forward^q and speak;

let us meet together^r at the place of judgment.

²“Who has stirred^s up one from the east,^t

calling him in righteousness^u to his service^a?^v

He hands nations over to him

and subdues kings before him.

He turns them to dust^w with his sword,

to windblown chaff^x with his bow.^y

³He pursues them and moves on unscathed,^z

by a path his feet have not traveled before.

⁴Who has done this and carried it through,

calling^a forth the generations from the beginning?^b

I, the Lord—with the first of them

and with the last^c—I am he.^d”

⁵The islands^e have seen it and fear;

the ends of the earth^f tremble.

They approach and come forward;

⁶they help each other

and say to their companions, “Be strong!^g”

⁷The metalworker^h encourages the goldsmith,ⁱ

and the one who smooths with the hammer

spurs on the one who strikes the anvil.

One says of the welding, “It is good.”

The other nails down the idol so it will not topple.^j

⁸“But you, Israel, my servant,^k

Jacob, whom I have chosen,^l

you descendants of Abraham^m my friend,ⁿ

⁹I took you from the ends of the earth,^o

from its farthest corners I called^p you.

I said, ‘You are my servant’;^q

I have chosen^r you and have not rejected you.

¹⁰So do not fear,^s for I am with you;^t

do not be dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen^u you and help^v you;

I will uphold you^w with my righteous right hand.^x

¹¹“All who rage^y against you

will surely be ashamed and disgraced;^z

those who oppose^a you

will be as nothing and perish.^b

¹²Though you search for your enemies,

you will not find them.^c

Those who wage war against you

will be as nothing^d at all.

¹³For I am the Lord your God

who takes hold of your right hand^e

and says to you, Do not fear;

I will help^f you.

¹⁴Do not be afraid,^g you worm^h Jacob,

little Israel, do not fear,

for I myself will helpⁱ you,” declares the Lord,

your Redeemer,^j the Holy One^k of Israel.

¹⁵“See, I will make you into a threshing sledge,^l

new and sharp, with many teeth.

You will thresh the mountains^m and crush them,

and reduce the hills to chaff.ⁿ

¹⁶You will winnow^o them, the wind will pick them up,

and a gale^p will blow them away.^q

But you will rejoice^r in the Lord

and glory^s in the Holy One^t of Israel.

¹⁷“The poor and needy search for water,^u

but there is none;

their tongues are parched with thirst.^v

But I the Lord will answer^w them;

I, the God of Israel, will not forsake^x them.

¹⁸I will make rivers flow^y on barren heights,

and springs within the valleys.

I will turn the desert^z into pools of water,^a

and the parched ground into springs.^b

¹⁹I will put in the desert^c

the cedar and the acacia,^d the myrtle and the olive.

I will set junipers^e in the wasteland,

the fir and the cypress^f together,^g

²⁰so that people may see and know,^h

may consider and understand,ⁱ

that the hand^j of the Lord has done this,

that the Holy One^k of Israel has created^l it.

²¹“Present your case,^m” says the Lord.

“Set forth your arguments,” says Jacob’s King.ⁿ

²²“Tell us, you idols,

what is going to happen.^o

Tell us what the former things^p were,

so that we may consider them

and know their final outcome.

Or declare to us the things to come,^q

²³tell us what the future holds,

so we may know^r that you are gods.

Do something, whether good or bad,^s

so that we will be dismayed^t and filled with fear.

²⁴But you are less than nothing^u

and your works are utterly worthless;^v

whoever chooses you is detestable.^w

²⁵“I have stirred^x up one from the north,^y and he comes—

one from the rising sun who calls on my name.

He treads^z on rulers as if they were mortar,

as if he were a potter treading the clay.

²⁶Who told of this from the beginning,^a so we could know,

or beforehand, so we could say, ‘He was right’?

No one told of this,

no one foretold^b it,

no one heard any words^c from you.

²⁷I was the first to tell^d Zion, ‘Look, here they are!’

I gave to Jerusalem a messenger of good news.^e

²⁸I look but there is no one^f—

no one among the gods to give counsel,^g

no one to give answer^h when I ask them.

²⁹See, they are all false!

Their deeds amount to nothing;ⁱ

their images^j are but wind^k and confusion.