CHAPTER 41
“Be silent
before Me,
O islands,
and let the peoples
renew
their strength.
Let them come forward
and
testify;
let us together
draw near
for judgment.
Who
has aroused
the one from the east
and called him
to his feet
in righteousness?
He hands nations
over
to him
and subdues
kings before him.
He turns
them to dust
with his sword,
to windblown
chaff
with his bow.
Who
has performed this
and carried it out,
calling forth
the generations
from the beginning?
I,
the LORD—
the first
and
the last—
I
am He.”
The craftsman
encourages
the goldsmith,
and he who wields
the hammer
cheers him who strikes
the anvil,
saying
of the soldering,
“It
is good.”
He nails it down
so it will not
be toppled.
I brought
you from
the ends
of the earth
and called you
from its farthest corners.
I said,
“You
are My servant.”
I have chosen
and not
rejected you.
Do not
fear,
for
I
am with you;
do not
be afraid,
for
I
am your God.
I will strengthen you;
I will surely help you;
I will uphold you
with My right hand
of righteousness.
Behold,
all
who rage against you
will be ashamed
and disgraced;
those who contend
with you
will be
reduced to nothing
and will perish.
For
I am
the LORD
your God,
who takes hold
of your right hand
and says to you:
“Do not
fear,
I
will help
you.”
Do not
fear,
O worm
Jacob,
O few men
of Israel.
I
will help you,
declares
the LORD.
Your Redeemer
is the Holy
One of Israel.
Behold,
I will make you
into a threshing sledge,
new
and sharp,
with
many teeth.
You will thresh
the mountains
and crush them,
and reduce
the hills
to chaff.
You will winnow them,
and a wind
will carry them away;
a gale
will scatter
them.
But you
will rejoice
in the LORD;
you will glory
in the Holy
One of Israel.
The poor
and needy
seek
water,
but there is none;
their tongues
are parched
with thirst.
I,
the LORD,
will answer them;
I, the God
of Israel,
will not
forsake them.
I will open
rivers
on
the barren heights,
and fountains
in the middle
of the valleys.
I will turn
the desert
into a pool
of water,
and the dry
land
into flowing springs.
I will plant
cedars
in the desert,
acacias,
myrtles,
and olive
trees.
I will set
evergreens
in the desert,
elms
and cypress trees
together,
so that
all
may see
and know,
may consider
and understand,
that
the hand
of the LORD
has done
this,
the Holy
One of Israel
has created it.
“Let them come
and tell
us
what
will happen.
Tell
the former things,
so that we may reflect on
them
and know
the outcome.
Or
announce to us
what is coming.
Tell us
the things
that are to come,
so that we may know
that
you
are gods.
Yes,
do something good
or evil,
that we may look on together in dismay.
“I have raised up
one from the north,
and he has come—
one from the east
who calls on
My name.
He will march over
rulers
as if
they were mortar,
like
a potter
who treads
the clay.
Who
has declared this
from the beginning,
so that we may know,
and from times past,
so that we may say:
‘He was right’?
No
one announced it,
no one
foretold it,
no
one heard
your words.
I was the first to tell
Zion:
‘Look,
here they are!’
And I gave
to Jerusalem
a herald of good news.
When I look,
there is no
one;
there is no
counselor
among them;
when I ask them,
they have nothing to say.
See,
they are all
a delusion;
their works
amount to nothing;
their images
are as empty
as the wind.