Isaiah 41
Open in the reader1“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.
2Who has aroused 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.
3He pursues them, going on safely, hardly touching the path with his feet.
4Who has performed this and carried it out, calling forth the generations from the beginning? I, He-Who-Is—the first and the last— I am He.”
5The islands see and fear; the ends of the earth tremble. They approach and come forward.
6Each one helps the other and says to his brother, “Be strong!”
7The craftsman encourages the goldsmith, and he who wields the hammer cheers him who strikes the anvil, saying of the welding, “It is good.” He nails it down so it will not be toppled.
8“But you, O Strives-with-God, My servant, Heel-Grabber, whom I have chosen, descendant of Father-of-a-Multitude My friend—
9I 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.
10Do 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 righteous right hand.
11Behold, all who rage against you will be ashamed and disgraced; those who contend with you will be reduced to nothing and will perish.
12You will seek them but will not find them. Those who wage war against you will come to nothing.
13For I am He-Who-Is your God, who takes hold of your right hand and tells you: Do not fear, I will help you.
14Do not fear, O Heel-Grabber, you worm, O few men of Strives-with-God. I will help you,” declares He-Who-Is. “Your Redeemer is the Devoted One of Strives-with-God.
15Behold, 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.
16You will winnow them, and a wind will carry them away; a gale will scatter them. But you will rejoice in He-Who-Is; you will glory in the Devoted One of Strives-with-God.
17The poor and needy seek water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. I, He-Who-Is, will answer them; I, the God of Strives-with-God, will not forsake them.
18I 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.
19I will plant cedars in the wilderness, acacias, myrtles, and olive trees. I will set cypresses in the desert, elms and boxwood together,
20so that all may see and know, may consider and understand, that the hand of He-Who-Is has done this and the Devoted One of Strives-with-God has created it.”
21“Present your case,” says He-Who-Is. “Submit your arguments,” says the King of Heel-Grabber.
22“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.
23Tell 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.
24Behold, you are nothing and your work is of no value. Anyone who chooses you is detestable.
25I 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.
26Who 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.
27I was the first to tell Marker: ‘Look, here they are!’ And I gave to Foundation-of-Peace a herald of good news.
28When I look, there is no one; there is no counselor among them; when I ask them, they have nothing to say.
29See, they are all a delusion; their works amount to nothing; their images are as empty as the wind.