The Lord Encourages His People

41:8 “You, my servant Israel,

Jacob whom I have chosen,

offspring of Abraham my friend,19

41:9 you whom I am bringing back20 from the earth’s extremities,

and have summoned from the remote regions—

I told you, “You are my servant.”

I have chosen you and not rejected you.

41:10 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you!

Don’t be frightened, for I am your God!21

I strengthen you—

yes, I help you—

yes, I uphold you with my saving right hand!22

41:11 Look, all who were angry at you will be ashamed and humiliated;

your adversaries23 will be reduced to nothing24 and perish.

41:12 When you will look for your opponents,25 you will not find them;

your enemies26 will be reduced to absolutely nothing.

41:13 For I am the Lord your God,

the one who takes hold of your right hand,

who says to you, ‘Don’t be afraid, I am helping you.’

41:14 Don’t be afraid, despised insignificant Jacob,27

men of28 Israel.

I am helping you,” says the Lord,

your protector,29 the Holy One of Israel.30

41:15 “Look, I am making you like31 a sharp threshing sledge,

new and double-edged.32

You will thresh the mountains and crush them;

you will make the hills like straw.33

41:16 You will winnow them and the wind will blow them away;

the wind will scatter them.

You will rejoice in the Lord;

you will boast in the Holy One of Israel.

41:17 The oppressed and the poor look for water, but there is none;

their tongues are parched from thirst.

I, the Lord, will respond to their prayers;34

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

41:18 I will make streams flow down the slopes

and produce springs in the middle of the valleys.

I will turn the desert into a pool of water

and the arid land into springs.

41:19 I will make cedars, acacias, myrtles, and olive trees grow in the wilderness;

I will make evergreens, firs, and cypresses grow together in the desert.

41:20 I will do this so35 people36 will observe and recognize,

so they will pay attention and understand

that the Lord’s power37 has accomplished this,

and that the Holy One of Israel has brought it into being.”38