Isaiah 41:1–42:25

Israel Assured of God’s Help

41 “Keep asilence before Me, O coastlands,

And let the people renew their strength!

Let them come near, then let them speak;

Let us bcome near together for judgment.

2 “Who raised up one cfrom the east?

Who in righteousness called him to His feet?

Who dgave the nations before him,

And made him rule over kings?

Who gave them as the dust to his sword,

As driven stubble to his bow?

3 Who pursued them, and passed 1safely

By the way that he had not gone with his feet?

4 eWho has performed and done it,

Calling the generations from the beginning?

‘I, the Lord, am fthe first;

And with the last I am gHe.’ ”

5 The coastlands saw it and feared,

The ends of the earth were afraid;

They drew near and came.

6 hEveryone helped his neighbor,

And said to his brother,

2“Be of good courage!”

7 iSo the craftsman encouraged the jgoldsmith; 3

He who smooths with the hammer inspired him who strikes the anvil,

Saying, 4“It is ready for the soldering”;

Then he fastened it with pegs,

kThat it might not totter.

8 “But you, Israel, are My servant,

Jacob whom I have lchosen,

The descendants of Abraham My mfriend.

9 You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth,

And called from its farthest regions,

And said to you,

‘You are My servant,

I have chosen you and have not cast you away:

10 nFear not, ofor I am with you;

Be not dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you,

Yes, I will help you,

I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

11 “Behold, all those who were incensed against you

Shall be pashamed and disgraced;

They shall be as nothing,

And those who strive with you shall perish.

12 You shall seek them and not find them—

5Those who contended with you.

Those who war against you

Shall be as nothing,

As a nonexistent thing.

13 For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand,

Saying to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you.’

14 “Fear not, you qworm Jacob,

You men of Israel!

I will help you,” says the Lord

And your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

15 “Behold, rI will make you into a new threshing sledge with sharp teeth;

You shall thresh the mountains and beat them small,

And make the hills like chaff.

16 You shall swinnow them, the wind shall carry them away,

And the whirlwind shall scatter them;

You shall rejoice in the Lord,

And tglory in the Holy One of Israel.

17 “The poor and needy seek water, but there is none,

Their tongues fail for thirst.

I, the Lord, will hear them;

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

18 I will open vrivers in desolate heights,

And fountains in the midst of the valleys;

I will make the wwilderness a pool of water,

And the dry land springs of water.

19 I will plant in the wilderness the cedar and the acacia tree,

The myrtle and the oil tree;

I will set in the xdesert the cypress tree and the pine

And the box tree together,

20 yThat they may see and know,

And consider and understand together,

That the hand of the Lord has done this,

And the Holy One of Israel has created it.

The Futility of Idols

21 “Present your case,” says the Lord.

“Bring forth your strong reasons,” says the zKing of Jacob.

22 “Let athem bring forth and show us what will happen;

Let them show the bformer things, what they were,

That we may 6consider them,

And know the latter end of them;

Or declare to us things to come.

23 cShow the things that are to come hereafter,

That we may know that you are gods;

Yes, ddo good or do evil,

That we may be dismayed and see it together.

24 Indeed eyou are nothing,

And your work is nothing;

He who chooses you is an abomination.

25 “I have raised up one from the north,

And he shall come;

From the 7rising of the sun fhe shall call on My name;

gAnd he shall come against princes as though mortar,

As the potter treads clay.

26 hWho has declared from the beginning, that we may know?

And former times, that we may say, ‘He is righteous’?

Surely there is no one who shows,

Surely there is no one who declares,

Surely there is no one who hears your words.

27 iThe first time jI said to Zion,

‘Look, there they are!’

And I will give to Jerusalem one who brings good tidings.

28 kFor I looked, and there was no man;

I looked among them, but there was no counselor,

Who, when I asked of them, could answer a word.

29 lIndeed they are all 8worthless;

Their works are nothing;

Their molded images are wind and confusion.

The Servant of the Lord

42 “Behold! aMy Servant whom I uphold,

My 1Elect One in whom My soul bdelights!

cI have put My Spirit upon Him;

He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.

2 He will not cry out, nor raise His voice,

Nor cause His voice to be heard in the street.

3 A bruised reed He will not break,

And 2smoking flax He will not 3quench;

He will bring forth justice for truth.

4 He will not fail nor be discouraged,

Till He has established justice in the earth;

dAnd the coastlands shall wait for His law.”

5 Thus says God the Lord,

eWho created the heavens and stretched them out,

Who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it,

fWho gives breath to the people on it,

And spirit to those who walk on it:

6 “I, gthe Lord, have called You in righteousness,

And will hold Your hand;

I will keep You hand give You as a covenant to the people,

As ia light to the Gentiles,

7 jTo open blind eyes,

To kbring out prisoners from the prison,

Those who sit in ldarkness from the prison house.

8 I am the Lord, that is My name;

And My mglory I will not give to another,

Nor My praise to carved images.

9 Behold, the former things have come to pass,

And new things I declare;

Before they spring forth I tell you of them.”

Praise to the Lord

10 nSing to the Lord a new song,

And His praise from the ends of the earth,

oYou who go down to the sea, and 4all that is in it,

You coastlands and you inhabitants of them!

11 Let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voice,

The villages that Kedar inhabits.

Let the inhabitants of Sela sing,

Let them shout from the top of the mountains.

12 Let them give glory to the Lord,

And declare His praise in the coastlands.

13 The Lord shall go forth like a mighty man;

He shall stir up His zeal like a man of war.

He shall cry out, pyes, shout aloud;

He shall prevail against His enemies.

Promise of the Lord’s Help

14 “I have held My peace a long time,

I have been still and restrained Myself.

Now I will cry like a woman in 5labor,

I will pant and gasp at once.

15 I will lay waste the mountains and hills,

And dry up all their vegetation;

I will make the rivers coastlands,

And I will dry up the pools.

16 I will bring the blind by a way they did not know;

I will lead them in paths they have not known.

I will make darkness light before them,

And crooked places straight.

These things I will do for them,

And not forsake them.

17 They shall be qturned back,

They shall be greatly ashamed,

Who trust in carved images,

Who say to the molded images,

‘You are our gods.’

18 “Hear, you deaf;

And look, you blind, that you may see.

19 rWho is blind but My servant,

Or deaf as My messenger whom I send?

Who is blind as he who is perfect,

And blind as the Lord’s servant?

20 Seeing many things, sbut you do not observe;

Opening the ears, but he does not hear.”

Israel’s Obstinate Disobedience

21 The Lord is well pleased for His righteousness’ sake;

He will exalt the law and make it honorable.

22 But this is a people robbed and plundered;

All of them are 6snared in holes,

And they are hidden in prison houses;

They are for prey, and no one delivers;

For plunder, and no one says, “Restore!”

23 Who among you will give ear to this?

Who will listen and hear for the time to come?

24 Who gave Jacob for plunder, and Israel to the robbers?

Was it not the Lord,

He against whom we have sinned?

tFor they would not walk in His ways,

Nor were they obedient to His law.

25 Therefore He has poured on him the fury of His anger

And the strength of battle;

uIt has set him on fire all around,

vYet he did not know;

And it burned him,

Yet he did not take it to wheart.