Isaiah 41–64

Chapter 41

God’s Help for Israel

¹“Listen in silence before me, you lands beyond the sea.

Bring your strongest arguments.

Come now and speak.

The court is ready for your case.

²“Who has stirred up this king from the east,

rightly calling him to God’s service?

Who gives this man victory over many nations

and permits him to trample their kings underfoot?

With his sword, he reduces armies to dust.

With his bow, he scatters them like chaff before the wind.

³He chases them away and goes on safely,

though he is walking over unfamiliar ground.

⁴Who has done such mighty deeds,

summoning each new generation from the beginning of time?

It is I, the Lord, the First and the Last.

I alone am he.”

⁵The lands beyond the sea watch in fear.

Remote lands tremble and mobilize for war.

⁶The idol makers encourage one another,

saying to each other, “Be strong!”

⁷The carver encourages the goldsmith,

and the molder helps at the anvil.

“Good,” they say. “It’s coming along fine.”

Carefully they join the parts together,

then fasten the thing in place so it won’t fall over.

⁸“But as for you, Israel my servant,

Jacob my chosen one,

descended from Abraham my friend,

⁹I have called you back from the ends of the earth,

saying, ‘You are my servant.’

For I have chosen you

and will not throw you away.

¹⁰Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.

Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you and help you.

I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.

¹¹“See, all your angry enemies lie there,

confused and humiliated.

Anyone who opposes you will die

and come to nothing.

¹²You will look in vain

for those who tried to conquer you.

Those who attack you

will come to nothing.

¹³For I hold you by your right hand—

I, the Lord your God.

And I say to you,

‘Don’t be afraid. I am here to help you.

¹⁴Though you are a lowly worm, O Jacob,

don’t be afraid, people of Israel, for I will help you.

I am the Lord, your Redeemer.

I am the Holy One of Israel.’

¹⁵You will be a new threshing instrument

with many sharp teeth.

You will tear your enemies apart,

making chaff of mountains.

¹⁶You will toss them into the air,

and the wind will blow them all away;

a whirlwind will scatter them.

Then you will rejoice in the Lord.

You will glory in the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁷“When the poor and needy search for water and there is none,

and their tongues are parched from thirst,

then I, the Lord, will answer them.

I, the God of Israel, will never abandon them.

¹⁸I will open up rivers for them on the high plateaus.

I will give them fountains of water in the valleys.

I will fill the desert with pools of water.

Rivers fed by springs will flow across the parched ground.

¹⁹I will plant trees in the barren desert—

cedar, acacia, myrtle, olive, cypress, fir, and pine.

²⁰I am doing this so all who see this miracle

will understand what it means—

that it is the Lord who has done this,

the Holy One of Israel who created it.

²¹“Present the case for your idols,”

says the Lord.

“Let them show what they can do,”

says the King of Israel.

²²“Let them try to tell us what happened long ago

so that we may consider the evidence.

Or let them tell us what the future holds,

so we can know what’s going to happen.

²³Yes, tell us what will occur in the days ahead.

Then we will know you are gods.

In fact, do anything—good or bad!

Do something that will amaze and frighten us.

²⁴But no! You are less than nothing and can do nothing at all.

Those who choose you pollute themselves.

²⁵“But I have stirred up a leader who will approach from the north.

From the east he will call on my name.

I will give him victory over kings and princes.

He will trample them as a potter treads on clay.

²⁶“Who told you from the beginning

that this would happen?

Who predicted this,

making you admit that he was right?

No one said a word!

²⁷I was the first to tell Zion,

‘Look! Help is on the way!’

I will send Jerusalem a messenger with good news.

²⁸Not one of your idols told you this.

Not one gave any answer when I asked.

²⁹See, they are all foolish, worthless things.

All your idols are as empty as the wind.

Chapter 42

The Lord’s Chosen Servant

¹“Look at my servant, whom I strengthen.

He is my chosen one, who pleases me.

I have put my Spirit upon him.

He will bring justice to the nations.

²He will not shout

or raise his voice in public.

³He will not crush the weakest reed

or put out a flickering candle.

He will bring justice to all who have been wronged.

⁴He will not falter or lose heart

until justice prevails throughout the earth.

Even distant lands beyond the sea will wait for his instruction.”

⁵God, the Lord, created the heavens and stretched them out.

He created the earth and everything in it.

He gives breath to everyone,

life to everyone who walks the earth.

And it is he who says,

⁶“I, the Lord, have called you to demonstrate my righteousness.

I will take you by the hand and guard you,

and I will give you to my people, Israel,

as a symbol of my covenant with them.

And you will be a light to guide the nations.

⁷You will open the eyes of the blind.

You will free the captives from prison,

releasing those who sit in dark dungeons.

⁸“I am the Lord; that is my name!

I will not give my glory to anyone else,

nor share my praise with carved idols.

⁹Everything I prophesied has come true,

and now I will prophesy again.

I will tell you the future before it happens.”

A Song of Praise to the Lord

¹⁰Sing a new song to the Lord!

Sing his praises from the ends of the earth!

Sing, all you who sail the seas,

all you who live in distant coastlands.

¹¹Join in the chorus, you desert towns;

let the villages of Kedar rejoice!

Let the people of Sela sing for joy;

shout praises from the mountaintops!

¹²Let the whole world glorify the Lord;

let it sing his praise.

¹³The Lord will march forth like a mighty hero;

he will come out like a warrior, full of fury.

He will shout his battle cry

and crush all his enemies.

¹⁴He will say, “I have long been silent;

yes, I have restrained myself.

But now, like a woman in labor,

I will cry and groan and pant.

¹⁵I will level the mountains and hills

and blight all their greenery.

I will turn the rivers into dry land

and will dry up all the pools.

¹⁶I will lead blind Israel down a new path,

guiding them along an unfamiliar way.

I will brighten the darkness before them

and smooth out the road ahead of them.

Yes, I will indeed do these things;

I will not forsake them.

¹⁷But those who trust in idols,

who say, ‘You are our gods,’

will be turned away in shame.

Israel’s Failure to Listen and See

¹⁸“Listen, you who are deaf!

Look and see, you blind!

¹⁹Who is as blind as my own people, my servant?

Who is as deaf as my messenger?

Who is as blind as my chosen people,

the servant of the Lord?

²⁰You see and recognize what is right

but refuse to act on it.

You hear with your ears,

but you don’t really listen.”

²¹Because he is righteous,

the Lord has exalted his glorious law.

²²But his own people have been robbed and plundered,

enslaved, imprisoned, and trapped.

They are fair game for anyone

and have no one to protect them,

no one to take them back home.

²³Who will hear these lessons from the past

and see the ruin that awaits you in the future?

²⁴Who allowed Israel to be robbed and hurt?

It was the Lord, against whom we sinned,

for the people would not walk in his path,

nor would they obey his law.

²⁵Therefore, he poured out his fury on them

and destroyed them in battle.

They were enveloped in flames,

but they still refused to understand.

They were consumed by fire,

but they did not learn their lesson.

Chapter 43

The Savior of Israel

¹But now, O Jacob, listen to the Lord who created you.

O Israel, the one who formed you says,

“Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you.

I have called you by name; you are mine.

²When you go through deep waters,

I will be with you.

When you go through rivers of difficulty,

you will not drown.

When you walk through the fire of oppression,

you will not be burned up;

the flames will not consume you.

³For I am the Lord, your God,

the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

I gave Egypt as a ransom for your freedom;

I gave Ethiopia and Seba in your place.

⁴Others were given in exchange for you.

I traded their lives for yours

because you are precious to me.

You are honored, and I love you.

⁵“Do not be afraid, for I am with you.

I will gather you and your children from east and west.

⁶I will say to the north and south,

‘Bring my sons and daughters back to Israel

from the distant corners of the earth.

⁷Bring all who claim me as their God,

for I have made them for my glory.

It was I who created them.’ ”

⁸Bring out the people who have eyes but are blind,

who have ears but are deaf.

⁹Gather the nations together!

Assemble the peoples of the world!

Which of their idols has ever foretold such things?

Which can predict what will happen tomorrow?

Where are the witnesses of such predictions?

Who can verify that they spoke the truth?

¹⁰“But you are my witnesses, O Israel!” says the Lord.

“You are my servant.

You have been chosen to know me, believe in me,

and understand that I alone am God.

There is no other God—

there never has been, and there never will be.

¹¹I, yes I, am the Lord,

and there is no other Savior.

¹²First I predicted your rescue,

then I saved you and proclaimed it to the world.

No foreign god has ever done this.

You are witnesses that I am the only God,”

says the Lord.

¹³“From eternity to eternity I am God.

No one can snatch anyone out of my hand.

No one can undo what I have done.”

The Lord’s Promise of Victory

¹⁴This is what the Lord says—your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:

“For your sakes I will send an army against Babylon,

forcing the Babylonians to flee in those ships they are so proud of.

¹⁵I am the Lord, your Holy One,

Israel’s Creator and King.

¹⁶I am the Lord, who opened a way through the waters,

making a dry path through the sea.

¹⁷I called forth the mighty army of Egypt

with all its chariots and horses.

I drew them beneath the…