Isaiah 41:21–29

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.